Re: Embedded NetBSD?

[David Brownlee <abs%netbsd.org@localhost>]

On Tue, 2 May 2000, John D. DeHart wrote:

> I'll also list the hardware that is on our system at the end here, but
> for anyone interested in more details, here is a talk that I gave
> about the system at a recent workshop:
>         http://www.arl.wustl.edu/arl/projects/ann/slides/spc.ppt
>         http://www.arl.wustl.edu/arl/projects/ann/slides/spc.pdf
> 
> This system will plug into our prototype ATM switches which are
> already operational. We also have an APIC Nic that plugs into a
> standard PCI bus that works with the same driver in a normal PC. We
> have not had any similar problems in that environment. I suspect we
> have splnet() in the right places, but I'll double check.
> 
> As we see it, the major differences in the two environments are:
>     1. The hardware. Smart Port Card (SPC: our embedded system) in the
>        switch vs. APIC Nic in a standard PC.
> 
        This could conceivably be an issue.

>     2. The NetBSD kernel using a ramdisk filesystem
> 
        Should be a non issue - also easy to test as you can boot a
        ramdisk kernel on the normal PC.

>     3. Use of our own bootloader and BIOS
> 
        I would be inclined to trust this - unless you have setup
        the PCI/DAM configuration differently.

> UART
>         Two Serial Ports
>                 NetBSD system console
>                 TTY port
> 
        Just a random thought to track it down to the driver - can you
        setup pppd running via the second tty port and test the network
        stack there?

                David/absolute
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