Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:39:36 +0000 From: John Long <codeblue@inbox.lv> To: freebsd-mips@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Porting FreeBSD to Loongson 3A (RS780e) Message-ID: <20120712183936.GA8478@inbox.lv> In-Reply-To: <4FFF0F81.4020104@beastielabs.net> References: <CAMwoQQ7NcM0S7LmHgOH2hhL9xPu-fTsZZxCRvJ9LLHZD-AjFhw@mail.gmail.com> <20120711123136.GA32221@inbox.lv> <CAMwoQQ7eNW_QrQZH1Esd_TfR-C68TpUNRj5=pP=9gWOpE4kc5w@mail.gmail.com> <20120712165729.GA16915@inbox.lv> <4FFF0F81.4020104@beastielabs.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 07:55:13PM +0200, Hans Ottevanger wrote:
> On 07/12/12 18:57, John Long wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I still have a Lemote Yeeloong netbook somewhere. It came with
> Linux. It is a nice though quite simple system, based on a Loongson
> 2F CPU. The main problem was the regular occurrence of system
> freezes due to a CPU design problem. If I remember well the OpenBSD
> guys also stumbled over this issue and I am not sure whether they
> ever completely solved it.
Hi,
I do not know for sure, but I seem to remember there was a workaround in gcc
to add a NOP in the right places (the error had to do with the chip's
branch-prediction logic) and that fixed those boxes. I think Lemote also
fixed the chip itself in later batches and this is not a problem in current
production.
I have been running OpenBSD-current on my Fuloong for a week including two
complete rebuilds from source including kernel and userland (including
pulling down complete source and ports trees twice from CVS). The box has
performed beautifully and has exhibited 0 problems. It has been rebooted a
lot for various installs but when it's up it has spent about 4 days running
at 100% compiling code. And it has not been shut off for over a week. I think
if rebuilding the OS from source and running it works it's a pretty sure bet
the thing is solid. The guy who did the OpenBSD port for Fuloong (THANK YOU
MIOD!!!) seems be saying he feels the 3A support will be accomplished
without much difficulty, since much of the 2F support that is already there
will work and the 3A uses a chipset already supported by OpenBSD.
My point to the OP was I hope he doesn't target only 3A given there are 2F
boxes out there and they are still being sold and they are really nice
boxes. We all know, each OS has its plusses and minuses and the more
support we get, everybody wins since all the BSD share code.
I have no interest in a 3A laptop and I will let the early birds find the
bugs and wait until they are fixed. If they come out with a Mini in the same
format as the Fuloong and put a 3A in it, and the support is there, I
wouldn't mind having one. Right now I wouldn't mind having an office full of
the Fuloong 2F. It's the best box for the money I ever bought.
--
_
ASCII ribbon campaign ( ) Powered by Lemote Fuloong
against HTML e-mail X Loongson MIPS and OpenBSD
and proprietary / \ Mutt.org
attachments Code Blue or Go Home!
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20120712183936.GA8478>