2 The FreeBSD Documentation Project
3 The FreeBSD French Documentation Project
7 Original revision: 1.43
14 <firstname>Wilko</firstname>
15 <surname>Bulte</surname>
16 <contrib>Maintained by </contrib>
21 <title>Supported processors and motherboards</title>
23 <para>Additions, corrections and constructive criticism are invited. In
24 particular, information on system quirks is more than welcome.</para>
27 <title>Overview</title>
29 <para>This document tries to provide a starting point for those
30 who want to run &os; on an Alpha-based machine. It is
31 aimed at providing background information on the various hardware
32 designs. It is not a replacement for the systems manuals.</para>
34 <para>The information is structured as follows:</para>
37 <para>general hardware requirements to run &os; on alpha;</para>
40 <para>system specific information for each of the
41 systems/boards supported by &os;;</para>
44 <para>information on expansion boards for &os;,
45 including things that differ from what is in the generic
46 supported hardware list.</para>
51 <para>You will see references to DEC, Digital Equipment Corporation and
52 Compaq used more or less interchangeably. Now that Compaq has acquired
53 Digital Equipment it would be more correct to refer to Compaq only.
54 Given the fact that you will see the mix of names everywhere, I don't
59 <para>SRM commands will be in <userinput>UPPER CASE</userinput>.
60 Lower case input is also acceptable to SRM. Upper case is used for
65 <para>Compaq has put information on the Web for Linux developers
66 that is also very useful for &os; users. Please check at
67 <ulink url="http://www.support.compaq.com/alpha-tools/">Linux Alpha
68 Power tools</ulink>.</para>
74 <title>In general, what do you need to run &os; on an Alpha?</title>
76 <para>Obviously you will need an Alpha machine that &os;
77 knows about. Alpha machines are NOT like PCs. There are
78 considerable differences between the various core logic chip sets and
79 mainboard designs. This means that a kernel needs to know the
80 intimate details of a particular machine before it can run on
81 it. Throwing some odd <filename>GENERIC</filename> kernel at
82 unknown hardware is almost guaranteed to fail miserably.</para>
84 <para>For a machine even to be considered for &os; use please
85 make sure it has the SRM console firmware installed. Or at least
86 make sure that SRM console firmware is available for the
87 particular machine type. If &os; does not currently support
88 your machine type, there is a good chance that this will change at
89 some point in time, assuming SRM is available. All bets are off when
90 SRM console firmware is not available.</para>
92 <para>Machines with the ARC or AlphaBIOS console firmware were
93 intended for WindowsNT. Some have SRM console firmware available
94 in the system ROMs which you only have to select (via an ARC or
95 AlphaBIOS menu). In other cases you will have to re-flash the ROMs
96 with SRM code. Check on
97 http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware to see what is
98 available for your particular system. In any case: no SRM means
99 <emphasis>no</emphasis>
100 &os; (or NetBSD, OpenBSD, Tru64 Unix or OpenVMS for that
101 matter). With the demise of WindowsNT/alpha a lot of former NT
102 boxes are sold on the second hand market. They have little or no
103 trade-in value when they are NT-only from the console firmware
104 perspective. So, be suspicious if the price appears too good.</para>
106 <para>Known non-SRM machines are:</para>
109 <para>Digital XL series</para>
112 <para>Digital XLT series</para>
115 <para>Samsung PC164UX (<quote>Ruffian</quote>)</para>
118 <para>Samsung 164B</para>
122 <para>Machines that have SRM but are not supported by &os; are:</para>
125 <para>DECpc 150 (<quote>Jensen</quote>)</para>
128 <para>DEC 2000/300 (<quote>Jensen</quote>)</para>
131 <para>DEC 2000/500 (<quote>Culzean</quote>)</para>
134 <para>AXPvme series (<quote>Medulla</quote>)</para>
138 <para>To complicate things a bit further: Digital used to have so
139 called <quote>white-box</quote> Alpha machines destined as NT-only
140 and <quote>blue-box</quote> Alpha machines destined for OpenVMS
141 and Digital Unix. These names are based on the color of the
142 cabinets, <quote>FrostWhite</quote> and <quote>TopGunBlue</quote>
143 respectively. Although you could put the SRM console firmware on a
144 whitebox, OpenVMS and Digital Unix will refuse to boot on
145 them. &os; in post-4.0-RELEASE will run on both the white and the
146 blue-box variants. Before someone asks: the white ones had a
147 rather different (read: cheaper) Digital price tag.</para>
149 <para>As part of the SRM you will get the so called OSF/1 PAL code
150 (OSF/1 being the initial name of Digital's UNIX offering on
151 Alpha). The PAL code can be thought of as a software abstraction
152 layer between the hardware and the operating system. It uses
153 normal CPU instruction plus a handful of privileged instructions
154 specific for PAL use. PAL is not microcode. The ARC console
155 firmware contains a different PAL code, geared towards WinNT and
156 in no way suitable for use by &os; (or more generic: Unix or
157 OpenVMS). Before someone asks: Linux/alpha brings its own PAL
158 code, allowing it to boot on ARC and AlphaBIOS. There are various
159 reasons why this is not a very good idea in the eyes of the *BSD
160 folks. I don't want to go into details here. If you are interested
161 in the gory details search the &os; and NetBSD web sites.</para>
163 <para>There is another pitfall ahead: you will need a disk adapter
164 that the SRM console firmware recognizes in order to be able to boot from
165 a disk. What is acceptable to SRM as a boot adapter is
166 unfortunately highly system and SRM version dependent. For older PCI
167 based machines it means you will need either a NCR/Symbios
168 53C810 based adapter, or a Qlogic 1020/1040 based adapter. Some
169 machines come with a SCSI chip embedded on the mainboard. Newer
170 machine designs and SRM versions will be able to work with more modern
171 SCSI chips/adapters. Check out the machine specific info
172 below. Please note that the rest of this discussion only refers to
173 Symbios chips, this is meant to include the older chips that still
174 have NCR stamped on them. Symbios bought NCR sometime.</para>
176 <para>The problem might bite those who have machines that started
177 their lives as WindowsNT boxes. The ARC or AlphaBIOS knows about
178 <emphasis>other</emphasis> adapter types that it can boot from
179 than the SRM. For example you can boot from an Adaptec 2940UW with
180 ARC/AlphaBios but (generally) not with SRM. Some newer machine types have
181 introduced Adaptec boot support. Please consult the machine
182 specific section for details.</para>
184 <para>Most adapters that cannot be booted from work fine for
185 data-only disks. The differences between SRM and ARC could also
186 get you pre-packaged IDE CDROMs and hard drives in some (former
187 WindowsNT) systems. SRM versions exist (depends on the machine type)
188 that can boot from IDE disks and CDROMs. Check the machine
189 specific section for details.</para>
191 <para>&os; 4.0 and later can be booted from the
192 distribution CDROM. Earlier versions needed booting from a
193 2 disk floppy set.</para>
195 <para>In order to be bootable the root partition (partition a)
196 must be at offset 0 of the disk drive. This means you have to
197 use the installer's partitioning menu and start with assigning
198 partition a at offset 0 to the root partition. Subsequently layout
199 the rest of the partitions to your liking. If you do not adhere
200 to this rule the install will proceed just fine, but the system
201 will not be bootable from the freshly installed disk.</para>
203 <para>If you don't have/want a local disk drive you can boot via
204 the Ethernet. This assumes an Ethernet adapter/chip that is
205 recognized by the SRM console. Generally speaking this boils down to
206 either a 21040 or 21142 or 21143 based Ethernet interface. Older
207 machines or SRM versions may not recognize the 21142 / 21143 Fast
208 Ethernet chips, you are then limited to using 10Mbit Ethernet for net
209 booting those machines. Non-DEC cards based on said chips will
210 generally (but are not guaranteed to) work. Note that Intel took
211 over the 21x4x chips when it bought Digital Semiconductor. So you
212 might see an Intel logo on them these days. Recent machine designs
213 have SRM support for Intel 8255x Ethernet chips.</para>
215 <para>Alpha machines can be run with SRM on a graphics console or
216 on a serial console. ARC can also be run on a serial consoles if need
217 be. VT100 emulation with 8 bit controls should at least allow you
218 to switch from ARC/AlphaBIOS to SRM mode without having to install a
219 graphics card first.</para>
221 <para>If you want to run your Alpha machine without a monitor/graphics
222 card just don't connect a keyboard/mouse to the machine. Instead
223 hook up a serial terminal[emulator] to serial port #1. The SRM
224 will talk 9600N81 to you. This can also be really practical for
225 debugging purposes. Beware: some/most (?) SRMs will also present
226 you with a console prompt at serial port #2. The booting kernel,
227 however, will display the boot messages on serial port #1 and will
228 also put the console there. <emphasis>This can be extremely
229 confusing.</emphasis></para>
231 <para>Most PCI based Alphas can use ordinary PC-type VGA
232 cards. The SRM contains enough smarts to make that work. It does
233 not, however, mean that each and every PCI VGA card out on the
234 street will work in an Alpha machine. Things like S3 Trio64,
235 Mach64, and Matrox Millennium generally work. Old ET4000 based ISA
236 cards have also worked for me. But ask around first before buying.</para>
238 <para>Most PCI devices from the PC-world will also work in
239 &os; PCI-based machines. Check the
240 <filename>/sys/alpha/conf/GENERIC</filename> file for the latest word
241 on this. Check the appropriate machine type's
242 discussion in case you want to use PCI cards that have PCI bridge
243 chips on them. In some cases you might encounter problems with
244 PCI cards not handling PCI parity correctly. This can lead to
245 panics. PCI parity checking can be disabled using the following
248 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET PCI_PARITY OFF</userinput></screen>
250 <para>This is not a &os; problem, all operating systems running on
251 Alpha hardware will need this workaround.</para>
253 <para>If your system (also) contains EISA expansion slots you will
254 need to run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) after you have
255 installed EISA cards or after you have upgraded your
256 console firmware.</para>
258 <para>For Alpha CPUs you will find multiple generations. The
259 original Alpha design is the 21064. It was produced in a chip
260 process called MOS4, chips made in this process are nicknamed
261 EV4. Newer CPUs are 21164, 21264 etc. You will see designations
262 like EV4S, EV45, EV5, EV56, EV6, EV67, EV68. The EVs with double digit
263 numbers are slightly improved versions. For example EV45 has an
264 improved FPU and 16 kByte on-chip separate I & D caches compared
265 to the EV4 on which it is based. Rule of thumb: the higher the
266 digit immediately following <quote>EV</quote> the more desirable
267 (read: faster / more modern).</para>
269 <para>For memory you want at least 32 Mbytes. I have had
270 &os; run on a 16 Mbyte system but you will not enjoy
271 that. Kernel build times halved when I went to 32 Mbytes. Note that
272 the SRM console steals 2Mbyte from the total system memory (and keeps
273 it). For more serious work 64 Mbytes or more are recommended.</para>
275 <para>While on the subject of memory: pay close attention to the
276 type of memory your machine uses. There are very different memory
277 configurations and requirements for the various machines.</para>
279 <para>Final word: I expect the above to sound a bit daunting to
280 the first-time Alpha user. Don't be daunted too much. And do feel
281 free to ask questions if something is not clear after reading this
287 <title>System-specific information</title>
289 <para>Below is an overview of the hardware that &os; runs on. This list
290 will definitely grow, a look in
291 <filename>/sys/alpha/conf/GENERIC</filename> can be enlightening.</para>
293 <para>Alpha machines are often best known by their project code name.
294 Where known these are listed below in parentheses.</para>
297 <title>AXPpci33 (<quote>NoName</quote>)</title>
299 <para>The NoName is a baby-AT mainboard based on the 21066 LCA
300 (Low Cost Alpha) processor. NoName was originally designed for
301 OEM-use. The LCA chip includes almost all of the logic to drive
302 a PCI bus and the memory subsystem. All of this makes for a
303 low-priced design.</para>
305 <para>Due to the limited memory interface the system is not
306 particularly fast in case of cache misses. As long as you stay
307 inside the on-chip cache the CPU is comparable to a 21064 (first
308 generation Alpha). These boards should be very cheap to obtain
309 these days. It is a full-fledged 64 bit CPU, just don't expect
310 miracles as far as speed goes.</para>
312 <para>Features:</para>
315 <para>21066 Alpha CPU at 166 MHz or 21066A CPU at 233MHz.
316 21068 CPUs are also possible, but are even slower.</para>
319 <para>on-board Bcache / L2 cache: 0, 256k or 1 Mbyte (uses
323 <para>PS/2 mouse & keyboard port OR 5pin DIN keyboard (2
324 mainboard models)</para>
330 <para>bus width: 64 bits</para>
333 <para>PS/2 style 72 pin 36 bit Fast Page Mode SIMMs</para>
336 <para>70ns or better</para>
339 <para>installed in pairs of 2</para>
342 <para>4 SIMM sockets</para>
345 <para>uses ECC</para>
350 <para>512kB Flash ROM for the console code.</para>
353 <para>2 16550A serial ports</para>
356 <para>1 parallel port</para>
359 <para>floppy interface</para>
362 <para>1 embedded IDE interface</para>
365 <para>expansion:</para>
368 <para>3 32 bit PCI slots (1 shared with ISA)</para>
371 <para>5 ISA slots (1 shared with PCI)</para>
376 <para>embedded Fast SCSI using a Symbios 53C810 chip</para>
380 <para>NoNames can either have SRM <emphasis>or</emphasis> ARC console
381 firmware in their Flash ROM. The Flash ROM is not big enough to
382 hold both ARC and SRM at the same time and allow software
383 selection of alternate console code. But you only need SRM
386 <para>Cache for the NoNames are 15 or 20 ns DIL chips. For a 256
387 kByte cache you want to check your junked 486 mainboard. Chips
388 for a 1 Mbyte cache are a rarer breed unfortunately. Getting at
389 least a 256kByte cache is recommended performance
390 wise. Cache-less they are really slow.</para>
392 <para>The NoName mainboard has a PC/AT-standard power
393 connector. It also has a power connector for 3.3 Volts. No need
394 to rush out to get a new power supply. The 3.3 Volts is only
395 needed in case you run 3.3 Volts PCI expansion boards. These are
398 <para>The IDE interface is supported by &os; and requires a
399 line in the kernel configuration file as follows:</para>
401 <programlisting>device ata</programlisting>
403 <para>The ATA interface uses irq 14.</para>
405 <para>The SRM console unfortunately <emphasis> cannot boot</emphasis>
406 from IDE disks. This means you will have to use a SCSI disk as
407 the boot device.</para>
409 <para>The NoName is somewhat stubborn when it comes to serial
410 consoles. It needs</para>
411 <screen>>>> <userinput>SET CONSOLE SERIAL</userinput></screen>
412 <para>before it goes for a serial console. Pulling the keyboard from
413 the machine is not sufficient, like it is on most other Alpha models.
414 Going back to a graphical console needs</para>
415 <screen>>>> <userinput>SET CONSOLE GRAPHICS</userinput></screen>
416 <para>at the serial console.</para>
418 <para>There have been reports that you sometimes need to press
419 <keycap>Control</keycap>-<keycap>Alt</keycap>-<keycap>Del</keycap>
420 to capture the SRM's attention. I have
421 never seen this myself, but it is worth trying if you are greeted
422 by a blank screen after powerup.</para>
424 <para>Make sure you use true 36 bit SIMMs, and only FPM (Fast
425 Page Mode) DRAM. EDO DRAM or SIMMs with fake parity <emphasis>will not
426 work</emphasis>. The board uses the 4 extra bits for ECC. 33
427 bit FPM SIMMs will for the same reason not work.</para>
429 <para>Given the choice, get the PS/2-variant mainboard. Apart
430 from giving you a mouse port as bonus it is directly supported
431 by Tru64 Unix in case you ever want or need to run it. The
432 <quote>DIN-plug</quote>-variant should work OK for &os;.</para>
435 url="ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/axppci/design_guide.ps">
436 OEM manual</ulink> is recommended reading.</para>
438 <para>The kernel configuration file for a NoName kernel must
441 <programlisting>options DEC_AXPPCI_33
442 cpu EV4</programlisting>
447 <title>Universal Desktop Box (UDB or <quote>Multia</quote>)</title>
449 <note><para>Multia can be either Intel or Alpha CPU based. We
450 assume Alpha based ones here for obvious reasons.</para></note>
452 <para>Multia is a small desktop box intended as a sort of
453 personal workstation. They come in a considerable number of
454 variations, check closely what you get.</para>
456 <para>Features:</para>
459 <para>21066 Alpha CPU at 166 MHz or 21066A CPU at 233MHz</para>
462 <para>on-board Bcache / L2 cache: COAST-like 256 kByte
463 cache module; 233MHz models have 512kByte of cache;
464 166MHz models have soldered-on 256kB caches</para>
467 <para>PS/2 mouse & keyboard port</para>
473 <para>bus width: 64 bits</para>
476 <para>PS/2 style 72 pin 36 bit Fast Page Mode SIMMs</para>
479 <para>70ns or better</para>
482 <para>SIMMs are installed in pairs of 2</para>
485 <para>4 SIMM sockets</para>
488 <para>uses ECC</para>
493 <para>2 16550A serial ports</para>
496 <para>1 parallel port</para>
499 <para>floppy interface</para>
502 <para>Intel 82378ZB PCI to ISA bridge</para>
505 <para>1 embedded 21040 based 10Mbit Ethernet, AUI and
506 10base2 connector</para>
509 <para>expansion:</para>
512 <para>1 32 bit PCI slot</para>
515 <para>2 PCMCIA slots</para>
520 <para>on-board Crystal CS4231 or AD1848 sound chip</para>
523 <para>embedded Fast SCSI, using a Symbios 53C810[A] chip on the
524 PCI riser card</para>
528 <para>Multia has enough Flash ROM to store both SRM and ARC code
529 at the same time and allow software selection of one of them.</para>
531 <para>The embeded TGA video adapter is <emphasis>not</emphasis> currently
532 usable as a &os; console. You will need to use a serial console.</para>
534 <para>Multia has only one 32 bit PCI slot for expansion, and it
535 is only suitable for a small form factor PCI card. By
536 sacrificing the PCI slot space you can mount a 3.5" hard disk
537 drive. Mounting stuff may have come with your Multia. Adding a
538 3.5" disk is <emphasis>not</emphasis> a recommended upgrade
539 due to the limited power rating of the power supply
540 and the extremely marginal cooling of
541 the system box.</para>
543 <para>Multia also has 2 PCMCIA expansion slots. These are
544 currently not supported by &os;.</para>
546 <para>The CPU might or might not be socketed, check this before
547 considering CPU upgrade hacks. The low-end Multias have a
548 soldered-in CPU.</para>
550 <para>Multia has 2 serial ports but routes both of them to the
551 outside world on a single 25 pin sub-D connector. The Multia FAQ
552 explains how to build your own Y-cable to allow both ports to be
555 <para>Although the Multia SRM supports booting from floppy this
556 can be problematic. Typically the errors look like:</para>
558 <screen>*** Soft Error - Error #10 - FDC: Data overrun or underrun</screen>
560 <para>This is not a &os; problem, it is a SRM problem. The best available
561 workaround to install &os; is to boot from a SCSI CDROM.</para>
563 <para>There have been reports that you sometimes need to press
564 <keycap>Control</keycap>-<keycap>Alt</keycap>-<keycap>Del</keycap>
565 to capture the SRM's attention. I have
566 never seen this myself, but it is worth trying when you are greeted
567 by a blank screen after powerup.</para>
569 <para>Sound works fine using &man.pcm.4; driver and a line in the
570 kernel configuration file as follows for the Crystal CS4231
573 <programlisting>device pcm</programlisting>
575 <para>The sound device lives at port 0x530, and uses irq 9 along
576 with drq 3. You also need to specify flags 0x15 in the <filename>device.hints</filename> file.</para>
578 <para>I have not yet been successful in getting my Multia with
579 the AD1848 to play any sound.</para>
581 <para>While verifying playback I was reminded of the lack of CPU
582 power of the 166MHz CPU. MP3 only plays acceptable using 22kHz
583 down-sampling.</para>
585 <para>Multias are somewhat notorious for dying of heat
586 strokes. The very compact box does not really allow access to cooling air.
587 Please use the Multia on its vertical stand,
588 don't put it horizontally (<quote>pizza style</quote>). Replacing the
589 fan with something which pushes around more air is really
590 recommended. You can also cut one of the wires to the fan speed
591 sensor. Once cut, the fan runs at a (loud) full speed.
592 Beware of PCI cards with high power consumption.
593 If your system has died you might want to check the
594 Multia-Heat-Death pages at the
595 <ulink url="http://www.netbsd.org/">NetBSD Web site</ulink>
596 for help in reviving it.</para>
598 <para>The Intel 82378ZB PCI to ISA bridge enables the use of an
599 IDE disk. This requires a line in the kernel configuration file
602 <programlisting>device ata</programlisting>
604 <para>The ATA interface uses IRQ 14.</para>
606 <para>The IDE connector pin spacing is thought for 2.5" laptop
607 disks. A 3.5" IDE disk would not fit in the case anyway. At
608 least not without sacrificing your only PCI slot. The SRM
609 console unfortunately does not know how to boot from IDE
610 disks. You will need to use a SCSI disk as the boot disk.</para>
612 <para>In case you want to change the internal hard drive: the
613 internal flat cable running from the PCI riser board to the
614 <emphasis>2.5"</emphasis>
615 hard drive has a finer pitch than the standard SCSI flat
616 cables. Otherwise it would not fit on the 2.5" drives. There are
617 also riser cards that have a standard-pitch SCSI cable attached
618 to it, which will fit an ordinary SCSI disk.</para>
620 <para>Again, I recommend against trying to cram a replacement
621 hard disk inside. Use the external SCSI connector and put your
622 disk in an external enclosure. Multias run hot enough as-is. In
623 most cases you will have the external high density 50-pin SCSI
624 connector but some Multia models came without disk and may lack
625 the connector. Something to check before buying one.</para>
627 <para>The kernel configuration file for a Multia kernel must
630 <programlisting>options DEC_AXPPCI_33
631 cpu EV4</programlisting>
633 <para>Recommended reading on Multia can be found at
634 <ulink url="http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/alpha/multiafaq.html">
635 http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/alpha/multiafaq.html</ulink>
636 or <ulink url="http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/computers/udb.html">
637 http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/computers/udb.html</ulink>.</para>
642 <title>Personal Workstation (<quote>Miata</quote>)</title>
644 <para>The Miata is a small tower machine intended to be put
645 under a desk. There are multiple Miata variants. The original
646 Miata is the MX5 model. Because it suffers from a number of
647 hardware design flaws a redesign was done, yielding the
648 MiataGL. Unfortunately the variants are not easily distinguishable
649 at first sight from the outside of the case.
650 An easy check is to see if the back of the machine sports two
651 USB connectors. If yes, it is a MiataGL. MX5 models tend to be
652 more common in the used system market place.</para>
654 <para>System designations look like <quote>Personal Workstation
655 433a</quote>. Personal Workstation, being a bit of a mouthful,
656 is often abbreviated to PWS. This means it has a 433 MHz CPU,
657 and started life as a WinNT workstation (the trailing
658 <quote>a</quote>). Systems designated from day 1 to run Tru64
659 Unix or OpenVMS will sport <quote>433au</quote>. WinNT-Miatas
660 are likely to come pre-configured with an IDE CDROM drive. So,
661 in general systems are named like PWS[433,500,600]a[u].</para>
663 <para>There was also a Miata model with a special CPU cooling
664 system by Kryotech. The Kryotech has a special cooling system
665 and is housed in a different enclosure.</para>
667 <para>Features:</para>
670 <para>21164A EV56 Alpha CPU at 433, 500 or 600MHz</para>
673 <para>21174 Core Logic (<quote>Pyxis</quote>) chip set</para>
676 <para>on-board Bcache / L3 cache: 0, 2 or 4 Mbytes (uses a
679 <listitem><para>memory:</para>
682 <para>bus width: 128 bits wide, ECC protected</para>
685 <para>unbuffered 72 bit wide SDRAMs DIMMs,
686 installed in pairs of 2</para>
689 <para>6 DIMM sockets</para>
692 <para>maximum memory 1.5 GBytes</para>
697 <para>on-board Fast Ethernet:</para>
700 <para>MX5 uses a 21142 or 21143 Ethernet chip,
701 dependent on the version of the PCI riser card</para>
704 <para>MiataGL has a 21143 chip</para>
707 <para>the bulkhead can be 10/100 Mbit UTP, or
708 10 Mbit UTP/BNC</para>
713 <para>2 on-board [E]IDE disk interfaces, based on
714 the CMD646 (MX5) or the Cypress 82C693 (MiataGL)</para>
717 <para>1 Ultra-Wide SCSI Qlogic 1040 [MiataGL only]</para>
720 <para>2 64-bit PCI slots</para>
723 <para>3 32-bit PCI slots (behind a DEC PCI-PCI bridge chip)</para>
726 <para>3 ISA slots (physically shared with the 32 bit PCI slots,
727 via an Intel 82378IB PCI to ISA bridge chip)</para>
730 <para>2 16550A serial port</para>
733 <para>1 parallel port</para>
736 <para>PS/2 keyboard & mouse port</para>
739 <para>USB interface [MiataGL only]</para>
742 <para>embedded sound based on an ESS1888 chip</para>
746 <para>The Miata logic is divided into two printed circuit
747 boards. The lower board in the bottom of the machine has the
748 PCI and ISA slots and things like the sound chip etc. The top
749 board has the CPU, the Pyxis chip, memory etc. Note that MX5
750 and the MiataGL use a different PCI riser board. This means
751 that you cannot just upgrade to a MiataGL CPU board (with the
752 newer Pyxis chip) but that you will also need a different
753 riser board. Apparently an MX5 riser with a MiataGL CPU board
754 will work but it is definitely not a supported or tested
755 configuration. Everything else (cabinet, wiring, etc.) is
756 identical for MX5 and MiataGL.</para>
758 <para>MX5 has problems with DMA via the 2 64-bit PCI slots
759 when this DMA crosses a page boundary. The 32 bit slots don't
760 have this problem because the PCI-PCI bridge chip does not
761 allow the offending transfers. The SRM code knows about the
762 problem and refuses to start the system if there is a PCI card
763 in one of the 64bit slots that it does not know about. Cards
764 that are <quote>known good</quote> to the SRM are allowed to
765 be used in the 64bit slots.</para>
767 <para>If you want to fool the SRM you can type <userinput>set
768 pci_device_override</userinput> at the SRM prompt. Just don't
769 complain if your data mysteriously gets mangled.</para>
771 <para>The complete command is:</para>
773 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET PCI_DEVICE_OVERRIDE <replaceable><vendor_id></replaceable><replaceable><device_id></replaceable></userinput></screen>
775 <para>For example:</para>
777 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET PCI_DEVICE_OVERRIDE 88c15333</userinput></screen>
779 <para>The most radical approach is to use:</para>
781 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET PCI_DEVICE_OVERRIDE -1</userinput></screen>
783 <para>This disables PCI ID checking altogether, so that you
784 can install any PCI card without its ID getting
785 checked. For this to work you need a reasonable current SRM version.</para>
786 <important><para>Do this on your own risk..</para></important>
788 <para>The &os; kernel reports it when it sees a buggy Pyxis chip:</para>
790 <screen>Sep 16 18:39:43 miata /kernel: cia0: Pyxis, pass 1
791 Sep 16 18:39:43 miata /kernel: cia0: extended capabilities: 1<BWEN>
792 Sep 16 18:39:43 miata /kernel: cia0: WARNING: Pyxis pass 1 DMA bug; no bets...</screen>
794 <para>A MiataGL probes as:</para>
796 <screen>Jan 3 12:22:32 miata /kernel: cia0: Pyxis, pass 1
797 Jan 3 12:22:32 miata /kernel: cia0: extended capabilities: 1<BWEN>
798 Jan 3 12:22:32 miata /kernel: pcib0: <2117x PCI host bus adapter> on cia0</screen>
800 <para>MiataGL does not have the DMA problems of the MX5. PCI
801 cards that make the MX5 SRM choke when installed in the 64bit
802 slots are accepted without problems by the MiataGL SRM.</para>
804 <para>The latest mainboard revisions of MX5 contain a hardware
805 workaround for the bug. The SRM does not know about the ECO
806 and will complain about unknown cards as before. So does the
807 &os; kernel by the way.</para>
809 <para>The Miata SRM can boot from IDE CDROM drives. IDE hard disk
810 boot is known to work for both MiataGL and MX5 disks, so you
811 can root &os; from an IDE disk. Speeds on MX5 are around 14
812 Mbytes/sec assuming a suitable drive. Miata's CMD646 chip will
813 support up to WDMA2 mode as the chip is too buggy for use
816 <para>Miata MX5s generally use Qlogic 1040 based SCSI adapters.
817 These are bootable by the SRM console. Note that Adaptec cards
818 are <emphasis>not</emphasis> bootable by the Miata SRM console.</para>
820 <para>The MiataGL has a faster PCI-PCI bridge chip on the PCI
821 riser card than some of the MX5 riser card versions. Some of
822 the MX5 risers have the <emphasis>same</emphasis> chip as the
823 MiataGL. All in all there is a lot of variation.</para>
825 <para>Not all VGA cards will work behind the PCI-PCI
826 bridge. This manifests itself as no video at all. Workaround
827 is to put the VGA card <quote>before</quote> the bridge, in
828 one of the 64 bit PCI slots.</para>
830 <para>Both MX5 and MiataGL have an on-board sound chip, an
831 ESS1888. It emulates a SoundBlaster and can be enabled by
833 <programlisting>device pcm
834 device sbc</programlisting>
835 <para>in your kernel configuration file:</para>
837 <para>in case your Miata has the optional cache board
838 installed make sure it is firmly seated. A slightly loose
839 cache has been observed to cause weird crashes (not surprising
840 obviously, but maybe not so obvious when troubleshooting). The
841 cache module is identical between MX5 and MiataGL.</para>
843 <para>Installing a 2Mb cache module achieves, apart from a
844 10-15% speed increase (based on buildworld elapsed time), a
845 <emphasis>decrease</emphasis> for PCI DMA read bandwidth from
846 64bit PCI cards. A benchmark on a 64-bit Myrinet card resulted
847 in a decrease from 149 Mbytes/sec to 115 Mbytes/sec. Something
848 to keep in mind when doing really high speed things with 64
849 bit PCI adapters.</para>
851 <para>Moving to a faster CPU is quite simple, swap out the
852 CPU chip and set the clock multiplier dipswitch to the speed of
855 <para>If you experience SRM errors like</para>
857 <screen>ERROR: scancode 0xa3 not supported on PCXAL</screen>
859 <para>after halting &os; you should update your SRM firmware to V7.2-1 or
860 later. This SRM version is first available on the Firmware
861 Update CD V5.7, or on <ulink
862 url="http://www.compaq.com/">http://www.compaq.com/</ulink> This SRM
863 problem is fixed on both Miata MX5 and Miata GL.</para>
865 <para>USB is supported by &os; 4.1 and later.</para>
867 <para>Disconnect the power cord before dismantling the
868 machine, the soft-power switch keeps part of the logic powered
869 <emphasis>even</emphasis> when the machine is switched off.</para>
871 <para>The kernel configuration file for a Miata kernel must
874 <programlisting>options DEC_ST550
875 cpu EV5</programlisting>
879 <title>Evaluation Board 64 family</title>
881 <para>In its attempts to popularize the Alpha CPU DEC produced a number
882 of so called Evaluation Boards. Members of this family are EB64, EB64+,
883 AlphaPC64 (codename <quote>Cabriolet</quote>).
884 A non-DEC member of this family is the Aspen Alpine.
885 The EB64 family of evaluation boards has the following
890 <para>21064 or 21064A CPU, 150 to 275 MHz</para>
896 <para>memory buswidth: 128 bit</para>
899 <para>PS/2 style 72 pin 33 bit Fast Page Mode SIMMs</para>
902 <para>70ns or better</para>
905 <para>installed in sets of 4</para>
908 <para>8 SIMM sockets</para>
911 <para>uses parity memory</para>
916 <para>Bcache / L2 cache: 0, 512 kByte, 1 Mbyte or 2 Mbytes</para>
919 <para>21072 (<quote>APECS</quote>) chip set</para>
922 <para>Intel 82378ZB PCI to ISA bridge chip (<quote>Saturn</quote>)
926 <para>dual 16550A serial ports</para>
929 <para>parallel printer port</para>
932 <para>Symbios 53C810 Fast-SCSI (not on AlphaPC64)</para>
935 <para>IDE interface (only on AlphaPC64)</para>
938 <para>embedded 10 Mbit Ethernet (not on AlphaPC64)</para>
941 <para>2 PCI slots (4 slots on AlphaPC64)</para>
944 <para>3 ISA slots</para>
948 <para>Aspen Alpine is slightly different, but is close enough to the
949 EB64+ to run an EB64+ SRM EPROM (mine did..). The Aspen Alpine does
950 not have an embedded Ethernet, has 3 instead of 2 PCI slots. It comes
951 with 2 Mbytes of cache already soldered onto the mainboard. It has
952 jumpers to select the use of 60, 70 or 80ns SIMM speeds.</para>
954 <para>36 bits SIMMs work fine, 3 bits simply remain unused. Note
955 the systems use Fast Page Mode memory, not EDO memory.</para>
957 <para>The EB64+ SRM console code is housed in an UV-erasable EPROM. No
958 easy flash SRM upgrades for the EB64+ The latest SRM version available
959 for EB64+ is quite ancient anyway.</para>
961 <para>The EB64+ SRM can boot both 53C810 and Qlogic1040 SCSI adapters.
962 Pitfall for the Qlogic is that the firmware that is down-loaded by
963 the SRM onto the Qlogic chip is very old. There are no updates for the
964 EB64+ SRM available. So you are stuck with old Qlogic bits too.
965 I have had quite some problems when I wanted to use Ultra-SCSI drives
966 on the Alpine with Qlogic. The &os; kernel can be compiled to include
967 a much newer Qlogic firmware revision. This is not the default because
968 it adds hundreds of kBytes worth of bloat to the kernel. In &os; 4.1
969 and later the isp firmware is contained in a kernel loadable module.
970 All of this might mean that you need to use a non-Qlogic adapter to
973 <para>AlphaPC64 boards generally come with ARC console firmware.
974 SRM console code can be loaded from floppy into the Flash ROM.</para>
976 <para>The IDE interface of the AlphaPC64 is not bootable from the
979 <para>Note that the boards require a power supply that supplies
980 3.3 Volts for the CPU.</para>
982 <para>For the EB64 family machines the kernel config file must contain:</para>
983 <programlisting>options DEC_EB64PLUS
984 cpu EV4</programlisting>
989 <title>Evaluation Board 164 (<quote>EB164, PC164, PC164LX,
990 PC164SX</quote>) family</title>
992 <para>EB164 is a newer design evaluation board, based on the 21164A
993 CPU. This design has been used to <quote>spin off</quote> multiple variations,
994 some of which are used by OEM manufacturers/assembly shops. Samsung
995 did its own PC164LX which has only 32 bit PCI, whereas the Digital
996 variant has 64 bit PCI.</para>
1000 <para>21164A, multiple speed variants [EB164, PC164, PC164LX]</para>
1003 <para>21164PC [only on PC164SX]</para>
1006 <para>21174 (Alcor) chip set</para>
1009 <para>Bcache / L3 cache: EB164 uses special cache-SIMMs</para>
1012 <para>memory bus: 128 bit / 256 bit</para>
1015 <para>memory:</para><itemizedlist>
1017 <para>PS/2 style SIMMs in sets of 4 or 8</para>
1020 <para>36 bit, Fast Page Mode, uses ECC, [EB164 / PC164]</para>
1023 <para>SDRAM DIMMs in sets of 2, uses ECC [PC164SX / PC164LX]
1025 </listitem></itemizedlist>
1028 <para>2 16550A serial ports</para>
1031 <para>PS/2 style keyboard & mouse</para>
1034 <para>floppy controller</para>
1037 <para>parallel port</para>
1040 <para>32 bits PCI</para>
1043 <para>64 bits PCI [some models]</para>
1046 <para>ISA slots via an Intel 82378ZB PCI to ISA bridge chip</para>
1050 <para>Using 8 SIMMs for a 256bit wide memory can yield interesting
1051 speedups over a 4 SIMM/128bit wide memory. Obviously all 8 SIMMs must
1052 be of the same type to make this work. The system must be explicitly
1053 setup to use the 8 SIMM memory arrangement. You must have 8 SIMMs,
1054 4 SIMMs distributed over 2 banks will not work. For the AlphaPC164
1055 you can have a maximum of 1Gbyte of RAM, using 8 128Mbyte
1056 SIMMs. The manual indicates the maximum is 512 Mbyte.</para>
1058 <para>The SRM can boot from Qlogic 10xx boards or the Symbios 53C810[A].
1059 Newer Symbios 810 revisions like the Symbios 810AE are not recognized by
1060 the SRM on PC164. PC164 SRM does not appear to recognize a Symbios 53C895
1061 based host adapter (tested with a Tekram DC-390U2W). On the other hand
1062 some no-name Symbios 53C985 board has been reported to work.
1063 Cards like the Tekram DC-390F (Symbios875 based) have been confirmed to
1064 work fine on the PC164. Unfortunately this seems to be dependent on the
1065 actual version of the chip/board.</para>
1067 <para>Symbios 53C825[a] will also work as boot adapter. Diamond
1068 FirePort, although based on Symbios chips, is not bootable by the
1069 PC164SX SRM. PC164SX is reported to boot fine with Symbios825,
1070 Symbios875, Symbios895 and Symbios876 based cards. In addition, Adaptec
1071 2940U and 2940UW are reported to work for booting (verified on
1072 SRM V5.7-1). Adaptec 2930U2 and 2940U2[W] do not work.</para>
1074 <para>164LX and 164SX with SRM firmware version 5.8 or later can boot
1075 from Adaptec 2940-series adapters.</para>
1077 <para>In summary: this family of machines is <quote>blessed</quote> with a
1078 challenging compatibility as far as SCSI adapters go.</para>
1080 <para>On 164SX you can have a maximum of 1 Gbyte of RAM. 4 regular
1081 256MB PC133 ECC DIMMs are reported to work just fine. Whether 512MB
1082 DIMMs will also work is currently unknown.</para>
1084 <para>PCI bridge chips are sometimes not appreciated by the 164SX,
1085 they cause SRM errors and kernel panics in those cases. This seems
1086 to depend on the fact if the card is recognised, and therefore
1087 correctly initialised, by the SRM console. The 164SX' onboard
1088 IDE interface is quite slow, a Promise card gives a 3-4 times
1089 speed improvement.</para>
1091 <para>On PC164 the SRM sometimes seems to loose its variable settings.
1092 <quote>For PC164, current superstition says that, to avoid losing settings,
1093 you want to first downgrade to SRM 4.x and then upgrade to 5.x.</quote>
1094 One sample error that was observed was:</para>
1095 <screen>ERROR: ISA table corrupt!</screen>
1097 <para>A sequence of a downgrade to SRM4.9, an</para>
1099 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>ISACFG -INIT</userinput></screen>
1101 <para>followed by</para>
1103 <screen><prompt>>>> </prompt><userinput>INIT</userinput></screen>
1105 <para>made the problem go away. Some PC164 owners report they have never seen
1106 the problem. </para>
1108 <para>On PC164SX the AlphaBIOS allows you a selection to select SRM to
1109 be used as console on the next power up. This selection does
1110 not appear to have any effect. In other words, you will get the
1111 AlphaBIOS regardless of what you select. The fix is to reflash the
1112 console ROM with the SRM code for PC164SX. This will overwrite the
1113 AlphaBIOS and will get you the SRM console you desire. The SRM code
1114 can be found on the Compaq Web site.</para>
1116 <para>164LX can either have the SRM console code or the AlphaBIOS
1117 code in its flash ROM because the flash ROM is too small to hold
1118 both at the same time.</para>
1120 <para>PC164 can boot from IDE disks assuming your SRM version is
1121 recent enough.</para>
1123 <para>EB164 needs a power supply that supplies 3.3 Volts. PC164 does
1124 not implement the PS_ON signal that ATX power supplies need to switch on.
1125 A simple switch pulling this signal to ground allows you to run a
1126 standard ATX power supply.</para>
1128 <para>For the EB164 class machines the kernel config file must
1130 <programlisting>options DEC_EB164
1131 cpu EV5</programlisting>
1135 <title>AlphaStation 200 (<quote>Mustang</quote>) and 400
1136 (<quote>Avanti</quote>) series</title>
1138 <para>The Digital AlphaStation 200 and 400 series systems are early
1139 low end PCI based workstations. The 200 and 250 series are
1140 desktop boxes, the 400 series is a desk-side mini-tower.</para>
1142 <para>Features:</para>
1145 <para>21064 or 21064A CPU at speeds of 166 up to 333 MHz</para>
1148 <para>DECchip 21071-AA core logic chip-set</para>
1151 <para>Bcache / L2 cache: 512 Kbytes (200 and 400 series)
1152 or 2048KBytes (250 series)</para>
1155 <para>memory:</para>
1158 <para>64 bit bus width</para>
1161 <para>8 to 384 MBytes of RAM</para>
1164 <para>70 ns or better Fast Page DRAM</para>
1167 <para>in three pairs (200 and 400 series)</para>
1170 <para>in two quads, so banks of four. (250 series)</para>
1173 <para>the memory subsystem uses parity</para>
1178 <para>PS/2 keyboard and mouse port</para>
1181 <para>two 16550 serial ports</para>
1184 <para>parallel port</para>
1187 <para>floppy disk interface</para>
1190 <para>32 bit PCI expansion slots (3 for the AS400-series,
1191 2 for the AS200 & 250-series)</para>
1194 <para>ISA expansion slots (4 for the AS400-series,
1195 2 for the AS200 & 250-series)
1196 (some ISA/PCI slots are physically shared)</para>
1199 <para>embedded 21040-based Ethernet (200 & 250 series)</para>
1202 <para>embedded Symbios 53c810 Fast SCSI-2 chip</para>
1205 <para>Intel 82378IB (<quote>Saturn</quote>) PCI-ISA bridge chip</para>
1208 <para>graphics is embedded TGA or PCI VGA (model dependent)</para>
1211 <para>16 bit sound (on 200 & 250 series)</para>
1215 <para>The systems use parity memory SIMMs, but these do not need 36 bit
1216 wide SIMMs. 33 bit wide SIMMs are sufficient, 36 bit SIMMs are
1217 acceptable too. EDO or 32 bit SIMMs will not work. 4, 8, 16, 32 and
1218 64 Mbyte SIMMs are supported.</para>
1220 <para>The AS200 & AS250 sound hardware is reported to work OK assuming
1221 you have the following line in your kernel config file:</para>
1222 <programlisting>device pcm</programlisting>
1224 <para>The sound device uses port 0x530, IRQ 9 and drq 0. You also need
1225 to specify flags 0x10011 in the <filename>device.hints</filename> file.</para>
1227 <para>AlphaStation 200 & 250 series have an automatic SCSI terminator.
1228 This means that as soon as you plug a cable onto the external SCSI
1229 connector the internal terminator of the system is disabled. It also
1230 means that you should not leave unterminated cables plugged into
1233 <para>AlphaStation 400 series have an SRM variable that controls
1234 termination. In case you have external SCSI devices connected you
1235 must set this SRM variable using</para>
1236 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET CONTROL_SCSI_TERM EXTERNAL</userinput>.</screen>
1238 <para>If only internal SCSI devices are present use:</para>
1239 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET CONTROL_SCSI_TERM INTERNAL</userinput></screen>
1241 <para>For the AlphaStation-[24][05]00 machines the kernel config file
1242 must contain:</para>
1243 <programlisting>options DEC_2100_A50
1244 cpu EV4</programlisting>
1248 <title>AlphaStation 500 and 600 (<quote>Alcor</quote> &
1249 <quote>Maverick</quote> for EV5, <quote>Bret</quote> for EV56)</title>
1251 <para>AS500 and 600 were the high-end EV5 / PCI based workstations.
1252 EV6 based machines have in the meantime taken their place as front
1253 runners. AS500 is a desktop in a dark blue case (TopGun blue),
1254 AS600 is a sturdy desk-side box. AS600 has a nice LCD panel to observe
1255 the early stages of SRM startup.</para>
1257 <para>Features:</para>
1260 <para>21164 EV5 CPU at 266, 300, 333, 366, 400, 433, 466, or
1261 500 MHz (AS500) or at 266, 300 or 333 MHz (AS600)</para>
1264 <para>21171 or 21172 (Alcor) core logic chip-set</para>
1266 <listitem><para>Cache:</para>
1269 <para>2 or 4 Mb L3 / Bcache (AS600 at 266 MHz)</para>
1272 <para>4 Mb L3 / Bcache (AS600 at 300 MHz)</para>
1275 <para>2 or 8 Mb L3 / Bcache (8 Mb on 500 MHz version only)</para>
1278 <para>2 to 16 Mb L3 / Bcache (AS600; 3 cache-SIMM slots)</para>
1283 <para>memory buswidth: 256 bits</para>
1285 <listitem><para>AS500 memory:</para>
1288 <para>industry standard 72 bit wide buffered DIMMs</para>
1291 <para>8 DIMM slots</para>
1294 <para>installed in sets of 4</para>
1297 <para>maximum memory is 1 GB (512 Mb max on 333 MHz CPUs)</para>
1300 <para>uses ECC </para>
1304 <listitem><para>AS600 memory:</para>
1307 <para>industry standard 36 bit Fast Page Mode SIMMs</para>
1310 <para>32 SIMM slots</para>
1313 <para>installed in sets of 8</para>
1316 <para>maximum memory is 1 GB</para>
1319 <para>uses ECC</para>
1324 <para>Qlogic 1020 based wide SCSI bus (1 bus/chip for AS500,
1325 2 buses/chip for AS600)</para>
1328 <para>21040 based 10 Mbit Ethernet adapter, both Thinwire
1329 and UTP connectors</para>
1332 <para>expansion:</para>
1338 <para>3 32-bit PCI slots</para>
1341 <para>1 64-bit PCI slot</para>
1349 <para>2 32-bit PCI slot</para>
1352 <para>3 64-bit PCI slots</para>
1355 <para>1 PCI/EISA physically shared slot</para>
1358 <para>3 EISA slots</para>
1361 <para>1 PCI and 1 EISA slot are occupied by default</para>
1368 <para>21050 PCI-to-PCI bridge chip</para>
1371 <para>Intel 82375EB PCI-EISA bridge (AS600 only)</para>
1374 <para>2 16550A serial ports</para>
1377 <para>1 parallel port</para>
1380 <para>16 bit audio Windows Sound System, in a dedicated slot (AS500)
1381 in EISA slot (AS600, this is an ISA card)</para>
1384 <para>PS/2 keyboard and mouse port</para>
1388 <para>Early machines had Fast SCSI interfaces, later ones are Ultra
1389 SCSI capable. AS500 shares its single SCSI bus with internal and external
1390 devices. For a Fast SCSI bus you are limited to 1.8 meters bus
1391 length external to the box. The AS500 Qlogic ISP1020A chip can be set
1392 to run in Ultra mode by setting a SRM variable. &os; however follows
1393 the Qlogic chip errata and limits the bus speed to Fast.</para>
1395 <para>Beware of ancient SRM versions on AS500. When you see weird
1396 SCSI speeds being reported by &os; like</para>
1398 <programlisting>cd0 at isp0 bus 0 target 4 lun 0
1399 cd0: <DEC RRD45 DEC 0436> Removable CD-ROM SCSI-2 device
1400 cd0: 250.000MB/s transfers (250.000MHz, offset 12)</programlisting>
1402 <para> it is time to do a SRM console firmware upgrade.</para>
1404 <para>AS600 has one Qlogic SCSI chip dedicated to the internal devices
1405 whereas the other Qlogic SCSI chip is dedicated to external SCSI devices.
1408 <para>In AS500 DIMMs are installed in sets of 4, in <quote>physically
1409 interleaved</quote> layout. So, a bank of 4 DIMMs is <emphasis>not</emphasis>
1410 4 physically adjacent DIMMs.</para>
1412 <para>In AS600 the memory SIMMs are placed onto two memory daughter
1413 cards. SIMMs are installed in sets of 8. Both memory daughter cards must
1414 be populated identically.</para>
1416 <para>Note that both AS500 and AS600 are EISA machines. This means
1417 you have to run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) from floppy
1418 after adding EISA cards or to change things like the configuration
1419 settings of the onboard I/O. For AS500 which does not have a physical
1420 EISA slot the ECU is used to configure the onboard sound interface
1423 <para>AS500 onboard sound can be used by adding a line like</para>
1425 <programlisting>device pcm</programlisting>
1427 <para>to the kernel configuration file.</para>
1429 <para>Using the ECU I configured my AS500 to use IRQ 10, port 0x530,
1430 drq 0. Corresponding entries along with flags 0x10011 must go into
1431 the <filename>device.hints</filename> file. Note that the flags value is rather non-standard.
1434 <para>AS600 has a peculiarity for its PCI slots. AS600 (or rather the
1435 PCI expansion card containing the SCSI adapters) does not allow I/O port
1436 mapping, therefore all devices behind it must use memory mapping. If you
1437 have problems getting the Qlogic SCSI adapters to work, add the following
1438 option to <filename>/boot/loader.rc</filename>:</para>
1440 <programlisting>set isp_mem_map=0xff</programlisting>
1442 <para>This may need to be typed at the boot loader prompt before booting the
1443 installation kernel.</para>
1445 <para>For the AlphaStation-[56]00 machines the kernel config file
1446 must contain:</para>
1447 <programlisting>options DEC_KN20AA
1448 cpu EV5</programlisting>
1453 <title>AlphaServer 1000 (<quote>Mikasa</quote>),
1454 1000A (<quote>Noritake</quote>) and 800(<quote>Corelle</quote>)</title>
1456 <para>The AlphaServer 1000 and 800 range of machines are intended as
1457 departmental servers. They come in quite some variations in packaging
1458 and mainboard/cpu. Generally speaking there are 21064 (EV4) CPU based
1459 machines and 21164 (EV5) based ones. The CPU is on a daughter card, and
1460 the type of CPU (EV4 or EV5) must match the mainboard in use.</para>
1462 <para>AlphaServer 800 has a much smaller mini tower case, it lacks the
1463 StorageWorks SCSI hot-plug chassis. The main difference between AS1000
1464 and AS1000A is that AS1000A has 7 PCI slots whereas AS1000 only has 3
1465 PCI slots and has EISA slots instead.</para>
1467 <para>AS800 with an EV5/400 MHz CPU was later re-branded to become a
1468 <quote>DIGITAL Server 3300[R]</quote>, AS800 with an EV5/500 MHz
1469 CPU was later re-branded to become a
1470 <quote>DIGITAL Server 3305[R]</quote>.</para>
1472 <para>Features:</para>
1475 <para>21064 EV4[5] CPU at 200, 233 or 266 MHz
1476 21164 EV5[6] CPU at 300, 333 or 400 MHz (or 500 MHz for
1480 <para>memory:</para><itemizedlist>
1482 <para>buswidth: 128 bit with ECC</para>
1484 <listitem><para>AS1000[A]:</para>
1487 <para>72pin 36 bit Fast Page Mode SIMMs, 70ns or better</para>
1490 <para>16 (EV5 machines) or 20 (EV4 machines) SIMM slots</para>
1493 <para>max memory is 1 GB</para>
1496 <para>uses ECC</para>
1501 <para>AS800: Uses 60ns 3.3 Volts EDO DIMMs</para>
1506 <para>embedded VGA (on some mainboard models)</para>
1509 <para>3 PCI, 2 EISA, 1 64-bit PCI/EISA combo (AS800)</para>
1512 <para>7 PCI, 2 EISA (AS1000A)</para>
1515 <para>2 PCI, 1 EISA/PCI, 7 EISA (AS1000)</para>
1518 <para>embedded SCSI based on Symbios 810 [AS1000] or
1519 Qlogic 1020 [AS1000A]</para>
1523 <para>AS1000 based machines come in multiple enclosure types. Floor
1524 standing, rack-mount, with or without StorageWorks SCSI chassis etc.
1525 The electronics are the same.</para>
1527 <para>AS1000-systems: All EV4 based machines use standard PS/2 style
1528 36 bit 72pin SIMMs in sets of 5. The fifth SIMM is used for ECC.
1529 All EV5 based machines use standard PS/2 style 36 bit 72pin SIMMs in sets
1530 of 4. The ECC is done based on the 4 extra bits per SIMM
1531 (4 bits out of 36). The EV5 mainboards have 16 SIMM slots,
1532 the EV4 mainboards have 20 slots.</para>
1534 <para> AS800 machines use DIMMs in sets of 4. DIMM installation must
1535 start in slots marked bank 0. A bank is four physically adjacent slots.
1536 The biggest size DIMMs must be installed in bank 0 in case 2 banks
1537 of different DIMM sizes are used. Max memory size is 2GB. Note
1538 that these are EDO DIMMs.</para>
1540 <para>The AS1000/800 are somewhat stubborn when it comes to serial
1541 consoles. They need</para>
1542 <screen>>>> <userinput>SET CONSOLE SERIAL</userinput></screen>
1543 <para>before they go for
1544 a serial console. Pulling the keyboard from the machine is not sufficient,
1545 like it is on most other Alpha models. Going back to a graphical console
1547 <screen>>>> <userinput>SET CONSOLE GRAPHICS</userinput></screen>
1548 <para>at the serial console.</para>
1550 <para>For AS800 you want to check if your Ultra-Wide SCSI is indeed
1551 in Ultra mode. This can be done using the
1552 <filename>EEROMCFG.EXE</filename> utility that is
1553 on the Console Firmware Upgrade CDROM.</para>
1555 <para>For the AlphaServer1000/1000A/800 machines the kernel config
1556 file must contain:</para>
1558 <programlisting>options DEC_1000A
1559 cpu EV4 # depends on the CPU model installed
1560 cpu EV5 # depends on the CPU model installed</programlisting>
1565 <title>DS10/VS10/XP900 (<quote>Webbrick</quote>) / XP1000
1566 (<quote>Monet</quote>) / DS10L (<quote>Slate</quote>)</title>
1568 <para>Webbrick and Monet are high performance workstations/servers
1569 based on the EV6 CPU and the Tsunami chipset. Tsunami is also used in
1570 much higher-end systems and as such has plenty of performance to offer.
1571 DS10, VS10 and XP900 are different names for essentially the same system.
1572 The differences are the software and options that are supported. DS10L
1573 is a DS10 based machine in a 1U high rackmount enclosure. DS10L is
1574 intended for ISPs and for HPTC clusters (e.g. Beowulf)</para>
1577 <title><quote>Webbrick / Slate</quote></title>
1581 <para>21264 EV6 CPU at 466 MHz</para>
1584 <para>L2 / Bcache: 2MB, ECC protected</para>
1587 <para>memory bus: 128 bit via crossbar, 1.3GB/sec memory
1591 <para>memory:</para>
1594 <para>industry standard 200 pin 83 MHz buffered
1595 ECC SDRAM DIMMs</para>
1598 <para>4 DIMM slots for DS10; 2GB max memory</para>
1601 <para>2 DIMM slots for DS10L; 1GB max memory</para>
1604 <para>DIMMs are installed in pairs of 2</para>
1609 <para>21271 Core Logic chipset (<quote>Tsunami</quote>)</para>
1612 <para>2 on-board 21143 Fast Ethernet controllers</para>
1615 <para>AcerLabs M5237 (Aladdin-V) USB controller (disabled)</para>
1618 <para>AcerLabs M1533 PCI-ISA bridge</para>
1621 <para>AcerLabs Aladdin ATA-33 controller </para>
1624 <para>embedded dual EIDE </para>
1627 <para>expansion: 3 64-bit PCI slots and 1 32-bit PCI slot.
1628 DS10L has a single 64bit PCI slot</para>
1631 <para>2 16550A serial ports</para>
1634 <para>1 parallel port</para>
1640 <para>PS/2 keyboard & mouse port</para>
1644 <para>The system has a smart power controller. This means that parts
1645 of the system remain powered when it is switched off (like an ATX-style
1646 PC power supply). Before servicing the machine remove the
1649 <para>The smart power controller is called the RMC. When enabled,
1650 typing <keycap>Escape</keycap><keycap>Escape</keycap>RMC on serial port 1
1651 will bring you to the RMC prompt. RMC allows you to powerup or powerdown,
1652 reset the machine, monitor and set temperature trip levels etc. RMC
1653 has its own builtin help.</para>
1655 <para>Webbrick is shipped in a desktop-style case similar to the older
1656 21164 <quote>Maverick</quote> workstations but this case
1657 offers much better access
1658 to the components. If you intend to build a farm you can rackmount them
1659 in a 19-inch rack; they are 3U high. Slate is 1U high but has only
1660 one PCI slot.</para>
1662 <para>DS10 has 4 DIMM slots. DIMMs are installed as pairs. Please note
1663 that DIMM pairs are not installed in adjacent DIMM sockets but rather
1664 physically interleaved. DIMM sizes of 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 Mbytes
1665 are supported.</para>
1667 <para>When 2 pairs of identical-sized DIMMs are installed DS10 will
1668 use memory interleaving for increased performance. DS10L, which has
1669 only 2 DIMM slots cannot do interleaving.</para>
1671 <para>Starting with SRM firmware version 5.9 you can boot from
1672 Adaptec 2940-series adapters in addition to the usual set of Qlogic
1673 and Symbios/NCR adapters.</para>
1675 <para>The base model comes with a FUJITSU 9.5GB ATA disk as its boot
1676 device. &os; works just fine using EIDE disks on Webbrick. DS10 has
1677 2 IDE interfaces on the mainboard. Machines destined for Tru64 Unix or
1678 VMS are standard equipped with Qlogic-driven Ultra-SCSI disks</para>
1680 <para>On the PCI bus 32 and 64 bit cards are supported, in 3.3V and
1683 <para>The USB ports are not supported and are disabled by the
1684 SRM console in all recent SRM versions.</para>
1686 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
1687 <programlisting>options DEC_ST6600
1688 cpu EV5</programlisting>
1690 <note><para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu EV6</literal>
1691 defined for inclusion in the kernel config file.
1692 The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep &man.config.8;
1693 happy.</para></note>
1697 <title><quote>Monet</quote></title>
1701 <para>21264 EV6 at 500 MHz
1702 21264 EV67 at 500 or 667 MHz (XP1000G, codenamed Brisbane)
1703 CPU is mounted on a daughter-card which is field-upgradable</para>
1706 <para>L2 / Bcache: 4MB, ECC protected</para>
1709 <para>memory bus: 256 bit</para>
1712 <para>memory: 128 or 256 Mbytes 100 MHz (PC100) 168 pin
1713 JEDEC standard, registered ECC SDRAM DIMMs</para>
1716 <para>21271 Core Logic chip-set (<quote>Tsunami</quote>)</para>
1719 <para>1 on-board 21143 Ethernet controller</para>
1722 <para>Cypress 82C693 USB controller</para>
1725 <para>Cypress 82C693 PCI-ISA bridge</para>
1728 <para>Cypress 82C693 controller</para>
1731 <para>expansion: 2 independent PCI buses, driven by high-speed I/O
1732 channels called <quote>hoses</quote>:</para>
1735 <para>hose 0: (the upper 3 slots)
1741 <para>hose 1: (the bottom 2 slots)
1742 2 32-bit PCI slots (behind a 21154 PCI-PCI bridge)
1746 <para>2 of the 64-bit PCI slots are for
1747 full-length cards</para>
1750 <para>all of the 32-bit PCI slots are for short cards</para>
1753 <para>1 of the 32-bit PCI slots is physically shared
1754 with an ISA slot</para>
1757 <para>all PCI slots run at 33MHz</para>
1762 <para>1 Ultra-Wide SCSI port based on a Qlogic 1040 chip</para>
1765 <para>2 16550A serial port</para>
1768 <para>1 parallel port</para>
1771 <para>PS/2 keyboard & mouse port</para>
1774 <para>embedded 16-bit ESS ES1888 sound chip</para>
1777 <para>2 USB ports</para>
1780 <para>graphics options: ELSA Gloria Synergy or
1781 DEC/Compaq PowerStorm 3D accelerator cards</para>
1785 <para>Monet is housed in a mini-tower like enclosure quite similar
1786 to the Miata box.</para>
1788 <para>The on-board Qlogic UW-SCSI chip supports up to 4 internal
1789 devices. There is no external connector for the on-board SCSI.</para>
1791 <para>For 500 MHz CPUs 83 MHz DIMMs will do. Compaq specifies PC100
1792 DIMMs for all CPU speeds. DIMMs are installed in sets of 4, starting
1793 with the DIMM slots marked <quote>0</quote> Memory capacity is max 4 GB.
1794 DIMMs are installed <quote>physically interleaved</quote>, note the
1796 slots. Memory bandwidth of Monet is twice that of Webbrick. The DIMMs
1797 live on the CPU daughter-card. Note that the system uses ECC RAM so you
1798 need DIMMs with 72 bits (not the generic PC-class 64 bit DIMMs)</para>
1800 <para>The EIDE interface is usable / SRM bootable so &os; can be rooted
1801 on an EIDE disk. Although the Cypress chip has potential for 2
1802 EIDE channels Monet uses only one of them.</para>
1804 <para>The USB interface is supported by &os;.If you experience
1805 problems trying to use the USB interface please check if
1806 the SRM variable <varname>usb_enable</varname> is set to
1807 <literal>on</literal>. You can change this by
1809 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET USB_ENABLE ON</userinput></screen>
1811 <important><para>Don"t try to use Symbios-chip based SCSI
1812 adapters in the PCI slots connected to hose 1. There is a
1813 not-yet-found &os; bug that prevents this from working
1814 correctly.</para></important>
1816 <important><para>Not all VGA cards will work behind the PCI-PCI
1817 bridge (so in slots 4 and 5). Only cards that implement
1818 VGA-legacy addressing
1819 correctly will work. Workaround is to put the VGA card
1820 <quote>before</quote> the bridge.</para></important>
1822 <para>The sound chip is not currently supported with &os;. </para>
1824 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
1825 <programlisting>options DEC_ST6600
1826 cpu EV5</programlisting>
1828 <note><para>Contrary to expectation there is no
1829 <literal>cpu EV6</literal> defined for inclusion in the kernel
1830 config file. The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to
1831 keep &man.config.8; happy.</para></note>
1837 <title>DS20/DS20E (<quote>Goldrush</quote>)</title>
1839 <para>Features:</para>
1842 <para>21264 EV6 CPU at 500 or 670 MHz</para>
1845 <para>dual CPU capable machine</para>
1848 <para>L2 / Bcache: 4 Mbytes per CPU</para>
1851 <para>memory bus: dual 256 bit wide with crossbar switch</para>
1854 <para>memory:</para>
1857 <para>SDRAM DIMMs</para>
1860 <para>installed in sets of 4</para>
1863 <para>16 DIMM slots, max. 4GB</para>
1866 <para>uses ECC</para>
1871 <para>21271 Core Logic chip-set
1872 (<quote>Tsunami</quote>)</para>
1875 <para>embedded Adaptec ? Wide Ultra SCSI</para>
1878 <para>expansion:</para>
1881 <para>2 independent PCI buses, driven
1882 by high-speed I/O channels called <quote>hoses</quote></para>
1885 <para>6 64-bit PCI slots, 3 per hose</para>
1888 <para>1 ISA slot</para>
1894 <para>DS20 needs</para>
1895 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET CONSOLE SERIAL</userinput></screen>
1896 <para>before it goes for a serial console. Pulling the keyboard from
1897 the machine is not sufficient. Going back to a graphical console
1899 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET CONSOLE GRAPHICS</userinput></screen>
1900 <para>at the serial console.
1901 Confusing is the fact that you will get SRM console
1902 output on the graphics console with the console set to serial,
1903 but when &os; boots it honors the <literal>CONSOLE</literal>
1904 variable setting and all the boot messages as well as the login
1905 prompt will go to the serial port.</para>
1907 <para>The DS20 is housed in a fat cube-like enclosure. The
1908 enclosure also contains a StorageWorks SCSI hot-swap shelf for a
1909 maximum of seven 3.5" SCSI devices. The DS20E is in a sleeker
1910 case, and lacks the StorageWorks shelf.</para>
1912 <para>The system has a smart power controller. This means that parts
1913 of the system remain powered when it is switched off (like an ATX-style
1914 PC power supply). Before servicing the machine remove the
1915 power cord(s).</para>
1917 <para>The smart power controller is called the RMC. When enabled,
1918 typing <keycap>Escape</keycap><keycap>Escape</keycap>RMC on serial port 1
1919 will bring you to the RMC prompt. RMC allows you to powerup or powerdown,
1920 reset the machine, monitor and set temperature trip levels etc. RMC
1921 has its own builtin help.</para>
1923 <para>The embedded Adaptec SCSI chip on the DS20 is disabled and
1924 is therefore not usable under &os;.</para>
1926 <para>Starting with SRM firmware version 5.9 you can boot from
1927 Adaptec 2940-series adapters in addition to the usual set of
1928 Qlogic and Symbios/NCR adapters. This unfortunately does not
1929 include the embedded Adaptec SCSI chips.</para>
1931 <para>If you are using banks of DIMMs of different sizes the
1932 biggest DIMMs should be installed in the DIMM slots marked
1933 <literal>0</literal> on the mainboard. The DIMM slots should be
1934 filled <quote>in order</quote> so after bank 0 install in bank 1
1937 <para>Don't try to use Symbios-chip based SCSI adapters in the
1938 PCI slots connected to hose 1. There is a not-yet-found &os; bug
1939 that prevents this from working correctly. DS20 ships by default
1940 with a Symbios on hose 1 so you have to move this card before
1941 you can install/boot &os; on it.</para>
1943 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
1944 <programlisting>options DEC_ST6600
1945 cpu EV5</programlisting>
1947 <note><para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu EV6</literal>
1948 defined for inclusion in the kernel config file.
1949 The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep &man.config.8;
1950 happy.</para></note>
1954 <title>AlphaPC 264DP / UP2000</title>
1956 <para>UP2000 is built by Alpha Processor Inc.</para>
1958 <para>Features:</para>
1961 <para>21264 EV6 CPU at 670 MHz</para>
1964 <para>dual CPU capable</para>
1967 <para>L2 / Bcache: 4 Mbytes per CPU</para>
1970 <para>memory bus: 256 bit</para>
1973 <para>memory: SDRAM DIMMs installed in sets of 4, uses
1974 ECC, 16 DIMM slots, max. 4GB</para>
1977 <para>21272 Core Logic chip-set (<quote>Tsunami</quote>)</para>
1980 <para>embedded Adaptec AIC7890/91 Wide Ultra SCSI</para>
1983 <para>2 embedded IDE based on Cypress 82C693 chips</para>
1986 <para>embedded USB via Cypress 82C693</para>
1989 <para>expansion:</para>
1992 <para>2 independent PCI buses, driven
1993 by high-speed I/O channels called <quote>hoses</quote></para>
1996 <para>6 64-bit PCI slots, 3 per hose</para>
1999 <para>1 ISA slot</para>
2005 <para>Currently a maximum of 2GB memory is supported by &os;.</para>
2007 <para>The on-board Adaptec is not bootable but works with &os;
2008 4.0 and later as a datadisk-only SCSI bus.</para>
2010 <para>Busmaster DMA is supported on the first IDE interface
2013 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
2014 <programlisting>options DEC_ST6600
2015 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2017 <note><para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu
2018 EV6</literal> defined for inclusion in the kernel config
2019 file. The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep
2020 &man.config.8; happy.</para></note>
2024 <title>AlphaServer 2000 (<quote>DemiSable</quote>), 2100
2025 (<quote>Sable</quote>), 2100A (<quote>Lynx</quote>)</title>
2027 <para>The AlphaServer 2[01]00 machines are intended as departmental
2028 servers. This is medium iron. They are multi-CPU machines, up to 2
2029 CPUs (AS2000) or 4 CPUs (2100[A]) can be installed. Both floor-standing
2030 and 19" rackmount boxes exist. Rackmount variations have
2031 different numbers of I/O expansion slots, different max number
2032 of CPUs and different maximum memory size. Some of the boxes come
2033 with an integral StorageWorks shelf to house hot-swap SCSI disks.
2034 There was an upgrade program available to convert your Sable
2035 machine into a Lynx by swapping the I/O backplane (the C-bus
2036 backplane remains). CPU upgrades were available as well.</para>
2040 <para>21064 EV4[5] CPU[s] at 200, 233, 275 MHz or
2041 21164 EV5[6] CPU[s]s at 250, 300, 375, 400 MHz</para>
2044 <para>cache: varies in size with the CPU model; 1, 4 or
2045 8Mbyte per CPU</para>
2048 <para>embedded floppy controller driving a 2.88 Mbytes drive</para>
2051 <para>embedded 10Mbit 21040 Ethernet [AS2100 only]</para>
2054 <para>2 serial ports</para>
2057 <para>1 parallel port</para>
2060 <para>PS/2 style keyboard & mouse port</para>
2064 <para>The CPUs spec-ed as 200 MHz are in reality running at
2065 190 MHz. Maximum number of CPUs is 4. All CPUs must be of the
2066 same type/speed.</para>
2068 <para>If any of the processors are ever marked as failed, they will
2069 remain marked as failed even after they have been replaced (or reseated)
2070 until you issue the command</para>
2072 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>CLEAR_ERROR ALL</userinput></screen>
2074 <para>on the SRM console and power-cycle the machine. This may be true
2075 for other modules (IO and memory) as well, but it has not been verified.
2078 <para>The machines use dedicated memory boards. These boards live on
2079 a 128 bit C-bus shared with the CPU boards. DemiSable supports up
2080 to 1GB, Sable up to 2GB. One of the memory bus slots can either
2081 hold a CPU or a memory card. A 4 CPU machine can have a maximum of
2082 2 memory boards.</para>
2084 <para>Some memory board models house SIMMs. These are called SIMM
2085 carriers. There are also memory modules that have soldered-on memory
2086 chips instead of SIMMs. These are called <quote>flat memory
2087 modules</quote>.</para>
2089 <para>SIMM boards are used in sets of eight 72-pin 36 bit FPM
2090 memory of 70ns or faster. SIMM types supported are 1Mb x36 bit
2091 (4 Mbyte) and 4Mb x36 bit (16 Mbyte). Each memory board can house
2092 4 banks of SIMMs. SIMM sizes can not be mixed on a single memory
2093 board. The first memory module must be filled with SIMMs before
2094 starting to fill the next memory module. Note that the spacing
2095 between the slots is not that big, so make sure your SIMMs fit
2096 physically (before buying them..)</para>
2098 <para>Both Lynx and Sable are somewhat stubborn when it comes to serial
2099 consoles. They need</para>
2100 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput> SET CONSOLE SERIAL</userinput></screen>
2101 <para>before they go for a serial console.
2102 Pulling the keyboard from the machine is not sufficient, like it is
2103 on many other Alpha models. Going back to a graphical console needs</para>
2104 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET CONSOLE GRAPHICS</userinput></screen>
2105 <para>at the serial console. On Lynx keep the VGA card in
2106 one of the primary PCI slots. EISA VGA cards are not slot sensitive.
2109 <para>The machines are equipped with a small OCP
2110 (Operator Control Panel) LCD screen. On this screen the self-test
2111 messages are displayed during system initialization. You can put
2112 your own little text there by using the SRM:</para>
2113 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET OCP_TEXT "FreeBSD"
2114 </userinput></screen>
2116 <para>The SRM</para>
2117 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SHOW FRU</userinput></screen>
2118 <para>command produces an overview of your configuration
2119 with module serial numbers, hardware revisions and error log counts.
2122 <para>Both Sable, DemiSable and Lynx have Symbios 810 based
2123 Fast SCSI on-board. Check if it is set to Fast SCSI speed
2125 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SHOW PKA0_FAST</userinput></screen>
2126 <para>When set to 1 it is negotiating for Fast speeds.</para>
2127 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>SET PKA0_FAST 1</userinput></screen>
2128 <para>enables Fast SCSI speeds.</para>
2130 <para>AS2100[A] come equipped with a StorageWorks 7 slot SCSI
2131 cage. A second cage can be added inside the cabinet. AS2000
2132 has a single 7 slot SCSI cage, which cannot be expanded with
2133 an additional one. Note that the slot locations in these cages
2134 map differently to SCSI IDs compared to the standard StorageWorks
2135 shelves. Slot IDs from top to bottom are 0, 4, 1, 5, 2, 6, 3
2136 when using a single bus configuration.</para>
2138 <para>The cage can also be set to provide two independent SCSI
2139 buses. This is used for embedded RAID controllers like the
2140 KZPSC (Mylex DAC960). Slot ID assignments for split bus are,
2141 from top to bottom: 0A, 0B, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B.
2142 Where A and B signify a SCSI bus. In a single bus configuration the
2143 terminator module on the back of the SCSI cage is on the TOP. The jumper
2144 module is on the BOTTOM. For split bus operation these two modules are
2145 reversed. The terminator can be distinguished from the jumper
2146 by noting the chips on the terminator. The jumper does not have
2147 any active components on it.</para>
2149 <para>DemiSable has 7 EISA slots and 3 PCI slots. Sable has
2150 8 EISA and 3 PCI slots. Lynx, being newer, has 8 PCI
2151 and 3 EISA slots. The Lynx PCI slots are grouped in
2152 sets of 4. The 4 PCI slots closest to the CPU/memory
2153 slots are the primary slots, so logically before the PCI bridge chip.
2154 Note that contrary to expectation the primary PCI slots are the highest
2155 numbered ones (PCI4 - PCI7).</para>
2157 <para>Make sure you run the EISA Configuration Utility (from floppy)
2158 when adding/change expansion cards in EISA slots or after
2159 upgrading your console firmware. This is done by inserting the
2160 ECU floppy and typing</para>
2161 <screen><prompt>>>></prompt> <userinput>RUNECU</userinput></screen>
2163 <note><para>EISA slots are currently unsupported, but the Compaq Qvision
2164 EISA VGA adapter is treated as an ISA device. It therefore
2165 works OK as a console.</para></note>
2167 <para>A special Extended I/O module for use on the C-bus was
2168 planned-for. If they ever saw daylight is unknown. In any case
2169 &os; has never been verified with an ExtIO module.</para>
2171 <para>The machines can be equipped with redundant power supplies. Note
2172 that the enclosure is equipped with interlock switches that switch
2173 off power when the enclosure is opened. The system's cooling
2174 fans are speed controlled. When the machine has more than 2
2175 CPUs and more than 1 memory board dual power supplies
2176 are mandatory.</para>
2178 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
2180 <programlisting>options DEC_2100_A500
2181 cpu EV4 #dependent on CPU model installed
2182 cpu EV5 #dependent on CPU model installed</programlisting>
2187 <title>AlphaServer 4x00 (<quote>Rawhide</quote>)</title>
2189 <para>The AlphaServer 4x00 machines are intended as small enterprise
2190 servers. Expect a 30" high pedestal cabinet or alternatively
2191 the same system box in a 19" rack. This is medium iron, not
2192 a typical hobbyist system. Rawhides are multi-CPU machines, up to
2193 4 CPUs can be in a single machine. Basic disk storage is housed in
2194 one or two StorageWorks shelves at the bottom of the pedestal. The
2195 Rawhides intended for the NT market are designated DIGITAL
2196 Server 7300 (5/400 CPU), DIGITAL Server 7305 (5/533 CPU). A
2197 trailing R on the part-number means a rackmount variant.</para>
2199 <para>Features:</para>
2202 <para>21164 EV5 CPUs at 266, 300 MHz or 21164A EV56
2203 CPUs at 400, 466, 533, 600 and 666 Mhz</para>
2206 <para>cache: 4 Mbytes per CPU. EV5 300 MHz was also
2207 available cache-less. 8 Mbytes for EV5 600Mhz</para>
2210 <para>memory bus: 128 bit with ECC</para>
2213 <para>embedded floppy controller</para>
2216 <para>2 serial ports</para>
2219 <para>1 parallel port</para>
2222 <para>PS/2 style keyboard & mouse port</para>
2226 <para>Rawhide uses a maximum of 8 RAM modules. These modules are used
2227 in pairs and supply 72 bits to the bus (this includes ECC bits).
2228 Memory can be EDO RAM or synchronous DRAM. A fully populated Rawhide
2229 has 4 pairs of memory modules. Given the choice use SDRAM for
2230 best performance. The highest capacity memory board must be in
2231 memory slot 0. A mix of memory board sizes is allowed. A mix
2232 of EDO and SDRAM is also reported as working (assuming you don't
2233 try to mix EDO and SDRAM in one module pair). A mix of EDO and SDRAM
2234 results in the <emphasis>entire</emphasis> memory subsystem running at
2235 the slower EDO timing</para>
2237 <para>Rawhide has an embedded Symbios 810 chip that gives you a
2238 narrow fast-SCSI bus. Generally only the SCSI CDROM is driven by
2239 this interface.</para>
2241 <para>Rawhides are available with a 8 64-bit PCI / 3 EISA
2242 slot expansion backplanes (called <quote>Saddle</quote> modules). There
2243 are 2 separate PCI buses, PCI0 and PCI1. PCI0 has 1 dedicated
2244 PCI slot and (shared) 3 PCI/EISA slots. PCI0 also has a
2245 PCI/EISA bridge that drives things like the serial and
2246 parallel ports, keyboard/mouse etc. PCI1 has 4 PCI slots
2247 and an Symbios 810 SCSI chip. VGA console cards must be installed
2248 in a slot connected to PCI0.</para>
2250 <para>The current &os; implementation has problems in handling
2251 PCI bridges. There is currently a limited fix in place which allows
2252 for single level, single device PCI bridges. The fix allows the use of
2253 the Digital supplied Qlogic SCSI card which sits behind
2254 a 21054 PCI bridge chip.</para>
2256 <note><para>EISA slots are currently unsupported, but the Compaq Qvision
2257 EISA VGA adapter is treated as an ISA device. It therefore works
2258 OK as a console.</para></note>
2260 <para>Rawhide employs an I2C based power controller system. If
2261 you want to be sure all power is removed from the system remove the
2262 mains cables from the system.</para>
2264 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
2265 <programlisting>options DEC_KN300
2266 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2271 <title>AlphaServer 1200 (<quote>Tincup</quote>) and AlphaStation
2272 1200 (<quote>DaVinci</quote>)</title>
2274 <para>The AlphaServer 1200 machine is the successor to the
2275 AlphaServer 1000A. It uses the same enclosure the 1000A uses,
2276 but the logic is based on the AlphaServer 4000 design. These
2277 are multi-CPU machines, up to 2 CPUs can be in a single machine.
2278 Basic disk storage is housed in a StorageWorks shelves
2279 The AS1200 intended for the NT market were designated DIGITAL
2280 Server 5300 (5/400 CPU) and DIGITAL Server 5305 (5/533 CPU).</para>
2282 <para>Features:</para>
2285 <para>21164A EV56 CPUs at 400 or 533 Mhz</para>
2288 <para>cache: 4 Mbytes per CPU</para>
2291 <para>memory bus: 128 bit with ECC, DIMM memory on two
2292 memory daughter boards</para>
2295 <para>embedded floppy controller</para>
2298 <para>2 serial ports</para>
2301 <para>1 parallel port</para>
2304 <para>PS/2 style keyboard & mouse port</para>
2308 <para>AS1200 uses 2 memory daughter cards. On each of these cards
2309 are 8 DIMM slots. DIMMs must be installed in pairs. The maximum
2310 memory size is 4 GBytes. Slots must be filled in order and slot
2311 0 must contain the largest size DIMM if different sized DIMMs are
2312 used. AS1200 employs fixed starting addresses for DIMMs, each
2313 DIMM pair starts at a 512 Mbyte boundary. This means that if
2314 DIMMs smaller than 256 Mbyte are used the system's physical memory
2315 map will contain <quote>holes</quote>. Supported DIMM sizes are 64 Mbytes
2316 and 256 Mbytes. The DIMMs are 72 bit SDRAM based, as the
2317 system employs ECC.</para>
2319 <note><para>&os; currently supports up to 2GBytes</para></note>
2321 <para>AS1200 has an embedded Symbios 810 drive Fast SCSI bus.</para>
2323 <para>Tincup has 5 64-bit PCI slots, one 1 32-bit PCI slot and one
2324 EISA slot (which is physically shared with one of the 64-bit PCI slots).
2325 There are 2 separate PCI buses, PCI0 and PCI1. PCI0 has the 32-bit PCI
2326 slot and the 2 top-most 64-bit PCI slots. PCI0 also has an Intel 82375EB
2327 PCI/EISA bridge that drives things like the serial and parallel ports,
2328 keyboard/mouse etc. PCI1 has 4 64-bit PCI slots and an Symbios 810
2329 SCSI chip. VGA console cards must be installed in a slot
2330 connected to PCI0.</para>
2332 <para>The system employs an I2C based power controller system.
2333 If you want to be sure all power is removed from the system remove
2334 the mains cables from the system. Tincup uses dual power supplies
2335 in load-sharing mode and not as a redundancy pair.</para>
2337 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
2338 <programlisting>options DEC_KN300
2339 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2343 <title>AlphaServer 8200 and 8400 (<quote>TurboLaser</quote>)</title>
2345 <para>The AlphaServer 8200 and 8400 machines are enterprise servers.
2346 Expect a tall 19" cabinet (8200) or fat (8400) 19" rack.
2347 This is big iron, not a hobbyist system. TurboLasers are multi-CPU
2348 machines, up to 12 CPUs can be in a single machine. The TurboLaser
2349 System Bus (TLSB) allows 9 nodes on the AS8400 and 5 nodes on
2350 the AS8200. TLSB is 256 bit data, 40 bit address allowing 2.1
2351 GBytes/sec. Nodes on the TLSB can be CPUs, memory or I/O. A
2352 maximum of 3 I/O ports are supported on a TLSB.</para>
2354 <para>Basic disk storage is housed in a StorageWorks shelf.
2355 AS8400 uses 3 phase power, AS8200 uses single phase power.</para>
2357 <para>Features:</para>
2360 <para>21164 EV5/EV56 CPUs at up to 467 MHz or 21264 EV67 CPUs at
2361 up to 625 MHz</para>
2364 <para>one or two CPUs per CPU module</para>
2367 <para>cache: 4Mbytes B-cache per CPU</para>
2370 <para>memory bus: 256 bit with ECC</para>
2373 <para>memory: big memory modules that plug into the TLSB,
2374 which in turn hold special SIMM modules. Memory modules come
2375 in varying sizes, up to 4 GBytes a piece. Uses ECC (8 bits
2376 per 64 bits of data) 7 memory modules max for AS8400,
2377 3 modules max for AS8200. Maximum memory is 28 GBytes.</para>
2380 <para>expansion: 3 system <quote>I/O ports</quote> that allow up to
2381 12 I/O channels each I/O channel can connect to
2382 XMI, Futurebus+ or PCI boxes</para>
2386 <para>&os; supports (and has been tested with) up to 2 GBytes
2387 of memory on TurboLaser. There is a trade-off to be made between
2388 TLSB slots occupied by memory modules and TLSB slots occupied by
2389 CPU modules. For example you can have 28GBytes of memory but only
2390 2 CPUs (1 module) at the same time.</para>
2392 <para>Only PCI expansion is supported on &os;. XMI or
2393 Futurebus+ (which are AS8400 only) are both unsupported.</para>
2395 <para>The I/O port modules are designated KFTIA or KFTHA. The
2396 I/O port modules supply so called <quote>hoses</quote> that connect to
2397 up to 4 (KFTHA) PCI buses or 1 PCI bus (KFTIA). KFTIA has
2398 embedded dual 10baseT Ethernet, single FDDI, 3 SCSI Fast
2399 Wide Differential SCSI buses and a single Fast Wide Single Ended
2400 SCSI bus. The FWSE SCSI is intended for the CDROM.</para>
2402 <para>KFTHA can drive via each of its 4 hoses a DWLPA or DWLPB
2403 box. The DWLPx house a 12 slots 32 bit PCI backplane. Physically
2404 the 12 slots are 3 4-slot buses but to the software it appears
2405 as a single 12 slots PCI bus. A fully expanded AS8x00 can have
2406 3 (I/O ports) times 4 (hoses) times 12 (PCI slots/DWLPx) =
2407 144 PCI slots. The maximum bandwidth per KFTHA is 500
2408 Mbytes/second. DWLPA can also house 8 EISA cards, 2 slots
2409 are PCI-only, 2 slots are EISA only. Of the 12 slots 2
2410 are always occupied by an I/O and connector module. DWLPB are the
2411 prefered I/O boxes.</para>
2413 <para>For best performance distribute high bandwidth
2414 (FibreChannel, Gigabit Ethernet) over multiple hoses and/or
2415 multiple KFTHA/KFTIA.</para>
2417 <para>Currently PCI expansion cards containing PCI bridges are
2418 not usable with &os;. Don't use them at this time.</para>
2420 <para>The single ended narrow SCSI bus on the KFTIA will turn up as
2421 the <emphasis>fourth</emphasis> SCSI bus. The 3 fast-wide
2422 differential SCSI buses of the KFTIA precede it. </para>
2424 <para>AS8x00 are generally run with serial consoles. Some
2425 newer machines might have a graphical console of some sorts
2426 but &os; has only been tested on a serial console.</para>
2428 <para>For serial console usage either change
2429 <filename>/etc/ttys</filename> to have:</para>
2431 <programlisting>console "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" unknown on secure</programlisting>
2433 <para>as the console entry, or add</para>
2435 <programlisting>zs0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" unknown on secure</programlisting>
2437 <para>For the AlphaServer 8x00 machines the kernel config file
2438 must contain:</para>
2439 <programlisting>options DEC_KN8AE # Alpha 8200/8400 (Turbolaser)
2440 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2442 <para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu
2443 EV6</literal> defined for inclusion in the kernel config
2444 file. The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep
2445 &man.config.8; happy.</para>
2449 <title>Alpha Processor Inc. UP1000</title>
2451 <para>The UP1000 is an ATX mainboard based on the 21264a
2452 CPU which itself lives in a Slot B module. It is normally housed
2453 in an ATX tower enclosure.</para>
2455 <para>Features:</para>
2458 <para>21264a Alpha CPU at 600 or 700 MHz in a Slot B
2459 module (includes cooling fans)</para>
2462 <para>memory bus: 128 bits to the L2 cache,
2463 64 bits from Slot B to the AMD-751</para>
2466 <para>on-board Bcache / L2 cache: 2MB (600Mhz) or
2470 <para>AMD AMD-751 (<quote>Irongate</quote>)
2471 system controller chip</para>
2474 <para>Acer Labs M1543C PCI-ISA bridge controller /
2475 super-IO chip</para>
2478 <para>PS/2 mouse & keyboard port</para>
2481 <para>memory: 168-pin PC100 unbuffered SDRAM DIMMS, 3 DIMM slots
2482 DIMM sizes supported are 64, 128 or 256 Mb in size</para>
2485 <para>2 16550A serial port</para>
2488 <para>1 ECP/EPP parallel port</para>
2491 <para>floppy interface</para>
2494 <para>2 embedded Ultra DMA33 IDE interface</para>
2497 <para>2 USB ports</para>
2500 <para>expansion:</para>
2503 <para>4 32 bit PCI slots</para>
2506 <para>2 ISA slots</para>
2509 <para>1 AGP slot</para>
2515 <para>Slot B is a box-like enclosure that houses a
2516 daughter-board for the CPU and cache. It has 2 small fans for
2517 cooling. Loud fans..</para>
2519 <para>The machine needs ECC capable DIMMs, so 72 bit ones.
2520 This does not appear to be documented in the UP1000 docs. The
2521 system accesses the serial EEPROM on the DIMMs via the SM bus.
2522 Note that if only a single DIMM is used it must be installed in
2523 slot <emphasis>2</emphasis>. This is a bit counter-intuitive.</para>
2525 <para>The UP1000 needs a 400Watt ATX power supply according
2526 to the manufacturer. This might be a bit overly
2527 conservative/pessimistic judging from the power consumption of
2528 the board & cpu. But as always you will have to take your
2529 expansion cards and peripherals into account. The M1543C chip
2530 contains power management functionality & temperature monitoring
2531 (via I2C / SM bus).</para>
2533 <para>Chances are that your UP1000 comes by default with
2534 AlphaBios only. The SRM console firmware is available from
2535 the Alpha Processor Inc. web site. It is currently available in
2536 a beta version which was successfully used during the port of &os;
2537 to the UP1000. </para>
2539 <para>The embedded Ultra DMA EIDE ports are bootable by the
2542 <para>UP1000 SRM can boot off an Adaptec 294x adapter. Under high
2543 I/O load conditions machine lockups have been observed using
2544 the Adaptec 294x. A Symbios 875 based card works just fine,
2545 using the sym driver. Most likely other cards based on the Symbios
2546 chips that the sym driver supports will work as well.</para>
2548 <para>The USB interfaces are disabled by the SRM console and
2549 have not (yet) been tested with &os;.</para>
2551 <para>For the UP1000 the kernel config file must contain:</para>
2552 <programlisting>options API_UP1000 # UP1000, UP1100 (Nautilus)
2553 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2558 <title>Alpha Processor Inc. UP1100</title>
2560 <para>The UP1100 is an ATX mainboard based on the 21264a CPU running
2561 at 600 MHz. It is normally housed in an ATX tower enclosure.</para>
2563 <para>Features:</para>
2566 <para>21264a Alpha EV6 CPU at 600 or 700 MHz</para>
2569 <para>memory bus: 100MHz 64-bit (PC-100 SDRAM), 800 MB/s memory
2573 <para>on-board Bcache / L2 cache: 2Mb</para>
2576 <para>AMD AMD-751 (<quote>Irongate</quote>) system controller
2580 <para>Acer Labs M1535D PCI-ISA bridge controller /
2581 super-IO chip</para>
2584 <para>PS/2 mouse & keyboard port</para>
2587 <para>memory: 168-pin PC100 unbuffered SDRAM DIMMS, 3 DIMM slots
2588 DIMM sizes supported are 64, 128 or 256 Mb in size</para>
2591 <para>2 16550A serial port</para>
2594 <para>1 ECP/EPP parallel port</para>
2597 <para>floppy interface</para>
2600 <para>2 embedded Ultra DMA66 IDE interface</para>
2603 <para>2 USB port</para>
2606 <para>expansion: 3 32 bit PCI slots and 1 AGP2x slot</para>
2610 <para>SRM console code comes standard with the UP1100. The SRM lives
2611 in 2Mbytes of flash ROM.</para>
2613 <para>The machine needs ECC capable DIMMs, so 72 bit ones.
2614 This does not appear to be documented in the UP1100 docs. The
2615 system accesses the serial EEPROM on the DIMMs via the SM bus.
2616 Note that if only a single DIMM is used it must be installed in
2617 slot <emphasis>2</emphasis>. This is a bit counter-intuitive.</para>
2619 <para>The UP1100 needs a 400Watt ATX power supply according to
2620 the manufacturer. This might be a bit overly conservative/pessimistic
2621 judging from the power consumption of the board & cpu. But as
2622 always you will have to take your expansion cards and
2623 peripherals into account. The M1535D chip contains power
2624 management functionality & temperature monitoring
2625 (via I2C / SM bus using a LM75 thermal sensor).</para>
2627 <para>The UP1100 has an on-board 21143 10/100Mbit Ethernet
2630 <para>The UP1100 is equipped with a SoundBlaster compatible audio
2631 interface. Whether it works with &os; is as of yet unknown.</para>
2633 <para>The embedded Ultra DMA EIDE ports are bootable by
2634 the SRM console.</para>
2636 <para>The UP1100 has 3 USB ports, 2 going external and one connected
2637 to the AGP port.</para>
2639 <para>For the UP1100 the kernel config file must contain:</para>
2640 <programlisting>options API_UP1000 # UP1000, UP1100 (Nautilus)
2641 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2643 <para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu
2644 EV6</literal> defined for inclusion in the kernel config
2645 file. The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep
2646 &man.config.8; happy.</para>
2651 <title>Alpha Processor Inc. CS20, Compaq DS20L</title>
2653 <para>The CS20 is a 19", 1U high rackmount server based
2654 on the 21264[ab] CPU. It can have a maximum of 2 CPUs. Compaq
2655 sells the CS20 rebranded as the AlphaServer DS20L. DS20L has
2658 <para>Features:</para>
2661 <para>21264a Alpha CPU at 667 MHz or 21264b 833 MHz
2662 (max. 2 CPUs)</para>
2665 <para>memory bus: 100MHz 256-bit wide</para>
2668 <para>21271 Core Logic chipset (<quote>Tsunami</quote>)</para>
2671 <para>Acer Labs M1533 PCI-ISA bridge controller / super-IO chip
2675 <para>PS/2 mouse & keyboard port</para>
2678 <para>memory: 168-pin PC100 PLL buffered/registered SDRAM DIMMS,
2679 8 DIMM slots, uses ECC memory, min 256 Mbytes /
2680 max 2 GBytes of memory</para>
2683 <para>2 16550A serial port</para>
2686 <para>1 ECP/EPP parallel port</para>
2689 <para>ALI M1543C Ultra DMA66 IDE interface</para>
2692 <para>embedded dual Intel 82559 10/100Mbit Ethernet</para>
2695 <para>embedded Symbios 53C1000 Ultra160 SCSI controller</para>
2698 <para>expansion: 2 64 bit PCI slots (2/3 length)</para>
2702 <para>SRM console code comes standard with the CS20. The SRM
2703 lives in 2Mbytes of flash ROM.</para>
2705 <para>The CS20 needs ECC capable DIMMs. Note that it
2706 uses <emphasis>buffered</emphasis> DIMMs.</para>
2708 <para>The CS20 has an I2C based internal monitoring system for things
2709 like temperature, fans, voltages etc. The I2C also supports
2710 <quote>wake on LAN</quote>.</para>
2712 <para>Each PCI slot is connected to its own independent PCI bus
2713 on the Tsunami.</para>
2715 <para>The embedded Ultra DMA EIDE ports are bootable by the
2718 <para>The CS20 has an embedded slim-line IDE CD drive. There is
2719 a front-accessible bay for a 1" high 3.5" SCSI hard-disk
2720 drive with SCA connector.</para>
2722 <para>Note that there is no floppy disk drive (or a connector to
2725 <para>The kernel config file must contain:</para>
2726 <programlisting>options DEC_ST6600
2727 cpu EV5</programlisting>
2729 <para>Contrary to expectation there is no <literal>cpu
2730 EV6</literal> defined for inclusion in the kernel config
2731 file. The <literal>cpu EV5</literal> is mandatory to keep
2732 &man.config.8; happy.</para>
2737 <title>Supported Hardware Overview</title>
2739 <para>A word of caution: the installed base for &os; is not
2740 nearly as large as for &os;/Intel. This means that the enormous
2741 variation of PCI/ISA expansion cards out there has much less
2742 chance of having been tested on alpha than on Intel. This is not
2743 to imply they are doomed to fail, just that the chance of running
2744 into something never tested before is much higher.
2745 <filename>GENERIC</filename>
2746 contains things that are known to work on Alpha only.</para>
2748 <para>The PCI and ISA expansion busses are fully supported. Turbo
2749 Channel is not in <filename>GENERIC</filename> and has limited
2750 support (see the relevant machine model info). The MCA bus is not
2751 supported. The EISA bus is not supported for use with EISA
2752 expansion cards as the EISA support code is lacking. ISA cards in
2753 EISA slots are reported to work. The Compaq Qvision EISA VGA card
2754 is driven in ISA mode and works OK as a console.</para>
2756 <para>1.44 Mbyte and 1.2 Mbyte floppy drives are supported.
2757 2.88 Mbyte drives sometimes found in Alpha machines are supported up to
2760 <para>ATA and ATAPI (IDE) devices are supported via the &man.ata.4;
2761 driver framework. As most people run their Alphas with SCSI disks
2762 it is not as well tested as SCSI. Be aware of boot-ability
2763 restrictions for IDE disks. See the machine specific information.</para>
2765 <para>There is full SCSI support via the CAM layer for Adaptec
2766 2940x (AIC7xxx chip-based), Qlogic family and Symbios. Be aware of
2767 the machine-specific boot-ability issues for the various adapter
2770 <para>The Qlogic QL2x00 FibreChannel host adapters are fully
2773 <para>If you want to boot your Alpha over the Ethernet you will
2774 obviously need an Ethernet card that the SRM console
2775 recognizes. This generally means you need a board with an 21x4x
2776 Ethernet chip as that is what Digital used. These chips are driven
2777 by the &os; &man.de.4; (older driver) or &man.dc.4; (newer
2778 driver). Some new SRM versions are known to recognize the Intel
2779 8255x Ethernet chips as driven by the &os; &man.fxp.4; driver. But
2780 beware: the &man.fxp.4; driver is reported not to work correctly
2781 with &os; (although it works excellently on &os;/x86).</para>
2783 <para>DEC DEFPA PCI FDDI network adapters are supported on alpha.</para>
2785 <para>In general the SRM console emulates a VGA-compatibility mode
2786 on PCI VGA cards. This is, however, not guaranteed to work by
2787 Compaq/DEC for each and every card type out there. When the SRM
2788 thinks the VGA is acceptable &os; will be able to use it. The
2789 console driver works just like on a &os;/intel machine.
2790 Please note that VESA modes are not supported on Alpha,
2791 so that leaves you with 80x25 consoles.</para>
2793 <para>In some Alpha machines you will find video adapters based
2794 on TGA chips. The plain TGA adapter does not emulate VGA and is
2795 therefore not usable for a &os; console. TGA2 cards have a basic
2796 VGA compatibility mode and work fine as &os; consoles.</para>
2798 <para>The <quote>PC standard</quote> serial ports found on most
2799 Alphas are supported.</para>
2801 <para>ISDN (i4b) is not supported on &os;/alpha.</para>
2805 <title>Acknowledgments</title>
2807 <para>In compiling this file I used multiple information sources,
2808 but <ulink url="http://www.netbsd.org/">the NetBSD Web
2809 site</ulink> proved to be an invaluable source of information. If
2810 it wasn't for NetBSD/alpha there probably would not be a
2811 &os;/alpha in the first place.</para>
2813 <para>People who kindly helped me create this section:</para>
2816 <para>&a.gallatin;</para>
2819 <para>&a.chuckr;</para>
2822 <para>&a.mjacob;</para>
2825 <para>&a.msmith;</para>
2828 <para>&a.obrien;</para>
2831 <para>Christian Weisgerber</para>
2834 <para>Kazutaka YOKOTA</para>
2837 <para>Nick Maniscalco</para>
2840 <para>Eric Schnoebelen</para>
2843 <para>Peter van Dijk</para>
2846 <para>Peter Jeremy</para>
2849 <para>Dolf de Waal</para>
2852 <para>Wim Lemmers, ex-Compaq</para>
2855 <para>Wouter Brackman, Compaq</para>
2858 <para>Lodewijk van den Berg, Compaq</para>
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