Re: PowerStack

On Fri, Jan 31, 2003 at 12:15:27PM +0100, Michael Lorenz wrote:

> recently I came across a Motorola PowerStack II Pro and couldn't resist. 
> Now I have a few questions:
> - netbsd.org doesn't list these machines as supported - are they truly 
> unsupported or just untried ? Hereby I volunteer for testing.
They are somwhat supported by the generic Openfirmware drivers, 
but performance with them is poor. (OF doesn't know about interrupts
so all device drivers are polled.)
I am working on the machine dependent code for the PowerStack II. 
But as my diploma exam is scheduled in about 6 weeks and I am a 
kernel hacker newbie, you can't expect anything workable soon. 

> - hardware documentation seems to be rather rare - 
Look at IBM website for documentation on the 660 chipset, i.e.
82660_um.pdf.

> installed memory is 
> buffered 3.3v EDO DIMM with ECC - does the board really need this ? Will 
> unbuffered / non-ECC modules work ? ( think Apple PowerMac 4400 )
AFAIK you need buffered ECC modules. 

> - the machine seems to be somewhat RS/6000-like - which model comes closest 
> ? What are the differences ?
Well, it is a PReP machine. That is the only relation to a RS/6000,
but the most importend too. The machine was completely designed by
Motorola. 
-- 



tschüß,
         Jochen

Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/