Fwd: SS20 Experiances?

[Sanford Barton <xc68000%gmail.com@localhost>]

Hello,

Was thinking about throwing a new drive in my SS20 to try NetBSD 4 or
5.  Was wondering if anyone is using my config (or close) could give
me a general idea of the end result.  My system has 2 x 200Mhz ROSS
processors (RT626) or I can put in 2 x SM81. I also have 448mb RAM and
CG-14 with 8mb VSIMM.

I run Solaris 9 very nicely on this box.  I use Fluxbox as my WM and
use the CG-14 in 24 bit mode.  It's actually very snappy considering
it's only a dumb frame buffer and no SX acceleration.  To give you an
idea how fast (just as a baseline), I can use Seamonkey to load
slashdot.org (loads very very slowly) and actually scroll up/down that
page with no tearing as long as I don't try to go too fast, all on a
24 bit desktop.  I am told this is partly due to the fact that it sits
directly on the memory bus.

Some window managers and applications crash the CG-14 driver.  For
example many Gnome 2.x apps and many window managers like Windowmaker,
XFCE, etc. also crash X11.  CDE, fvwm, fluxbox, blackbox, and
openwindows are the only ones I've ever been able to run with any
stability with the CG-14.  This is with the 2002 Sol9 release and the
latest recommended patch cluster applied.  The instability in X is my
only sadness with this machine.

So can anyone tell me what sort of system can be achieved with the
later incarnations of NetBSD?  I see there is a non-accelerated cg14
driver.  Anyone use it and can you appraise the performance compared
to the Solaris driver in 24 bit X?

I also see the SMP is available now on the SS20.  Is that hard to get
working and does it perform well?  Can it be used with the 4.x release
or is it a 5.0 only feature?
I'm not a developer, but I have a long history using the gcc tool
chain to compile packages, resolve dependencies and what not.  It's a
lot of work I understand, but if the end result is worth it, I'm
probably willing to give it a try.


Thanks in advance for your advice!

Bart