Re: G5 support ( was Re: Booting on a Powerbook6,8 (was Re: Installing 8.0 on a Powerbook6,8))

[Австин Ким <freennix%gmail.com@localhost>]

Hi,

I really appreciate your taking the time to write up that detailed snapshot/status!

Any way someone could get all the info you just provided onto NetBSD’s WWW site or onto the relevant ports/macppc wiki pages for reference?  (Or maybe it already is but I couldn’t easily find it.)

Sorry about the inane comment about “porting their kernel”; what I meant was more along the lines of, if FreeBSD got full native 64-bit support working for IBM PowerPC 970-based Apple Power Mac G5 hardware in their powerpc64 kernel (do they?—idk), was wondering if it would be easier to try going off their existing code than trying to implement full native 64-bit support from scratch in NetBSD’s macppc kernel.  I assume this is just a matter of someone putting in the work, something I hope I can find time to get more into “one day” :/

My Power Mac G5s are still running Apple Mac OS X Server version 10.5.8 (aka ‘Leopard’); when I last tried FreeBSD 5+ years ago, everything worked great but the fan support, so my machines’ fans would all be going full-throttle which would result in a sweltering room in the summertime (not to mention sounding like being in a server room), so I reverted to Mac OS X Server; hopefully will be able to try out all three BSDs again sometime on my G5s to see how all their 64-bit/SMP/fan support for Power Mac G5s has progressed in the last 5 years.

I have not had a chance to try out your NetBSD/macppc kernel with SMP support for more than 2 CPUs (_e. g._, the dual 970MP dual-core in the Power Mac G5 Quad); did all your work make it into the current netbsd-POWERMAC_G5.MP kernel?

I know the world has long since moved on past Apple’s Power Mac G5 machines, but my Power Mac G5s seem to be indestructible and just will not die; plus the IBM PowerPC 970 ISA ( http://kib.kiev.ua/x86docs/POWER/pem_64bit_v3.0.2005jul15.pdf ) is just too beautiful :(

Thanks so much, Michael (and everyone working on NetBSD/macppc, and on OpenBSD/macppc and FreeBSD/powerpc64 for that matter),
Austin

> On Feb 18, 2021, at 1:15 PM, Michael <macallan%netbsd.org@localhost> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> […]
> 
> Well, I'll do my best.
> 
>> […]
> 
> Lacking 64bit pmap. We run on a few models ( namely the ones I have - a
> dual core 2GHz PCIe and a 2x 970FX PCI-X ) in 32bit bridge mode but
> hardware support is on par with other machines. As in, SATA, ethernet,
> audio, X11 etc. all work. The r5xx radeon in the PCIe model has no
> accelerated X support because the Xorg driver relies on BIOS calls to
> program CRTCs ( and so does DRM, so getting that to work isn't going to
> help here either ) but wsfb works.
> Supporting more models is mostly a matter if getting the hardware into
> the right hands - fan control is by software only, and differs
> significantly between models so adjustments are most likely needed.
> Basically it's a bunch of semi-random i2c sensors that all need their
> own drivers ( I added a few to make my G5s work ) and another part that
> controls fan speeds based on readings from those sensors ( two
> different ones so far ). Mapping sensors to zones and fans is not as
> straight forward as it looks like, and OF isn't all that helpful there.
> 
>> […]
> 
> SMP works on mine and I made things work on a 2x 970MP machine a while
> ago ( the old SMP code didn't really support more than 2 CPUs, now it
> does ).
> 
>> […]
> 
> The kernel guts are quite different, I'm not sure what exactly you mean
> by 'porting their kernel'.
> 
> have fun
> Michael

“We are responsible for actions performed in response to circumstances for which we are not responsible.”  —Allan Massie, _A Question of Loyalties_, 1989