Annotation of www/sparc.html, Revision 1.29
1.3 fn 1: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict//EN">
2: <html>
1.1 deraadt 3: <head>
1.25 johns 4: <title>OpenBSD/sparc</title>
1.3 fn 5: <link rev=made href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>
6: <meta name="resource-type" content="document">
1.25 johns 7: <meta name="description" content="the OpenBSD/sparc page">
1.3 fn 8: <meta name="keywords" content="openbsd,sparc">
9: <meta name="distribution" content="global">
1.16 deraadt 10: <meta name="copyright" content="This document copyright 1996 by OpenBSD">
1.3 fn 11: </head>
12:
1.20 johns 13: <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#23238E">
1.3 fn 14:
1.25 johns 15: <h2>OpenBSD/sparc</h2>
1.1 deraadt 16:
1.3 fn 17: <hr>
1.29 ! downsj 18: <h3><i>Table of contents</i></h3>
! 19: <p>
! 20: <ul>
! 21: <li><a href="#history">Past history of the port</a>
! 22: <li><a href="#status">Current status</a>
! 23: <li><a href="#info">Where to get the port</a>
! 24: <li><a href="#hardware">Supported hardware list</a>
! 25: <li><a href="#projects">Project list</a>
! 26: </ul>
! 27: </p>
! 28:
! 29: <hr>
! 30: <a name=history>
! 31: <h3><strong>History:</strong></h3>
1.3 fn 32:
33: <p>
1.1 deraadt 34: The original BSD4.4 port was done by Chris Torek as a contract to
35: LBL. The code was released by Chris in mid-93, and Theo de Raadt
36: worked it into shape for the NetBSD tree. Theo and Markus Wild worked
37: on improving Chris' original SunOS compatibility code into a highly
38: complete and reliable emulation. Chuck Cranor ported the sun4c code to
39: the 8KB pagesized Sun4 architecture, and Theo merged this code in a
40: way that would allow the same kernel and programs to run on either
41: sun4c or sun4 machines (unlike Sun's seperate kernel environments).
42: This last change also required a rewrite of the device configuration
1.25 johns 43: code. Just after the NetBSD/sparc 1.0 release, Peter Galbavy wrote an
44: ESP scsi device driver as a replacement for Chris' sparc-specific scsi
1.1 deraadt 45: code, this new driver unfortunately had some problems.
1.3 fn 46: </p>
1.1 deraadt 47:
48: <p>
49: At this point a conflict emerged between Theo and the other people he
50: started the NetBSD project with, and Theo was forced by the core group
51: to resign from NetBSD. After Theo left NetBSD, a few people in the
52: NetBSD group did some other things for the port: Paul Kranenburg
53: ported a floppy driver and started writing support for the 4/400.
54: Chuck spent many long hours working on the ie, xy, xd device drivers.
1.3 fn 55: </p>
1.1 deraadt 56:
57: <p>
58: Theo continued working independently, and made a number of additions:
59: P4 support, flexible boot strategy, a few graphics drivers with help
60: from John Stone, and masses of bug fixes. Many people will be most
61: interested that the ESP scsi driver has been completely replaced by
62: Theo, and that it supports disconnect/reconnect.
1.3 fn 63: </p>
1.1 deraadt 64:
65: <p>
1.25 johns 66: Work on porting OpenBSD/sparc to the sun4m platform was started by Theo,
1.7 deraadt 67: but tendonitis problems with his wrists and the problems with the NetBSD
68: core conspired, and he stopped work. Theo passed his initial sun4m work
69: to Aaron Brown of Harvard, who was paid out of Margo Seltzer's research
70: funds. This initial stuff consisted mostly of a few attempts at building
1.8 deraadt 71: pmap structure that could support all 3 MMU types efficiently. Also,
1.25 johns 72: David Miller of the Sparclinux project got a little bit involved.
1.7 deraadt 73: </p>
74:
75: <p>
1.27 downsj 76: Theo and Jason Downs merged the NetBSD sparc code back into OpenBSD, making
77: OpenBSD/sparc usable again. There are still a few OpenBSD/sparc features
78: from older source trees that need to be re-integrated; these will likely
79: surface soon.
1.3 fn 80: </p>
1.1 deraadt 81:
1.28 downsj 82: <hr>
1.29 ! downsj 83: <a name=status>
! 84: <h3><strong>Current Status:</strong></h3>
1.28 downsj 85:
1.1 deraadt 86: <p>
1.25 johns 87: The people working the most on OpenBSD/sparc are Jason Downs, George Robbins,
1.27 downsj 88: and John Stone.
1.28 downsj 89: <br>
90: Email may be sent to the maintainers of the OpenBSD/sparc port at
91: <a href="mailto:sparc@openbsd.org">sparc@openbsd.org</a>.
1.6 downsj 92: </p>
93:
94: <p>
1.25 johns 95: An important note about OpenBSD/sparc is that it is designed so that
1.26 downsj 96: a single kernel can run on <b>ALL</b><sup>(1)</sup> sparc machines. Whereas
97: SunOS and Solaris have always had separate `kernel architectures', ie. sun4,
98: sun4c, and sun4m, the same `GENERIC' OpenBSD kernel will run on all the
99: supported models.
1.15 grr 100: </p>
101:
102: <p>
1.25 johns 103: OpenBSD/sparc can be reasonably described as a continuation of the
104: NetBSD/sparc development with improvements. The current status is
1.17 johns 105: somewhere between under development and ready for general use, in that
1.15 grr 106: it does support many of the Sparc based systems and their peripherals,
107: and can be quite reliable depending on the system configuration and
108: usage.
109: </p>
110:
111: <p>
1.25 johns 112: Most of the problems are believed to stem from the wide variety of sparc
1.15 grr 113: processor and cache implementations along with their undocumented bugs,
1.24 johns 114: rather then general kernel problems.
1.15 grr 115: Feedback on which models do and do not work reliably is
116: appreciated, particularly with the newer sun4m implementations like the
117: Fujitsu TurboSparc and Ross HyperSparc based systems and upgrades.
118: </p>
119:
120: <p>
1.17 johns 121: The installation tools and process as of the 2.1 release are greatly
1.25 johns 122: improved over previous releases of OpenBSD. OpenBSD/sparc can be installed
1.17 johns 123: or upgraded via floppy boot images on sun4c and sun4m, miniroot images
124: for machines without floppies (and sun4 machines).
1.3 fn 125: </p>
126:
127: <hr>
1.29 ! downsj 128: <a name=info>
! 129: <h3><strong>Where to get it:</strong></h3>
! 130:
1.1 deraadt 131: <p>
1.22 johns 132: <ul>
133: <li><a href=ftp.html>Snapshots are made available from time to time.</a>
1.25 johns 134: <li><a href=ftp://ftp2.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/2.1/sparc/INSTALL.sparc>Installation information for the 2.1 release of OpenBSD/sparc</a>
1.22 johns 135: </ul>
136: </p>
1.3 fn 137:
1.22 johns 138: <p>
1.3 fn 139: <hr>
1.29 ! downsj 140: <a name=hardware>
1.3 fn 141: <h3><strong>What hardware is supported?</strong></h3>
1.1 deraadt 142:
1.25 johns 143: <h4>OpenBSD/sparc runs on the following classes of machines:</h4>
1.3 fn 144: <ul>
1.19 johns 145: <li> sun4: 4/100, 4/200, and 4/300
146: <li> sun4c: SS1, SS1+, IPC, SLC, SS2, IPX, and ELC
147: <li> sun4m: at least the LC, LX, 4, 5, 10, and 20. A few cpu
1.17 johns 148: combinations do not work reliably, as well as a few odd memory
149: configurations.
1.15 grr 150: <li> Typically it works on faithful clones of these machines
1.3 fn 151: </ul>
152: <h4>Supported devices. This list of basically declares that any `stock' sun4c
153: "sparcstation" machine will probably work; for sun4 machines one must be more
154: careful.</h4>
155: <ul>
1.19 johns 156: <li> Sun keyboard and mouse
157:
158: <li> Floppy drives:
159: <ul>
1.26 downsj 160: <li> sun4c and sun4m floppy disk drive
1.19 johns 161: </ul>
162:
163: <li> Serial ports:
164: <ul>
165: <li> ttya and ttyb on-board serial ports (can be used as console if needed)
166: <li> 4/300 ttyc and ttyd on-board serial ports
167: </ul>
168:
169:
170: <li> Audio support:
171: <ul>
172: <li> sun4c on-board audio
173: </ul>
174:
175: <li> Framebuffers:
176: <ul>
177: <li>SBus or sun4c on-board video:
178: <ul>
179: <li>bwtwo - black and white
180: <li>cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated
1.26 downsj 181: <li>cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated (GX, GX+, TGX, TGX+) Should probably work with most faithful emulations/clones of SBus cgsix.
1.19 johns 182: </ul>
183:
184: <li> 4/200 on-board bwtwo
185:
186: <li> P4 video (4/100 and 4/300):
187: <ul>
188: <li> bwtwo - black and white
189: <li> cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated
190: <li> cgfour - 8-bit color, 1-bit overlay, unaccelerated
191: <li> cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated
192: <li> cgeight - 24-bit color, 1-bit overlay, unaccelerated
193: </ul>
194:
195: <li> VME video (sun4):
196: <ul>
197: <li> cgtwo - black and white
198: <li> cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated
199: <li> cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated
200: </ul>
201: </ul>
202:
203: <li> Ethernet adapters:
204: <ul>
205: <li> on-board AMD Lance ethernet
206: <li> SBus AMD Lance ethernet cards
207: <li> on-board Intel 82586 ethernet (ie0 on 4/100 and 4/200)
208: <li> VME Intel 82586 ethernet cards
209: </ul>
210:
211: <li> SCSI controllers:
212: <ul>
213: <li> on-board "esp" SCSI controller (sun4c, sun4m, and 4/300)
214: <li> SBus "esp" SCSI controller
215: <li> VME "SUN-3"/"si" SCSI controller (polled mode only, slow)
216: <li> 4/110 "SCSI Weird"/"sw" on-board controller (slow, polled mode)
217: </ul>
218:
219: <li> SMD and other disk controllers
220: <ul>
221: <li> Xylogics 7053 VME/SMD disk controller ("xd")
222: <li> Xylogics 450/451 VME disk controller ("xy")
223: </ul>
224:
1.3 fn 225: </ul>
1.1 deraadt 226:
1.25 johns 227: <h4>OpenBSD/sparc does *not* run on these machines (yet):</h4>
1.3 fn 228: <ul>
1.19 johns 229: <li> sun4: 4/400 (lacks support for the I/O cache, and has ethernet problems)
230: <li> sun4m: older systems with Viking (TMS390Z55) processor modules without external cache chips, aka SuperCache, aka MXCC, aka PAC.
231: <li> sun4m: model 4/600 -- uses auxio registers, sun4m VME, I/O cache?
232: <li> sun4d: SPARC Server 1000, SPARC Center 2000 -- XD-Bus vs. M-Bus, MP issues.
233: <li> sun4u: UltraSPARC 64-bit machines.
1.1 deraadt 234: <li> It does not work on most Solbourne machines, which are quite different.
1.3 fn 235: </ul>
1.19 johns 236:
1.15 grr 237: <p>
238: OpenBSD/Sparc on the 4c/4m machines is criticaly dependent on configuration
1.25 johns 239: information returned by the openboot prom. A sparc clone that differs
1.15 grr 240: substantially from the Sun model as far as device names and properties will
241: require additional work in this area.
1.1 deraadt 242:
243: <h4>Unsupported Devices. First of all, there are MANY unsupported devices.
244: A comprehensive list can probably not be written.</h4>
1.3 fn 245: <ul>
1.19 johns 246: <li> Serial Cards:
247: <ul>
248: <li> VME mti 16-port serial card
249: <li> VME alm2 16-port serial card
250: <li> VME mcp 4-port serial card (or is it 8 port)
251: </ul>
252:
253: <li>Disk Controllers:
254: <ul>
255: <li> VME "sc" SCSI controller
256: <li> VME IPI controller
257: </ul>
258:
259: <li> Framebuffers:
260: <ul>
261: <li> VME cgfive, 8-bit color, 1-bit overlay, double-buffered, unaccelerated without GP/GP2
262: <li> VME cgnine, 24-bit color, 1-bit overlay, double-buffered, unaccelerated without GP/GP2
263: <li> VME GP/GP2 Graphics Processor (drives a cgfive or cgnine)
264: <li> SBus cgeight 24-bit color, unaccelerated (note: SBus cgeight is quite different from VME/P4 cgeight)
265: <li> SBus GS, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered, 3-D acceleration (aka cgtwelve)
266: <li> SBus GT, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered, 3-D acceleration (aka Graphics Tower)
267: <li> SS20 SX, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, potentially double-buffered, accelerated (aka cgfourteen)
268: <li> SBus ZX, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered, 3-D acceleration (aka Leo)
269: </ul>
270:
1.17 johns 271: <li> SBus cards other than the standard video/scsi/ethernet listed above
1.15 grr 272: <li> On-board Audio and ISDN hardware present on some sun4m systems
1.18 johns 273: <li> sun4m floppies (OpenBSD can boot/install from them though)
1.15 grr 274: <li> Multiple Processors/Modules in sun4m systems (OpenBSD will run, but only uses one processor)
1.3 fn 275: </ul>
1.1 deraadt 276:
1.3 fn 277: <hr>
1.29 ! downsj 278: <a name=projects>
1.25 johns 279: <h3>OpenBSD/sparc Projects:</h3>
1.21 johns 280: <ul>
281: <li>Improve sun4m stability.
282: <li>Merge in useful NetBSD work.
283: <li>Start work on device drivers for unsupported framebuffers.
1.25 johns 284: <li>Bring back OpenBSD/sparc features from older code.
1.21 johns 285: </ul>
286:
287: <hr>
1.26 downsj 288: <p>
289: <sup>(1) sun4u ("Ultra") would probably not conform to this model, and have
290: it's own kernel port.</sup>
291: </p>
292: <hr>
293:
1.11 deraadt 294: <a href=plat.html><img src=back.gif border=0 alt=OpenBSD></a>
1.1 deraadt 295: <a href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>www@openbsd.org</a>
1.3 fn 296: <br>
1.29 ! downsj 297: <small>$OpenBSD: sparc.html,v 1.28 1997/06/25 19:47:03 downsj Exp $</small>
1.3 fn 298:
299: </body>
300: </html>
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