On Thu, 2 Dec 2004, Brian R. Gaeke wrote:
> Now, it is my understanding that, having a pre-REX PROM, the DECstation
> 5000/200 would not be able to successfully execute the REX calls
> (rex_gettcinfo(), rex_slot_address()) in drivers/tc/tc.c. Therefore,
> I have found it necessary to use a patched kernel in my efforts to boot
> Linux on VMIPS (http://www.dgate.org/vmips), which has lately gained some
> (limited) DECstation 5000/200 emulation capabilities.
They've got it wrong. While there were a few DECstation 5000/200 systems
around 1990 that were shipped with pre-REX firmware, they were soon
updated to REX fimware under service contracts. I'm inclined to believe
there is no /200 system with pre-REX firmware in existence anymore. In
particular there are no entries for these firmware versions on the NetBSD
PROM list -- the oldest one reported is 5.3c which is already
REX-compliant.
> If you find this patch useful, you're quite welcome to it. I'm also
> interested in hearing from anyone who has access to a 5000/200 who can
> tell me whether I'm right or wrong, as I only have old manuals and
> header files to work from.
Real /200 systems work more or less correctly with Linux 2.4. A port of
2.6 hasn't really started yet -- some drivers are broken. The /200 is one
of the best documented DECstations.
Maciej
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