Subject: Re: Mips R3000 Magnum port
To: None <port-mips@netbsd.org>
From: Toru Nishimura <nisimura@itc.aist-nara.ac.jp>
List: port-mips
Date: 05/16/2000 10:45:22
Folks,

To encourage people involved with developments, I slightly updated
http://www.netbsd.org/Port/#suggested-ports page.

Just before MIPS Computer Systems abandoned its effort to capture its
share in system market, the company made several competetive computers
equipped with R3000s.  RC3230/3330, so-called R3000 Magnum, is one of
them.  The company also made a large scale enterprise class computer,
RC6280, equipped with BiECL R6000 processor.  (My ex-employer had one,
but regretfully it was used as a personal computer because none wanted
to use it in favour of VAX785.  My boss once tossed the idea to port
4.3BSD and sell RC6280 to Japanese VAX owners who run ASCII 4BSD UNIX
on them.  The plan went to nowhere...) There were deskside computers
named RC3260, a VME box, and RC3240, remodeled M-120 with R3000A
processor.  All of them are NetBSD/mips port candidates.  Some story
popped in mind.  R3000 Magnum has handsome UNIX style AT keyboard.
It's not accident the keyboard is the same part found Network
Computing Devices's N97 UNIX keyboard.  There seemed connections
between Wyse, NCD, and MIPSCo.  There were some Japanese MIPS
suppliers.  Sumitomo Elec. started to build MIPS processor based
computers using MIPSCo's RC2030 design.  Later, the company designed
their own equipped with R3000.  The computer had AIC6360, LANCE, and
NEC 72001 inside.  It's reported that there was OEM available in
Europe.  I once discovered one of them in a dusty storage, but sadly
enough I found it was a dead computer.  This computer is a NetBSD port
candidate too. 

Tohru Nishimura