Subject: Re: which port to install (amd opteron dual core)
To: Quentin Garnier <cube@cubidou.net>
From: Martin Husemann <martin@duskware.de>
List: port-amd64
Date: 07/20/2006 09:37:11
On Thu, Jul 20, 2006 at 06:53:22AM +0200, Quentin Garnier wrote:
> But what for?  Graphic adapter memory?  I want to know the technical
> reason, not the fact.

I think the pmap bootstrap code will completely ignore any memory segments
that end >= 4GB, without splitting it into a usable/unusable part. BIOS
leaves a small hole just below 1MB, for ISA extensions roms and the like.
But as you all know I'm not an i386 expert, so this might be completely
wrong.

My 4GB amd64 machine even crashes in i386 pmap bootstrap, but I never
bothered to track that further, since NetBSD/amd64 runs fine on it nowadays.

Martin