swift 11/08/15 19:58:08 Modified: gentoo-alpha-faq.xml Log: Bug #379317 - Updated Gentoo Alpha FAQ thanks to Matt Turner (mattst88) and armin76
Revision Changes Path 1.8 xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml?rev=1.8&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml?rev=1.8&content-type=text/plain diff : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml?r1=1.7&r2=1.8 Index: gentoo-alpha-faq.xml =================================================================== RCS file: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml,v retrieving revision 1.7 retrieving revision 1.8 diff -u -r1.7 -r1.8 --- gentoo-alpha-faq.xml 20 Jan 2008 12:25:01 -0000 1.7 +++ gentoo-alpha-faq.xml 15 Aug 2011 19:58:07 -0000 1.8 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> -<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml,v 1.7 2008/01/20 12:25:01 yoswink Exp $ --> +<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml,v 1.8 2011/08/15 19:58:07 swift Exp $ --> <!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> <guide link="/doc/en/gentoo-alpha-faq.xml"> @@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ <author title="Editor"> <mail link="nightmorph"/> </author> +<author title="Author"> + <mail link="mattst88">Matt Turner</mail> +</author> <abstract> This FAQ is intended to answer some of the most frequently asked questions @@ -24,8 +27,8 @@ <!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 --> <license/> -<version>1.5</version> -<date>2008-01-20</date> +<version>2</version> +<date>2011-08-15</date> <faqindex> <title>About this Document</title> @@ -59,20 +62,6 @@ </body> </section> -<section id="status"> -<title>What is the current status of the Gentoo/Alpha Project?</title> -<body> - -<p> -You can find out about the current status of the Gentoo/Alpha project via -status reports. These reports inform the public about what we've been up to. -New status reports will be posted about once every 6 months. Current and past -status report can be found on the <uri -link="/proj/en/base/alpha/status/index.xml">Status Reports Project page</uri>. -</p> - -</body> -</section> </chapter> <chapter> @@ -82,10 +71,10 @@ <body> <p> -Not quite! HP stopped taking orders for new Alpha systems on April 27, 2007. -They will take orders for Alpha options and upgrades until April 25, 2008. See -their <uri link="http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/evolution.html";>planning -page</uri> for more details. +Kind of, yes. HP stopped taking orders for new Alpha systems on April 27, 2007. +and for Alpha options and upgrades on April 25, 2008. See their <uri +link="http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/evolution.html";>planning page</uri> +for more details. </p> </body> @@ -107,8 +96,8 @@ <body> <p> -All Alpha systems support both little and big endian. However, Linux only uses -little endian. +Alpha systems are little endian. A large Cray system using Alphas was big +endian, but Linux will never support it. </p> </body> @@ -118,12 +107,12 @@ <body> <p> -No, not without a full x86 system emulator like <uri -link="http://bochs.sourceforge.net/";>bochs</uri>. In the past DEC/Compaq/HP +No, not without a x86 emulator like <uri +link="http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page";>qemu</uri>. In the past DEC/Compaq/HP maintained a program called <c>em86</c> which allowed Linux/x86 applications to be run on Linux/Alpha systems. However, the program is closed source and no longer maintained upstream. There are no <c>em86</c> binaries available that -are compatible with gcc3's ABI. +are compatible with gcc-3's ABI. </p> </body> @@ -156,12 +145,10 @@ <body> <p> -Alpha hardware generally isn't available at your local computer store. If you -want a new Alpha you're going to have to contact <uri -link="http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/";>HP</uri>. If you want a used -Alpha (more economical), <uri link="http://ebay.com";>eBay</uri> is usually a +Alpha hardware generally isn't available at your local computer store. +<uri link="http://ebay.com";>eBay</uri> is usually a good option, assuming that the shipping doesn't cost you too much. There are -several used equipment dealers that can be found via google, however most of +several used equipment dealers that can be found via Google, however most of them charge too much. </p> @@ -291,7 +278,7 @@ <c>-msmall-data</c>. This will cause <c>gcc</c> to take advantage of some features of the Alpha architecture by storing heavily used pieces of data in specific sections called the small memory sections. The sections are limited to -64kb which means accessing anything stored in them will only take one +64KiB which means accessing anything stored in them will only take one instruction. </p> @@ -303,7 +290,7 @@ <p> This flag should probably not be used in your global <c>CFLAGS</c> as some -objects require more than 64kb to be stored, and this will cause a gp_overflow +objects require more than 64KiB to be stored, and this will cause a gp_overflow ld error. </p> @@ -395,13 +382,13 @@ supports both SRM and ARCs (ARC, AlphaBIOS, ARCSBIOS), then you should follow <uri link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/x31.html";>the SRM Firmware Howto</uri> for switching to SRM and use aboot. If your system can only use ARCs (Ruffian, -nautilus, xl, etc.) then you will need to choose milo. +xl, etc.) then you will need to choose milo. </p> </body> </section> <section id="abootfs"> -<title>Can aboot boot kernels from xfs, reiserfs, or jfs partitions?</title> +<title>Can aboot boot kernels from EXT4, XFS, ReiserFS, or JFS partitions?</title> <body> <p> @@ -412,9 +399,11 @@ </p> <p> -Support for reiserfs and xfs is planned. In fact, there are patches floating -around that add support for those two file systems. However, the use of those -patches is unsupported. +Support for ext4 is planned. In fact, there are patches floating +around that add support for <uri +link="https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=106855";>ReiserFS</uri>, <uri +link="https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107103";>XFS</uri>, and <uri +link="http://alphalinux.org/wiki/index.php/Aboot_EXT4_support";>ext4</uri>. </p> </body> @@ -428,10 +417,9 @@ <body> <p> -There was only one option for Java VM and Java SDK on Gentoo/Alpha. The -packages were called <c>compaq-jre</c> and <c>compaq-jdk</c>. Sadly, Compaq/HP -stopped all support and the packages were removed from Gentoo on October 11, -2006. +Compaq/HP offered binary packages, called <c>compaq-jre</c> and <c>compaq-jdk</c>. +They stopped all support, and the packages were removed from Gentoo on October +11, 2006. Since then, we haven't supported Java. </p> </body> @@ -442,9 +430,9 @@ <body> <p> -We really hope so. We are following the development of the jdk from <uri -link="http://sablevm.org";>SableVM</uri>. It isn't ready yet, but we hope with -time that it will be a full drop in replacement jdk. +It's possible to use <c>icedtea</c> on Alpha, but we have no plans to +support it, due to the high maintenance costs involved with testing hundreds of +additional packages. </p> </body> @@ -466,7 +454,7 @@ <body> <p> -Bringing .NET to alpha isn't a simple task. It requires coding all of the +Bringing .NET to Alpha isn't a simple task. It requires coding all of the assembly language code generation macros for the JIT (just in time) compiler and coding architecture specific functions (register allocators, etc). </p> @@ -502,7 +490,7 @@ </p> <p> -Gentoo/Alpha will review all bug reports about non working 2.6 systems and +Gentoo/Alpha will review all bug reports about non-working 2.6 systems and will try to help as much as we can. </p> @@ -515,7 +503,7 @@ <p> Short answer is no. They were supported some time ago, but we lost the hardware -and the maintainer so right now they are not supported. If you are interested +and the maintainer so now they are not supported. If you are interested and want to continue the initial work, please let us know. </p> @@ -526,12 +514,8 @@ <body> <p> -There were some times in the past when it was broken. However, <c>2.6.15.1</c> -and <c>2.6.16.19</c> are both known to work well. If you find that SMP is -broken and want SMP support you will need revert to the one of the versions -mentioned above or use a 2.4 kernel. If you really need to run the latest 2.6 -kernel on an SMP box and you don't care that only one of your processors is -getting used, then you could configure the 2.6 kernel without SMP support. +There were some times in the past when it was broken. However, modern kernel +versions are known to work well. </p> </body> @@ -593,7 +577,7 @@ <chapter> <title>Troubleshooting</title> <section id="tshoot-xorg"> -<title>Why is my Xorg locking up my Alpha?</title> +<title>Why is Xorg locking up my Alpha?</title> <body> <p> @@ -647,8 +631,8 @@ <body> <p> -<uri link="http://alphalinux.org/";>AlphaLinux.org</uri> is a central repository -for all things Alpha/Linux. +<uri link="http://alphalinux.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page";>AlphaLinux.org</uri> +is a central repository for all things Alpha/Linux. </p> </body>
