OpenBSD/sgi

OpenBSD/sgi runs on several 64 bit MIPS-based SGI servers and workstations.

OpenBSD/sgi is a fully featured 64 bit port and will thus only run on systems based on 64 bit processors, i.e. R4000 and up.

A mailing list dedicated to the OpenBSD/sgi port is available at sgi@openbsd.org. To join the OpenBSD/sgi mailing list, send a message body of "subscribe sgi" to majordomo@openbsd.org. Please be sure to check our mailing list policy before subscribing.

The current port maintainers are Miod Vallat (miod@openbsd.org) and Joel Sing (jsing@openbsd.org).

Table of contents

History

The OpenBSD/sgi port has its roots in the OpenBSD/arc port created early in the OpenBSD history. Arc support was rather soon discontinued due to the lack of interest and availability of decent hardware. The OpenBSD Mips support has since then been supported outside the OpenBSD project.
As SGI hardware has become affordable and easy to come by, interest for an SGI port in the tree has increased. The final piece, a working 64 bit toolchain, eventually became available and allowed the 64 bit SGI OpenBSD port to appear in 2004.
Hardware support was initially limited to the O2 workstations. Efforts to port to more systems did not really start until 2008, where the first Octane support parts were introduced. This work was completed in 2009 with support for Origin family systems as well, allowing OpenBSD to be the first free operating system running on the Fuel workstations.

Current status

Currently OpenBSD/sgi runs in 64 bit mode and boots multi-user on supported systems. Snapshots are made periodically as the port develops and expands.
On most systems it is currently limited to serial console only. This is however not the case on O2, on which it is possible to use the glass console.

Supported hardware

The following families are supported:

• IP27 (Origin) family: ^*
  • Origin 200. Dual-Origin 200 systems using the CRAYlink connection should work, but currently limited to the first node. ^*2
  • Origin 2000 and Onyx 2 have not been tested, but should work, currently limited to the first node. ^*2
• IP30 (Octane a.k.a Speedracer) family: ^*
  • Octane
  • Octane 2
  Octane 3 systems are a completely different architecture based on x86 processors, and as such are not supported by OpenBSD/sgi.
• IP32 (O2 a.k.a Moosehead) family:
  • O2
  • O2+
  R5000, RM5200, RM7000 as well as R10000 and R12000 processors are supported. RM7000 level 3 cache is supported.
• IP35 (Tezro) family: ^*
  • Fuel
  • Origin 300, Onyx 300 and Origin 3000 have not been tested, but should work, currently limited to the first node.
  • Origin 350 ^*3
  • Onyx 350, Onyx 4 and Tezro have not been tested, but ought to work since they are very similar to Origin 350. ^*3

The following devices are supported:

• Ethernet Adapters
  • O2 mec(4) MAC-110 10/100MBit ethernet.
  • Many PCI adapters, including wireless adapters.
• SCSI Host Adapters
  • ahc(4) Adaptec AIC-7880 SCSI.
  • isp(4) QLogic ISP SCSI.
  • Some PCI SCSI adapters.
• RS-232 Devices
  • com(4) built-in serial ports.
• USB Controllers and Devices
  • Fuel on-board ohci.
  • PCI USB controllers.
  • Most USB devices.
• Audio Devices
  • O2 mavb(4) Moosehead A/V Board audio device.
• Video Devices
  • O2 gbe(4) Graphics Back End Frame Buffer, supporting wscons(4) console and X Window.
• Input Devices
  • O2 mkbc(4) built in PS/2 Controller.
  • pckbd(4) PS/2 keyboards.
  • pms(4) PS/2 mice.
• Miscellaneous Devices
  • O2 power(4) button.

Getting and installing

The latest supported OpenBSD/sgi release is OpenBSD 4.5. Here are the OpenBSD/sgi 4.5 installation instructions .

Snapshots are made available from time to time, in this location as well as in a few mirrors. Here are the OpenBSD/sgi snapshot installation instructions as well.

Projects (in no particular order)

• Larger user VM space (currently limited to 2GB)
• Onboard 100MBit/s Ethernet support on Octane and Origin families (1GBit/s Ethernet on Origin 350 is suppoorted)
• Framebuffer support on Octane and Fuel systems
• SMP support (in progress)
• IOC4 ATAPI controller support