Subject: IIci '040@80Mhz - Will loan for devlpmt
To: None <port-mac68k@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Glen Stewart <netbsd@associate.com>
List: port-mac68k
Date: 04/18/1997 02:45:00
I picked up a Carrera 68040 accelerator for my IIci. It runs at
80Mhz and was purchased at www.micromac.com. It could be a real
screamer - if it would boot and run NetBSD or OpenBSD. )-:
I'd like to loan it out to someone who feels confident that they
can get it running under NetBSD or OpenBSD. Whoever gets it
going must assure me that they will share their code changes with
both NetBSD and OpenBSD camps so we have an attractive high-speed
solution for the 68k ports.
The cost of the accelerator was $349 (w/FPU). On the MacOS side,
the makers claim 410% speed increase. I noticed it was definitely
snappier, but didn't have much time to test it extensively there.
The accelerator fits in the slot that the IIci cache card
normally goes in. The Mac control panel has options for '040
Medium-speed (with write-through cache) and '040 Fast-speed.
You can also turn the '040 off altogether and just run the '030
processor that came with your system.
I tried both '040 modes and the boot failed just after checking
the video hardware. The boot error was "Panic: Kernel jump to
zero". Turning the '040 off from the control panel allows the
system to boot as usual, though with a little message about
unknown memory at a certain address. I assume it sees the
accelerator there, but doesn't know how to handle it.
I'd love to pay whoever gets this working, but have limited
resources after this acclerator card purchase. It was a gamble
and I'm hoping it can be made to work. But contact me if you
think you can make this work, and I'll try to help out to
compensate you for your efforts.
Thanks!
Glen_Stewart@associate.com