Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports?
Hello list, are there any emulators out there that can run the non-x86 versions of FreeBSD on a FreeBSD/i386 or FreeBSD/amd64 host? I'm especially interested in trying FreeBSD/sparc64 port, but I'd also like to test the FreeBSD/powerpc and the FreeBSD/arm ports on an emulator, before seeking real hardware. Oh, and btw, what kind of affordable SPARC-based desktops with newish SPARC processors (i.e. above UltraSparc IIIi) would you recommend for testing? I've read this page: http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/sparc.html but I'm at a loss as to what vendor, model etc. to get. Thanks, -cpghost. -- Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports?
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Fri Jan 28 11:37:00 2011 Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:27:35 +0100 From: C. P. Ghost cpgh...@cordula.ws To: FreeBSD Mailing List freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports? Hello list, are there any emulators out there that can run the non-x86 versions of FreeBSD on a FreeBSD/i386 or FreeBSD/amd64 host? Such things, by definition, are a 'simulator', not an 'emulator'. They exist, they are *pricey* (think 5 figures, left of the decimal point) and they are =SLOW= (very, VERY slow!) compared to the real hardware. I'm especially interested in trying FreeBSD/sparc64 port, but I'd also like to test the FreeBSD/powerpc and the FreeBSD/arm ports on an emulator, before seeking real hardware. Pick up some low-end used hardware, it's _lots_ cheaper, and will give you a better feel for how it works. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports?
On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:27 AM, C. P. Ghost cpgh...@cordula.ws wrote: Hello list, are there any emulators out there that can run the non-x86 versions of FreeBSD on a FreeBSD/i386 or FreeBSD/amd64 host? I'm especially interested in trying FreeBSD/sparc64 port, but I'd also like to test the FreeBSD/powerpc and the FreeBSD/arm ports on an emulator, before seeking real hardware. QEMU claims PowerPC and ARM emulation support, but I don't know if it's good enough to run FreeBSD. PearPC is another PowerPC emulator, but it was mainly targeted at running MacOS and the project appears to have been stagnant since 2005. It depends a bit on what you're trying to determine. If you're looking to test stability or performance, the results you get from an emulator are unlikely to have any real comparison to what you get on real hardware. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports?
On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 7:43 PM, Robert Bonomi bon...@mail.r-bonomi.com wrote: From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Fri Jan 28 11:37:00 2011 Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:27:35 +0100 From: C. P. Ghost cpgh...@cordula.ws To: FreeBSD Mailing List freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports? Hello list, are there any emulators out there that can run the non-x86 versions of FreeBSD on a FreeBSD/i386 or FreeBSD/amd64 host? Such things, by definition, are a 'simulator', not an 'emulator'. They exist, they are *pricey* (think 5 figures, left of the decimal point) and they are =SLOW= (very, VERY slow!) compared to the real hardware. Okay, let it be a simulator then. ;) I don't care that they're slow (I know how emulators work under the hood). As I've used Bochs on SPARC back then to run x86 OS, it was slow too, but that didn't matter either. The only multiplatform simulators I've seen right now belong to the qemu family: /usr/local/bin/qemu /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-mipsel /usr/local/bin/qemu-img /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-ppc /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-arm /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-ppc64 /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-cris /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-ppcemb /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-m68k /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-sh4 /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-microblaze /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-sh4eb /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-mips /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-sparc /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-mips64 /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-sparc64 /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-mips64el /usr/local/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 But they don't emulate enough of a real system to run the FreeBSD ports, AFAICT. That's why I'm asking for other (more specialized?) emulators/simulators. I'm especially interested in trying FreeBSD/sparc64 port, but I'd also like to test the FreeBSD/powerpc and the FreeBSD/arm ports on an emulator, before seeking real hardware. Pick up some low-end used hardware, it's _lots_ cheaper, and will give you a better feel for how it works. Yep, that's always an option. -- Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Emulators to test non-x86 FreeBSD ports?
On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 7:56 PM, David Brodbeck g...@gull.us wrote: On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:27 AM, C. P. Ghost cpgh...@cordula.ws wrote: Hello list, are there any emulators out there that can run the non-x86 versions of FreeBSD on a FreeBSD/i386 or FreeBSD/amd64 host? I'm especially interested in trying FreeBSD/sparc64 port, but I'd also like to test the FreeBSD/powerpc and the FreeBSD/arm ports on an emulator, before seeking real hardware. QEMU claims PowerPC and ARM emulation support, but I don't know if it's good enough to run FreeBSD. PearPC is another PowerPC emulator, but it was mainly targeted at running MacOS and the project appears to have been stagnant since 2005. I'll check it out, thanks. It depends a bit on what you're trying to determine. If you're looking to test stability or performance, the results you get from an emulator are unlikely to have any real comparison to what you get on real hardware. Basically, I'm interested in assembly language programming on those platforms. So if they ran in an emulator, that would be ideal, but I wouldn't mind a couple of real hardware boxes if there's no software alternative. BTW, have you guys any experience with emulators/gxemul? It doesn't cover sparc but claims to implement a complete arm and powerpc machine, at least for the corresponding netbsd ports. Thanks, -cpghost. -- Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
