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DB9ER > APPLE 24.11.96 10:55l 120 Lines 4257 Bytes #-10927 (0) @ EU
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Subj: MkLinux-Status-11.96.asc
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Sent: 961124/0816z @:DB0IZ.#NRW.DEU.EU [JO31NE, Op: DL6EE] $:24B604DB0IZ
de DB9ER @ DB0IZ.#NRW.DEU.EU (Dieter)
to APPLE @ EU
Status of the native Linux port to PCI-based Power Macintoshes. Last updated:
5-Nov-96.
The port is still a work-in-progress, and current releases should be considered
beta-standard for the 7500, almost beta for the 7200, and alpha for 604-based
machines.
Supported machines:
* PowerMac 7500. This is the machine used for the initial port, and it is
probably most stable on this machine. (It is possible there may be minor
problems on machines with other than 100MHz clock rate.)
* PowerMac 7200. Linux-PMac will run on these, but there is still some problem
with initializing the display controller. If you run MacOS first, it's fine. :-)
At present, the only video mode supported is 1024x768.
The kernel includes support for the 604 processor, so it should work on 7600,
8500 and 9500 machines, but I don't yet know of anyone who has got it to work on
one of these machines. Most users report that it hangs when trying to add swap
during the boot process.
Supported devices:
* MESH and 53C94 SCSI controllers. * MACE ethernet adaptor. * ADB, keyboard and
mouse. * "Control" display controller (used on 7500s and 7600s) (only in 8
bit/pixel mode). * "Platinum" display controller (used on 7200s) at 1024x768
(only in 8 bit/pixel mode). Initialization is still incomplete. * Serial port
(but not using DMA at present)
Not yet supported:
* Floppy disk * Audio * Video input or output
Known problems and deficiencies:
* The display drivers don't auto-detect the monitor and set the resolution
accordingly.
* On 7500s, there are slots for two banks of VRAM, marked A and B. If you have
your VRAM in the B slots, the display will not work under Linux, although it
works fine under MacOS. The work-around is to move the VRAM to the A slots.
* The X server and the video console code don't work together. So if you are
using X and something writes a message to the console, it will mess up the
screen. The `xrefresh' command is useful here. :-)
* Debugging a program using gdb may hang or crash the system.
* Programs that use floating-point arithmetic may sometimes get incorrect
results. There appears to be still some problem with context-switching the
floating-point registers.
* On some machines, the ethernet hardware address according to Open Firmware
(which Linux uses) appears to be different to the address used by Open Transport
under MacOS. The result is that you can't communicate with any machine that has
an ARP entry with the old address until that entry times out or is otherwise
removed.
Paul Mackerras paulus@cs.anu.edu.au This directory contains the files needed to
boot Linux on PCI-based PowerMacs. The current state of the kernel port and the
machines supported are listed in the STATUS file.
Note: Although I have included a copy of the MkLinux DR2 release here, users
outside Australia are requested to get it from a closer site if at all possible,
since the Australia <-> US link is overloaded.
The files in this directory are:
Milo-MacOS.sit.bin The MILO bootblock installer, to run under MacOS. Also
includes the Boot Variables app, which displays and modifies Open Firmware
variables under MacOS.
MkLinux_DR2.sit.bin The Apple MkLinux DR2 release. HUGE!
STATUS A text file describing the current state of the kernel port and
known bugs.
Xpmac.tar.gz An X server binary to run under Linux.
clock.c Source for the clock program, used to set the linux kernel
time-of-day from the machine's real time clock (RTC) during the boot process.
clock.tar.gz Binary of the clock program.
linux-pmac-961118.tar.gz The linux kernel sources.
milo-0.04.tar.gz The MILO bootblock installer, for Linux.
nvsetenv.c Source for the nvsetenv program, which displays and modifies
Open Firmware environment variables under Linux.
nvsetenv.tar.gz The nvsetenv binary, plus a small script called "macos" to
reboot the machine with MacOS.
ppc-howto A text file describing how to install and boot Linux on your
PowerMac.
vmlinux The linux kernel binary in ELF format.
vmlinux.coff The linux kernel binary in XCOFF format. Needed if you are
netbooting.
MAC_OS Convers Cannel 7200 on DB0EAM,DB0KH,DB0II....
73 Dieter DB9ER@DB0IZ.deu.eu
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