Subject: Re: Q: Compaq, *BSD and 'Linux-only' AlphaBIOS (fwd)
To: Andrew Gillham <gillhaa@ghost.whirlpool.com>
From: Wilko Bulte <wilko@yedi.iaf.nl>
List: port-alpha
Date: 12/04/1999 09:56:34
As Andrew Gillham wrote ...
> Lord Isildur writes:
> > 
> [...]
> > 
> > certainly, if anyone _needs_ to use BSD with MILO for some strange reason,
> > it'd be better to modify MILO than BSD. 

Wasn't there a problem with the PALcode that ARC brings you?
(memory is dim here..)

> Ok, stupid question..  Is it possible to build a 'boot' for NetBSD that
> can be loaded by MILO, and have this boot then load the kernel?  Rather
> than hacking MILO to load the kernel directly, or hacking the kernel to
> be loadable directly?  After all, isn't 'boot' responsible for reading in
> the kernel, and starting it?  The differences between SRM devices and MILO
> devices should be hidden from the kernel.  
> 
> For the average Joe, using the ARC/AlphaBIOS menus to setup booting Linux
> and/or BSD, etc isn't so bad.  Also, the ARC console can boot from some
> NCR controllers that the SRM can't, etc.  Hmm, I wonder if the ARC firmware

Most/some ARC's (??) can also handle an Adaptec 2940[UW] card.

> supports additional video cards also?

On some machines yes. For example my Miata accepts video cards while in
ARC that it does not (unless you pci_device_override) in SRM. Which makes
me wonder why the Pyxis bug is not relevant to NT BTW.

Wilko
-- 
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