Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 13:40:21 -0700 From: "Mike Cochran" <wab@sbcglobal.net> To: <freebsd-alpha@freebsd.org> Subject: Will my machine run freeBSD? Message-ID: <00bc01c2341b$80c32830$6e787043@salamundi.com>
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[-- Attachment #1 --] Howdy, I have freebsd installed on an old intel machine, and I am enjoying working with the OS from a hobbyist's perspective. I'm kinda bored with x86 and want to pick up an old alphaserver. I have access to an older alpha machine, a (compaq) "Digital Ultimate Workstation 533a" that I can pick up for VERY cheap. So I'd like to try installing freeBSD on this unused alpha if possible. This alpha, which is basically an alphaserver 1200, originally shipped with NT and I'm sure it boots into alphabios. There is another version of the machine that shipped with digital unix or vms that is called the 533au. My question is: Is there a setting in the firmware that allows you to choose between alphabios and srm? If not, can I update/change the firmware on this "Digital alpha workstation 533a" to load the firmware that supports digital unix, and therefore possibly freeBSD or failing that, some other linux, as well? Any help would be very cool. This is a new area to me, I've never played around on these machines before, and I don't even have one in front of me to know if my question even makes sense. Thanks, Mike [-- Attachment #2 --] <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4915.500" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Howdy,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have freebsd installed on an old intel machine, and I am enjoying working with the OS from a hobbyist's perspective. I'm kinda bored with x86 and want to pick up an old alphaserver. I </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>have access to an older alpha machine, a (compaq) "Digital Ultimate Workstation 533a" that I can pick up for VERY cheap. So I'd like to try installing freeBSD on this unused alpha if possible.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This alpha, which is basically an alphaserver 1200, originally shipped with NT and I'm sure it boots into alphabios. There is another version of the machine that shipped with digital unix or vms that is called the 533au. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My question is: Is there a setting in the firmware that allows you to choose between alphabios and srm? If not, can I update/change the firmware on this "Digital alpha workstation 533a" to load the firmware that supports digital unix, and therefore possibly freeBSD or failing that, some other linux, as well?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any help would be very cool. This is a new area to me, I've never played around on these machines before, and I don't even have one in front of me to know if my question even makes sense.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mike</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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