Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 16:09:45 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: rmcgrave@alphapower.com (Dick McGravey) Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Support for Alpha Message-ID: <199604102309.QAA02691@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <199604101954.PAA02303@zork.tiac.net> from "Dick McGravey" at Apr 10, 96 03:55:53 pm
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> Does Free BSD have support for DEC Alpha? Specifically the > 21066 board There was a project to do an Alpha port, but ut was cancelled... details follow, if you are interested. Much of the code for the FreeBSD Alpha port, at least the architecture specific stuff that Jeffrey Hsu did all the work on, was integrated into the NetBSD Alpha port when the loaner machines we were using had to go back (I offered to buy mine, but no dice). Most of my code dealt with cleaning up the FreeBSD x86 architecture dependencies (console code, timer code, bus code, etc.) to get a functional HAL into FreeBSD without losing any existing features out of the code or slowing it down terribly. Since this included porting the unified VM/buffer cache code to NetBSD (basically), the incomplete code was a definite "no go" for integration into the NetBSD code, so I didn't even try to submit it. They may have taken some (trivial) graphic console changes I did, for all I know, but they probably didn't. Because CGD integrated much of Jeffrey's code, NetBSD should run on the 21066/21066A without problems. I still have a 2G disk with bootable NetBSD with integrated FreeBSD console and timer code that I bought for the port, and I ran it on 21066 hardware. I'm just about to sacrifice it (it's backed up to tape, I'm not stupid 8-)) to fully self-hosting the Motorolla Ultra 603/604 PPC port. The NetBSD Alpha code on that disk require OSF (DEC UNIX) to get installed, and requires that the system be set up for "Ultrix Microcode". Since the install is via an FS image, you would also need to hack the disk label to use it on other than a 424M drive, which is what the bootable FS image from Chris required. There is some twiddling with the partition label for the swap slice you have to specifically use the label "swap" to make NetBSD happy, and there are some "gotcha's in the FFS implementation for image compatability with OSF disklabels (a problem which will be going away shortly in FreeBSD because of upcoming devfs code). I think in general an end user would be happier with a FreeBSD installation, with bootable tape/disk/cdrom install, instead of needing to have OSF to dd the disk image on. As a hardware seller, though, you might be able to be happy with NetBSD, if you preinstall for your customers. You would need one OSF license to do the install, and as long as the microcode and boot code were there, you should be able to crank out disks with NetBSD preinstalled in a relatively short per-disk timeframe. Unfortunately, recent changes in FreeBSD's VM and other code mean that a FreeBSD port would pretty much have to start from ground zero once again, though the fact that NetBSD now runs on the box without a lot of work (thanks to a lot of work by Jeffrey and Chris) is a big plus in that direction... it would mean fighting on only one front (source integration) to get a port, instead of two (NetBSD did not run on the hardware, so the FreeBSD port required a NetBSD port followed by code integration for the shortest path). This is probably more information than you wanted. 8-). Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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