[9fans] Bootstrapping Alpha

[9fans] Bootstrapping Alpha

[John Packer]

I'm trying to boot an Alpha PWS 500a. (The hardware seems close enough
to the Alphapc that it should work with the Plan9 kernel).

Everything runs smooth until I get to the "root is from (il)[il]:"
prompt.
At this point the keyboard freezes and the system hangs.

Has anyone seen this behavior? I'm not sure if this is a hardware
problem
or a problem with cpu server configuration. Would the system freeze like
this if there is a problem with il?

Re: [9fans] Bootstrapping Alpha

[jmk]

I may have this wrong but I believe the alphapc kernel you have was done
on a PC164 motherboard, and has recently been made to work on the LX164
motherboard (very similar). I think the Miata is a bit different in how it
handles interrupts and PCI resources, and I'll defer to David Hogan as to
how hard it would be to make it work.

--jim

On Thu Sep 20 12:16:53 EDT 2001, packer@bway.net wrote:
> This is an Alpha Personal Workstation, 500a.
>
> I'm not sure what the motherboard model number
> is. It is called a Miata, this version is probably
> the MX5, as opposed to the later MiataGL, which
> I think has USB ports and various bug fixes.
>
> It came with a Matrox Millenium II, which I
> replaced with an S3 card I thought would be
> more compatible with the Plan 9 alpha kernel.
>
> Miata MX5
> CPU: Alpha 21164 EV5 Revision 7.2
> QLOGIC 1040 ultra-wide scsi
> S3 Virge/DX
> Toshiba CD-ROM
>
>
>
> jmk@plan9.bell-labs.com wrote:
>
> > No, the system would not freeze like that if it were an IL problem.
> > David Hogan recently got the alpha kernel to work on a newer motherboard,
> > perhaps if you can give the motherboard model number and the peripheral
> > configuration we can check with the current code.

Re: [9fans] Bootstrapping Alpha

[John Packer]

This is an Alpha Personal Workstation, 500a.

I'm not sure what the motherboard model number
is. It is called a Miata, this version is probably
the MX5, as opposed to the later MiataGL, which
I think has USB ports and various bug fixes.

It came with a Matrox Millenium II, which I
replaced with an S3 card I thought would be
more compatible with the Plan 9 alpha kernel.

Miata MX5
CPU: Alpha 21164 EV5 Revision 7.2
QLOGIC 1040 ultra-wide scsi
S3 Virge/DX
Toshiba CD-ROM



jmk@plan9.bell-labs.com wrote:

> No, the system would not freeze like that if it were an IL problem.
> David Hogan recently got the alpha kernel to work on a newer motherboard,
> perhaps if you can give the motherboard model number and the peripheral
> configuration we can check with the current code.

Re: [9fans] Bootstrapping Alpha

[jmk]

On Tue Sep 18 23:25:44 EDT 2001, packer@bway.net wrote:
> I'm trying to boot an Alpha PWS 500a. (The hardware seems close enough
> to the Alphapc that it should work with the Plan9 kernel).
>
> Everything runs smooth until I get to the "root is from (il)[il]:"
> prompt.
> At this point the keyboard freezes and the system hangs.
>
> Has anyone seen this behavior? I'm not sure if this is a hardware
> problem
> or a problem with cpu server configuration. Would the system freeze like
> this if there is a problem with il?

No, the system would not freeze like that if it were an IL problem.
David Hogan recently got the alpha kernel to work on a newer motherboard,
perhaps if you can give the motherboard model number and the peripheral
configuration we can check with the current code.