Re: ofwboot.xcf problem (port-macppc/44895)

[Havard Eidnes <he%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

>> The workaround is already in -6 and -7 and it's called ofwboot.elf :)

Well, the installation notes say

  Note:
  ofwboot.elf is obsoleted.  All users should be using ofwboot.xcf
  instead of ofwboot.elf now.

and there's no other mention of ofwboot.elf.  If that note is no
longer true, the documentation should be updated.

I sort-of knew there was an ofwboot.elf, but I was (and am) unsure of
when it can or should be used.

> Not so helpful for those of us with Open Firmwares that can't load ELF. :-)

Is the ability to load ELF only supported in OpenFirmware 3.x?

> If I get some round tuits soon, I'll take a gander; I have a pile of
> PPC machines of various flavors here (Old and New World, plus G5s),
> at least one of which should catch the problem.

Sounds good -- let us know how that goes.

Let me go off on a little tangent: what is the state of the support
for the G5 PowerMacs?  Are there any "gotchas"?

  http://wiki.netbsd.org/ports/macppc/

doesn't even list PowerMacintosh G5 in the list of "Supported
hardware".  The list on

  http://www.netbsd.org/ports/macppc/models.html

does on the other hand say that it requires NetBSD >= 5.0, and
there's no other comments about it.  E.g. does the thermal
management (fan speed regulator) work properly when running NetBSD?
I have a vague memory of that being an issue earlier (and googling
reveals there was a discussion about this initiated by one "Phileas
Fogg" in 2013).  Did the code he spoke of to read (and set) fan
speed and read temperatures ever make it into our tree?

And ... is NetBSD stable on the G5 PowerMacs?  I.e. comparable in
stability to my G4 Mac Minis (which, admittedly, can wedge every now
and then while doing pkgsrc bulk builds)?  Is NetBSD also stable in
multi-processor configurations?  I see used G5s are relatively
inexpensive, presumably because Apple stopped maintaining their
software for PPC quite a while ago.

Regards,

- Håvard