ARC - Revision history

Onion: SGI Category

2010-10-18T10:57:04Z

SGI Category

Owen: /* SGI ARCS ping problem */

2010-10-17T15:35:06Z

‎SGI ARCS ping problem

Owen: /* 32-bit vs. 64-bit */ change Indigo2 R10000 to IP28

2010-10-17T15:33:36Z

‎32-bit vs. 64-bit: change Indigo2 R10000 to IP28

Ralf: /* Network Booting */

2010-05-20T14:54:09Z

‎Network Booting

Ryanaxp: /* ECOFF and ELF support */ Minor usage ang grammar edits; put sample computer output into "pre" box

2006-08-20T16:15:39Z

‎ECOFF and ELF support: Minor usage ang grammar edits; put sample computer output into "pre" box

Ryanaxp: /* 32-bit vs. 64-bit */ Clarity edits and minor typo corrections

2006-08-20T16:01:07Z

‎32-bit vs. 64-bit: Clarity edits and minor typo corrections

Ralf: Add to ARC category.

2006-05-17T10:53:40Z

Add to ARC category.

Ralf: Use new {{PrettyTable}} template for tables.

2006-05-14T17:30:19Z

Use new {{PrettyTable}} template for tables.

Ralf: Style tables. And I think the ABI stuff should really go from this page; it provides no use to the normal user.

2006-05-07T17:43:43Z

Style tables. And I think the ABI stuff should really go from this page; it provides no use to the normal user.

Alec v: /* SCSI Host ID */

2006-01-29T16:10:07Z

‎SCSI Host ID

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:57, 18 October 2010
Line 330:		Line 330:

	[[Category:ARC]]		[[Category:ARC]]
		+	[[Category:SGI]]

@@ Line 298: / Line 298: @@
 === SGI ARCS ping problem ===
-The ARCS shell ping command uses the <em>echo</em> service on port 7/UDP, not ICMP as one would expect for a UNIX system.  These days virtually all UNIX / Linux systems have that service disabled making them unpingable from the ARCS shell.  If you're running <em>xinetd</em> on <em>Fedora</em> the service can be disabled by <tt>chkconfig echo-dgram on</tt>; similar for other distributions.
+The ARCS shell ping command uses the <em>echo</em> service on port 7/UDP, not ICMP as one would expect for a UNIX system.  These days virtually all UNIX / Linux systems have that service disabled making them unpingable from the ARCS shell.  If you're running <em>xinetd</em> on <em>Fedora</em> the service can be enabled by <tt>chkconfig echo-dgram on</tt>; similar for other distributions.
 === TFTP Problems ===

@@ Line 255: / Line 255: @@
 The ARC standard was defined as an environment for 32-bit operating systems.  In retrospect this may be considered a short-sighted decision, as indeed the [[R4000]] and [[Wikipedia:DEC_Alpha|DEC Alpha]] architectures were already in production at the time; nonetheless, in the early 1990s a 32-bit environment was deemed sufficient for small to medium sized systems by the authors of the ARC standard.
-As a result, most MIPS ARC firmware implementations are 32-bit; however, a few of the more recent implementations are 64-bit only.  An explanation of the exact way the 64-bit versions were implemented, as compared to the 32-bit versions, was never published.  The ARC firmwares on [[IP22|Power Indigo 2]], [[IP22|Indigo 2 R10000]], [[IP27|Origin]], [[IP27|Onyx 2]], [[IP30|Octane]] systems are known to be 64-bit.
+As a result, most MIPS ARC firmware implementations are 32-bit; however, a few of the more recent implementations are 64-bit only.  An explanation of the exact way the 64-bit versions were implemented, as compared to the 32-bit versions, was never published.  The ARC firmwares on [[IP22|Power Indigo 2]], [[IP28|Indigo 2 R10000]], [[IP27|Origin]], [[IP27|Onyx 2]], [[IP30|Octane]] systems are known to be 64-bit.
 == ECOFF and ELF support ==

@@ Line 296: / Line 296: @@
 == Network Booting ==
 The ARC Standard mandates network booting of an operating system via [[BOOTP]]/[[TFTP]] or alternatively DCL/RIPL.  Most implementations comply to that with a varying degree of buggyness; the exception is the [[Jazz|Olivetti M700-10]] where network booting is not supported at all.
 === TFTP Problems ===

@@ Line 258: / Line 258: @@
 == ECOFF and ELF support ==
-The ARC standard mandates [[ECOFF]] support only.  While appropriate for the UNIX flavours of the time which often still based on ECOFF and convenient for Windows NT which is using [[Wikipedia:Portable Executable|PECOFF]], an variant of ECOFF with an MSDOS .exe header added it wasn't appropriate for any modern flavor of UNIX which usually are based on the [[ELF]] binary format.  Depending on the age and operating systems offered by a particular vendor many ARC firmware variants only support ECOFF.
+The ARC standard mandates [[ECOFF]] support only.  While appropriate for the UNIX flavours of the time--which were often still based on ECOFF--and also convenient for Windows NT, which uses [[Wikipedia:Portable Executable|PECOFF]] (a variant of ECOFF, in which an MSDOS .exe header is added to the beginning of ECOFF object files), nevertheless ECOFF is not appropriate for any modern flavor of UNIX, which usually are based on the [[ELF]] binary format.
 === Booting the kernel fails with PROM error messages ===
     >> boot bootp()/vmlinux
 +592+11520+331680+27848d+3628+5792 entry: 0x8df9a960
@@ Line 268: / Line 272: @@
     Cannot load bootp()/vmlinux
     Illegal f_magic number 0x7f45, expected MIPSELMAGIC or MIPSEBMAGIC.
+</pre>
-This problem has been observed with Indys and with [[RM_200]].  The ''elf2ecoff'' utility which is part of the kernel source allows conversion of an [[ELF]] kernel binary into a bootable [[ECOFF]] binary as the bootfile.  There is also the [[arcboot]] utility which is shipping with recent Indy distributions and which as first stage bootloader is able to boot an [[ELF]] kernel of an ext2 or ext3 filesystem.  Usually [[arcboot]] is the preferable solution.
+This problem has been observed with Indys and with the [[RM_200]].  The ''elf2ecoff'' utility, which is part of the kernel source, allows conversion of an [[ELF]] kernel binary into a bootable [[ECOFF]] binary that can serve as a bootfile.  There is also the [[arcboot]] utility, which ships with recent Indy distributions, and which can boot an [[ELF]] kernel of an ext2 or ext3 filesystem when used as a first-stage boot loader.  Usually [[arcboot]] is the preferable solution.
 == Milo/Pandora ==

@@ Line 253: / Line 253: @@
 == 32-bit vs. 64-bit ==
-The ARC standard understands itself as an environment for a 32-bit operating system.
+The ARC standard was defined as an environment for 32-bit operating systems.  In retrospect this may be considered a short-sighted decision, as indeed the [[R4000]] and [[Wikipedia:DEC_Alpha|DEC Alpha]] architectures were already in production at the time; nonetheless, in the early 1990s a 32-bit environment was deemed sufficient for small to medium sized systems by the authors of the ARC standard.
-With the [[R4000]] and [[Wikipedia:DEC_Alpha|DEC Alpha]] already being around back then a short sighted decission but good enough for another few years on small to medium sized systems.
-As the result most MIPS ARC firmware implementations are 32-bit but a few more recent ones are 64-bit only; the exact way this was done was never published anywhere.  The ARC firmware on [[IP22|Power Indigo 2]], [[IP22|Indigo 2 R10000]], [[IP27|Origin]], [[IP27|Onyx 2]], [[IP30|Octane]] systems is known to be 64-bit.
+As a result, most MIPS ARC firmware implementations are 32-bit; however, a few of the more recent implementations are 64-bit only.  An explanation of the exact way the 64-bit versions were implemented, as compared to the 32-bit versions, was never published.  The ARC firmwares on [[IP22|Power Indigo 2]], [[IP22|Indigo 2 R10000]], [[IP27|Origin]], [[IP27|Onyx 2]], [[IP30|Octane]] systems are known to be 64-bit.
 == ECOFF and ELF support ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:53, 17 May 2006
Line 322:		Line 322:

	When using DHCP version 2 you might see the following problem: Your machines receives it's BOOTP reply 3 times but refuses to start TFTP. You can fix this by doing a "unsetenv netaddr" in the PROM command monitor before you boot your system. DHCP version 3 fixes this problem.		When using DHCP version 2 you might see the following problem: Your machines receives it's BOOTP reply 3 times but refuses to start TFTP. You can fix this by doing a "unsetenv netaddr" in the PROM command monitor before you boot your system. DHCP version 3 fixes this problem.
		+
		+	[[Category:ARC]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 The ARC/ARCS maintains an environment, which is a list of variable names and corresponding values (the values are actually text strings). These environment variables contain information that the command monitor either uses itself or passes to booted programs.  The system stores some environment variables (those that are important and unlikely to change frequently) in NVRAM.
-{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
+{| {{PrettyTable}}
 !Variable
 !Description
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ARCS and ARC differs in some (API) constants:
-{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
+{| {{PrettyTable}}
 !Name
 !ARCS
@@ Line 106: / Line 106: @@
 '''SCSI IDs''':
-{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
+{| {{PrettyTable}}
 !Device
 !ARCS
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 Firmware functions are called indirectly through call vector table. Arguments to functions are placed in registers a0 to a3. Return values are placed in register v0.
-{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
+{| {{PrettyTable}}
 ! N  || Offset || Name
 |-

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 The ARC/ARCS maintains an environment, which is a list of variable names and corresponding values (the values are actually text strings). These environment variables contain information that the command monitor either uses itself or passes to booted programs.  The system stores some environment variables (those that are important and unlikely to change frequently) in NVRAM.
-{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
+{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
 !Variable
 !Description
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ARCS and ARC differs in some (API) constants:
-{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
+{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
 !Name
 !ARCS
@@ Line 106: / Line 106: @@
 '''SCSI IDs''':
-{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
+{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
 !Device
 !ARCS
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 Firmware functions are called indirectly through call vector table. Arguments to functions are placed in registers a0 to a3. Return values are placed in register v0.
+{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" valign="top" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
-  N  Offset  Name
+! N  || Offset || Name
-  0x00   Load
+|-
-  0x04   Invoke
+| 00 || 0x00 || Load
-  0x08   Execute
+|-
-  0x0c   Halt
+| 01 || 0x04 || Invoke
-  0x10   PowerDown
+|-
-  0x14   Restart
+| 02 || 0x08 || Execute
-  0x18   Reboot
+|-
-  0x1c   EnterInteractiveMode
+| 03 || 0x0c || Halt
-  0x20   ReturnFromMain
+|-
-  0x24   GetPeer
+| 04 || 0x10 || PowerDown
-  0x28   GetChild
+|-
-  0x2c   GetParent
+| 05 || 0x14 ||  Restart
-  0x30   GetConfigurationData
+|-
-  0x34   AddChild
+| 06 || 0x18 || Reboot
-  0x38   DeleteComponent
+|-
-  0x3c   GetComponent
+| 07 || 0x1c || EnterInteractiveMode
-  0x40   SaveConfiguration
+|-
-  0x44   GetSystemId
+| 08 || 0x20 || ReturnFromMain
-  0x48   GetMemoryDescriptor
+|-
-  0x4c   Signal
+| 09 || 0x24 || GetPeer
-  0x50   GetTime
+|-
-  0x54   GetRelativeTime
+| 10 || 0x28 || GetChild
-  0x58   GetDirectoryEntry
+|-
-  0x5c   Open
+| 11 || 0x2c || GetParent
-  0x60   Close
+|-
-  0x64   Read
+| 12 ||  0x30 ||  GetConfigurationData
-  0x68   GetReadStatus
+|-
-  0x6c   Write
+| 13 ||  0x34 ||  AddChild
-  0x70   Seek
+|-
-  0x74   Mount
+| 14 ||  0x38 ||  DeleteComponent
-  0x78   GetEnvironmentVariable
+|-
-  0x7c   SetEnvironmentVariable
+| 15 ||  0x3c ||  GetComponent
-  0x80   GetFileInformation
+|-
-  0x84   SetFileInformation
+| 16 ||  0x40 ||  SaveConfiguration
-  0x88   FlushAllCaches
+|-
-  0x8c   TestUnicodeCharacter
+| 17 ||  0x44 ||  GetSystemId
-  0x90   GetDisplayStatus
+|-
 Note, there is no Unlink or Erase call.

@@ Line 100: / Line 100: @@
 === SCSI Host ID ===
-On the most SGI's computers the default SCSI Host ID is 0 instead of 7.
+On the most SGI's computers the default SCSI controller Host ID is 0 instead of 7.
 See [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sgi/faq/hardware/index.html SGI hardware Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)], section 52.