NetBSD/sys/arch/alpha/STATUS

$NetBSD: STATUS,v 1.1 1995/04/25 18:59:14 cgd Exp $

NetBSD/Alpha's Status


Supported hardware:

	DEC 3000/[456789]00 (I've only tested it on the 400 and
	600, but the rest should "just work) using the following
	peripherals:

		Serial ports
		LANCE ethernet -- only the on-board interface.  (see below.)
		SCSI system -- it recognizes and can use both on-board SCSI
		    controller chips.  However, it has trouble working with
		    both at the same time.

		Things are aren't supported:
			No frame buffers of any type.
			Devices in TurboChannel option slots (see the
			    TODO.users file.)
			The ISDN/Audio chip.

	DEC 3000/300 family, with same hardware above.

NetBSD/Alpha has actually been run on the following types of machines:
	DEC 3000/400
	DEC 3000/600
	[ XXX THERE ARE MORE; if you're running it on a machine not
	    listed, mail me about it.]


At this time none of the following systems are supported:
	DECpc AXP systems -- the Alpha systems with EISA busses
	AlphaStations -- the Alpha systems with PCI busses (i.e.
	    PCI/ISA or PCI/EISA)
	The Futurebus-based Alpha server systems
	The multiprocessor Alpha systems

I am in the process of porting NetBSD/Alpha to the PCI-based systems,
in particular, to the AlphaStation 400 4/233.  I was hoping to get a
DECpc AXP port working "for free" based on the PCI work, but the
DECpc AXP is a very different (and, in my opinion, very alien) piece
of hardware.  If somebody wants to make NetBSD/Alpha run on the
DECpc AXP system, get in touch and I'll do what I can to help you
get started.  (Right now, it can detect devices on the EISA bus, etc.,
but the I/O layout is distinctly _not_ what I'd expected and/or hoped
for.  It's significantly more difficult to deal with than I'd expected.)

It's unclear how much support for other PCI-based systems (i.e. the
AlphaStation 200 and AlphaStation 250 machines) will be won by getting
the AlphaStation 400 supported.  It should at least make porting to
those machines easier.


Because no frame buffers are supported, NetBSD/Alpha _must_ be used with
a serial console.  To do that on:

	DEC 3000/[4-9]00's:
		Flip the appropriate switch on the back of the machine.

	DEC 3000/300 family machines:
		Boot the machine with the keyboard/mouse connector
		unplugged.

	DECpc AXP's and AlphaStations:
		Boot the machine with the keyboard unplugged.  (Note:
		I've never actually booted one of these machines with
		a serial console, so I can't verify that this is
		correct.  Also, people who've booted test kernels for
		me have reported trouble using these boxes with a
		serial console, but I'm not sure why; the kernel for
		these systems is not advanced enough to have its own
		serial driver yet, and so is using the PROM routines.)

There actually is hope of getting somebody to come up with working
graphics board drivers and even an X server.  More on that as things
develop.


Getting people running with my latest sources still isn't as easy as
it should be; not all of my sources are integrated into the NetBSD
master source tree yet.  Most of the diffs are in, however, and I
suggest the following tactic for people who are trying to get running
with an "up to date" system:

	Get the latest NetBSD sources from:
	ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/src/tar_files

	Replace that 'sys' tree with the latest snapshot I've put up
	for ftp under the directory:
	ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/arch/alpha

	If you'd like to compile the compiler and tool chain, add to
	that the GNU tools tree (src/devo) from my original source
	distribution tar file, which can also be found under:
	ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/arch/alpha
	(Unfortunately, there's not a way to get just that part of the
	source distribution; I'll fix that in a day or two.)

That won't be perfect, but it'll get you most of the way there.

I'm planning to put up a new 'sys' snapshot, as well as new kernel
image, in a couple of days.  Hopefully by that time, all of the
user-land changes will have been merged into the master NetBSD source
tree.


Please see the file src/sys/arch/alpha/TODO.users for a list of things
that users can do to help NetBSD/Alpha improve.  If you're interested
in doing any of them, or porting to new hardware, get in touch and
I'll do what I can to help.


Chris Demetriou
cgd@netbsd.org