Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Sun, 12 Dec 2004 15:33:16 -0500 (EST)
From:      "Greg A. Woods" <woods@weird.com>
To:        Sten Spans <sten@blinkenlights.nl>
Cc:        freebsd-alpha@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: FYI, no-go with booting FreeBSD-5.3 on AlphaServer ES40
Message-ID:  <m1CdaP6-0024gJC@building.weird.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOC.4.61.0412121509250.18385@tea.blinkenlights.nl>
References:  <m1CcZTT-0024g4C@building.weird.com> <20041210202803.GI90137@freebie.xs4all.nl> <m1CcrzH-0024gJC@building.weird.com> <20041210211612.GA90601@freebie.xs4all.nl> <m1CctCo-0024gJC@building.weird.com> <Pine.SOC.4.61.0412121509250.18385@tea.blinkenlights.nl>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
[ On Sunday, December 12, 2004 at 15:19:19 (+0100), Sten Spans wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: FYI, no-go with booting FreeBSD-5.3 on AlphaServer ES40
>
> On Fri, 10 Dec 2004, Greg A. Woods wrote:
> 
> > [ On Friday, December 10, 2004 at 22:16:12 (+0100), Wilko Bulte wrote: ]
> >> Subject: Re: FYI, no-go with booting FreeBSD-5.3 on AlphaServer ES40
> >>
> >> I know. Feel free to fix it.
> >
> > You're the FreeBSD guy, not me!  ;-)
> 
> from http://www.openbsd.org/hppa.html :
> 
> Supported models
> 
> The rule of thumb is: if it weighs more than 25kg --
> most likely it is not supported.

Sure, fine -- but what the heck does openbsd/hppa have to do with
freebsd/alpha!?!?!?!?  That architecture isn't even related in the first
place, and I have not mentioned OpenBSD before either.

I suppose I should try booting OpenBSD/alpha though, just for fun!  ;-)


> FreeBSD is a volunteer project, volunteers don't have
> every hardware combination, volunteers don't get time
> to support every configuration.

Sure, no problem, but you don't have to lecture me about this kind of
stuff.  I've been doing this "open source" thing for far longer than the
phrase ever existed.

I'm pretty sure Wilko knows exactly what I meant by the remark I made,
and in case you didn't notice there's a winking smiley after it.....


> - Give somebody money/hardware to solve them

The offer for (temporary) direct console access to the system in
question, and all the other resources necessary in its environment for
its testing, stands open, and is as yet unused by anyone.  I'll also
boot kernels anyone points me to and post back the console output.

I don't have the time or energy or resources to set up a whole build
environment for FreeBSD though (especially since it doesn't seem to be
able to cross-compile from any other platform).  My focus is on NetBSD
and I really can't afford to split my efforts across other platforms
these days.


> The only "supported" option for alpha servers is Tru64,
> anything else is unsupported.

That's not what the official FreeBSD web pages say.  Every implication
is made that FreeBSD-5.3 "supports" the ES40 and no clue is given as to
any system configuration limitations.

In fact there's not even any mention that it's what you FreeBSD guys
call a "tier 2" platform -- the word doesn't even appear in any of the
5.3-RELEASE documentation, nor on the, rather sparse, "platforms" page.

Also, not to rub it in too much, but NetBSD is fully supported on the
various AlphaServers that it has been ported to.  I don't want to seem
too partisan here though -- I was hoping to try FreeBSD on this system
to see what I could learn, especially since the FreeBSD.org web pages
seemed to claim even more support, and earlier support, for the ES40
than NetBSD has yet claimed.

-- 
						Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098                  VE3TCP            RoboHack <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>          Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?m1CdaP6-0024gJC>