Subject: Re:FAQ
To: None <port-powerpc@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Andrew Cagney <cagney@tpgi.com.au>
List: port-powerpc
Date: 11/06/1996 12:02:59
Some BTW's:
> NETBSD/PowerPC FAQ
> 1.1.1 HISTORY
>
> The FAQ is currently maintained by Markus Illenseer
> <markus@tiger.teuto.de>.
You need a version number. This would be v2.0. Version one is sitting on:
ftp://ftp.ci.com.au/pub/clayton/FAQ (I think :-)
> 2.2 Who is working on the port?
>
> NetBSD was first ported to the PowerPC by Wolfgang Solfrank
> <ws@tools.de>. Among others, Jason Thorpe contributed to this port.
>
> I hope I didn't forget anyone. If so, please tell me!
You would probably also want to mention Dale Rahn, who independantly got
NetBSD running native on the moto board. (Mutter here something about
the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing :-).
> 3.2.1 NON CONTIGUOUS MEMORY
Er, non contigious memory is normal (support is mandated by CHRP).
Perhaphs the machines that don't support non-contigious memory should
get their FAQ changed to describe how they are not normal :-)
> 3.5 What hardware is supported by NetBSD/powerpc V1.2, anyways?
>
> Bear in mind that all machines above do need the OpenFirmware
> firmware. Motorola has released OFW for the Ultra and Atlas board by
> September 1996. All FirePower machines have OFW by default.
Bear in mind also that there are a number of different variations on
OpenFirmware kicking around. Some gota's to not mention in the FAQ:
some versions don't like ELF executables; the standards group kept
changing some of the details of the ELF executable (note section).
> 3.6 Things currently not supported by NetBSD/powerpc
> It is rumoured that Apple has released OFW for most recent PowerMacs.
Er, it is more than a rumor!
> 7 NETBSD - LINUX - AMIX - MINIX
> Sun Software provides Solaris for almost all PowerPC machines. It is
> rumoured that you can boot Solaris from almost any firmware, of course
> including OFW.
Solaris boots using OpenFirmware. If the machine doen't have it then
you get a FD that solves that problem.
> The third available Unix on the PowerPC is Linux . It was first
> designed to run on Intel-based PCs. However, someone
> started a major rewrite of the sources so that it is now possible to
> run Linux on the PowerPC. The first public kernel release happened
> around August 1996, a few months after the first Linux 2.0 kernels
> came out. Linux/powerpc supposeldy runs on Motorola machines with the
> PPC1-Bug firmware - thus not on PowerMac nor FirePower.
The Linux/powerpc FAQ can be found at:
http://www.libuxppc.org/
It also runs on BeBoxes. In addition, there is a separate Linux port:
http://www.mklinux.apple.com/
Otherwize, keep it up!
enjoy,
Andrew