On Sep 14, 2012, at 9:33 PM, Nick Holland <n...@holland-consulting.net> wrote:
> On 09/14/12 20:16, jordon wrote: >> I am having trouble getting a Hifn7751 to work in an old Soekris box. I >> want to dig in and see if I can figure out what is going on but I am >> very new to this. From /usr/src/sys/dev/pci, I typed "make hifn7751", >> but that leads to a lot of compiler errors. Is there some better way to >> do this or do I just have to build the entire tree first before I start >> working with some specific parts? >> >> Also, where should I looked to find the answer to this? I am very >> interested in getting into OpenBSD development but I am a little >> intimidated by the learning curve. >> >> jorj >> > > read up here: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq5.html (DO NOT skip the > first section, it's probably the most important). > Also, sounds like you need to read up on faq9.html, sounds like you come > from another place, and are applying Linuxisms to non-Linux systems. > (or typing randomly on the keyboard and expecting something magic to > happen :) > > OpenBSD has a monolithic kernel...all the drivers are "In There", you > don't have separate drivers for each device. You need to build the > entire kernel, but not the entire OpenBSD tree. Once you have the > kernel built, you can poke at individual drivers all you want, and when > you rebuild the kernel, only those parts that have changed, and things > that depend on them, will be recompiled. > > HOWEVER, if you are having trouble with a HiFn device, you are probably > having incorrect expectations, it's broke, or your Soekris has too small > a power pack. If I recall correctly (I don't have one myself, nor do I > have much need for one), they Just Work, which is also something very > common on OpenBSD. > > Nick. > Thanks for the reply. I have a little FreeBSD experience, but no system- level programming. I though this would be an interesting thing to look in to. I had some PXE-boot issues with an Atom-based shuttle and I did manage to add some debug messages to the pxeboot program and determine that the problem was in the BIOS. I sent the info to Shuttle tech support and am waiting to see if anything comes of it. Other than that, this is my first real stab at system-level programming on an OS, so you are absolutely right about the "typing randomly on the keyboard and expecting something magic to happen" part! Good point about the monolithic kernel part. IIRC, FreeBSD has modules for the drivers, so that is an interesting difference. I have done some by- the-book kernel and user land builds before in OpenBSD so I should be able to get that going. Also, good point about the power supply. I did google this and found a few hits from 2004 or so, but nothing much since then. I'm just planning on poking around and seeing if I can figure out what is going on. It's mainly for the learning experience more than anything else. Thanks again. jorj
