From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Jun 12 14:06:10 1996 Return-Path: owner-questions Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id OAA03897 for questions-outgoing; Wed, 12 Jun 1996 14:06:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: from aeffle.Stanford.EDU (sequence.Stanford.EDU [171.65.76.7]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id OAA03892 for ; Wed, 12 Jun 1996 14:06:06 -0700 (PDT) Received: by aeffle.Stanford.EDU; id AA16925; Wed, 12 Jun 1996 14:05:55 -0700 Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 14:05:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Howard Lew To: Scott MacFiggen Cc: David Kelly , Matthew Stein , Scott MacFiggen , freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: NExGen chip Nx586-100 In-Reply-To: <199606121757.KAA26299@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Wed, 12 Jun 1996, Scott MacFiggen wrote: > >At 4:44 PM -0500 6/11/96, Matthew Stein wrote: > >>On Tue, 11 Jun 1996, Scott MacFiggen wrote: > >> > >>> I just got a hold of a Nexgen chip + PCI motherboard. > >>> ... > >>> the system is running with a 386. > >> > >>That's correct. The NexGen nx586 IS a 386 compatible chip, with an FPU, > >>and performance comparible to a Pentium. We run a couple of them that > >>regularly outpace similar pentiums. If you compile your kernel for a 386, > >>you'll have no problems. > > > >>From the part number I don't think Scott got an Nx586 with FPU. Make sure > >you build your kernel with FPU emulator included. > > > >Box-stock FreeBSD-2.1R runs perfectly on my non-FPU PCI-90 NexGen, "make > >world" in under 5-1/2 hours. Scott may have other problems. > > I did get the FPU version so that is not a problem. > The problem is that I had a 486-50 so my > kernel is currently configured for a 486 hence it > won't boot on a 386 it seems. Moslty I was asking > if FreeBSD had a patch to recognize the chip as a Nexgen > chip instead of a 386. But since the NExgen chip doesn't > support Pentuim microcode, it doesn't seem to matter. > Although I d know Linux has a patch to let it take advantage of > nexgens cache on steriods, does FreeBSD have something similar? > I guess it is time to download boot floppies so > I can fix my kernel... > > -Scott > If I recall correctly, the NexGen web site had special code to recognize the various NexGen CPUs and their speeds. The only problem is.... we need someone to implement it... keyword is time. If Linux has the patch, maybe someone will have the time to "borrow" the code and implement it in FreeBSD... :-) ---- || Shoppers Network BEST PRICES, FULLY x86 COMPATIBLE & FAST!!! || PO BOX 16627 Cyrix 686s now available! || San Francisco, CA 94116 Email - info@shoppersnet.com | ------------------------------> WWW - http://www2.shoppersnet.com -------------------------------> WWW - http://www.shoppersnet.com/shopping