Alpha Core ISO Images

[Jay Estabrook]

On Thu, Sep 30, 2004 at 01:37:48AM +1000, Mike Barnes wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:00:42 -0400, Jay Estabrook <jay.estabrook at hp.com> wrote:
> > Because the TITAN boxes and Wildfire/Marvel have really BIG console
> > footprints (8MB or more, as contrasted to 2MB on older machines),
> > those MUST have the kernel starting up beyond the console. The higher
> > start address causes great pain on MILO machines, as it conflicts with
> > where MILO itself lives...
> 
> Just clarify one thing for me - is this an issue on all older Alpha
> systems, or just those using MILO/AlphaBIOS for booting? If the system
> is running SRM, can we get by?

IIRC, I've not found any SRM machines that won't boot the non-LEGACY_START
kernel; that even includes the very first to EVER boot LINUX, ie JENSEN.

> I've hardly touched AlphaBIOS myself, and never used MILO.

Consider yourself blessed... ;-}

Though there were good reasons for its development, and it was fun at
the time, it's no longer needed except for certain machines that never
had an SRM (like DEC's XL and XLT, and DeskStation's Ruffian)...

Oh, and some of those dual-console machines, if bought to run NT,
might have a SCSI controller that wasn't supported by SRM - in
particular, many PC164, LX164, SX164, and MIATA were equipped with Adaptec
SCSI cards, and only the very last LX/SX SRM had support for that.

> Sounds reasonable. We just flat don't have a MILO setup right now. Not
> sure how much demand for one there is, either. Anyone? Which machines
> out there don't have SRM as an option?

A lot of the older EV4/EV5 machines could run either console; some could
hold both consoles in their FLASH, others could not.

MILO-only machines
------------------

XL-233/266 (EV45)
XLT-300/333/366/433 (EV5 and EV56)
Ruffian (EV56)

MILO-capable machines
---------------------

Noname (LCA4)
EB64+  (EV45)
EV66/EB66+ (LCA45)
CABRIOLET (EV45)
ALCOR (EV5)
AS500 (EV5 & EV56)
PC164/LX164/SX164 (EV56/EV56/PCA56)
MIATA aka PWSxxx (EV56)

I may have missed some; a lot of the server-style boxes could also
run NT, but were never plentiful enough to bother to build MILOs for,
and the SMP boxes were way beyond its capabilites... ;-}

> My PWS with the dodgy battery sounds like a good test candidate ...
> it's annoying to have to keep resetting to SRM every time I need to
> boot it.

Your MIATA can run either console, and doesn't need reFLASHing to
change between, so long as both are already present in the FLASH. I
often use a MIATA to test MILO-related stuff, as it's about the
fastest box (EV56 @ 600MHz) that can, and is less baroque than some
others that are as fast (Ruffian in particular is QUITE different).

 --Jay++

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Jay A Estabrook                            HPTC - LINUX support
Hewlett-Packard Company - ZKO2-3/N30       (603) 884-0301
110 Spit Brook Road, Nashua NH 03062       Jay.Estabrook at hp.com
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