On Sat, 13 Jan 2001, Jeremy Jackson wrote:
> "Eric W. Biederman" wrote:
> This may be necessary; does SROM set up any PAL code, or is this the job
> of the ARC/SRM console code in flash. If so, LinuxBIOS will need to include
> its own PAL. I wonder if PAL code for Digital UNIX is really optimal for
> Linux/Alpha? I know it's really rough stuff to work with (arch handbook
> refers to subtle side-effects), but I think
> all of this ultimately points to a kernel (or a linuxBIOS) with its own PAL code.
>
> (Remember I'm only talking about these UDB/Multias I have here)
It doesn't matter; the BIOS should never have been loading OS pal code. It
would be wonderful to have linux do this. Also, tru64 PAL does some things
that the osf/1 PAL does not, I am told, and this has caused trouble for
Linux. Seems the dec compilers issue PALcodes for prefetch not all PALs
support correctly. This from someone at Compaq, and that's all the detail
I have.
Compaq needs to get their linux act together, once and for all. They just
promised us this is going to happen, though. Good news.
ron
