You don't have to be
a racially confused puppet(*) to run Void Linux now; you just need a supported Power CPU and one of the brand-spanking-new
Power ISA Void live ISOs with their interactive installer.
As reported on Twitter (thanks reader Karl S), now that
32- and 64-bit efforts are getting unified you can run Void on pretty much any mainstream Power CPU from a G3 to a POWER9 and you can now bootstrap the system directly from the Live image instead of having to install something else first. Interestingly, while the 32-bit build will run without AltiVec, the 64-bit builds require it, meaning the only 64-bit system supported earlier than POWER6 is the G5 (POWER5 isn't). ISOs are available for any combination of 32 vs. 64 bits, big vs. little endian (on 64-bit) and
musl vs.
glibc. Package availability may temporarily vary based on your choice, though the goal is parity between all of them. Support for some of the unusual variant and console CPUs may come in the future.
Incidentally, got shipping notification for my Blackbird today!
(*apologies to Arrested Development fans)
Nah, don't miss the PA6T ;-)
ReplyDeleteCameron, what was your Blackbird order date and "payment received" date? :-)
Still waiting for order confirmation:-(
Not order ... Ship
DeleteI'm not aware that the PA6T (viz., A-One X1000 machines) is supported by this build of Void (I know other Linuxes do). But happy to be proved wrong!
DeletePay date was 23 November 2018; it shipped 28 May 2019.
Thanks for the information :-)
ReplyDeleteSupported, I don't know, but it has also AltiVec.
I would be surprised, if Void won't work on X1000.
It just felt like too big of a sacrifice to disable altivec globally for 64-bit for the sake of what is probably fairly obscure hardware at this point - Adélie Linux makes the same choice by the way. Those that wish to run the system on POWER4/5 still have the choice of using a 32-bit userland or building the packages themselves, Gentoo style (Void makes it easy)
ReplyDelete>puts Adélie Hat on
DeleteYes, we officially recommend that users of POWER4+ and POWER5 hardware use the 32-bit kernel. Since our 64-bit kernel is CPU_GENERIC, it should work anyway. Note that Linux does not support POWER4 (without the +) or older any more.
>takes Adélie Hat off
Someone remind me to make an "embedded" 64-bit PPC spin in my copious free time, right after I do the 601 spin.
Gah, I meant 32-bit userland.
DeleteMy Power Mac 6100 will be right there ready to try it. ;)
DeleteIt means that the Intellistation 185 (with the G5 CPU) might also work?
ReplyDeleteI would imagine, it's not particularly unusual on the inside.
DeleteI am hoping my BlackBird will be shipped in a few days, so which Linux distro do you recommend at this point for a Desktop / development system? Fedora? And I'm also confused about the graphics card compatibility section in the wiki. Apparently all cards have issues with 32-bit DMA? Maybe the onboard HDMI would be sufficient for 2D desktop use? Or if I wanted to buy a card, which one is best for silent desktop operation without having to install patches or firmware? ... hmm is there a better place to ask all this :=) ?
ReplyDeletehttp://lists.mailinglist.openpowerfoundation.org/pipermail/openpower-community-dev/ might be a good mailing list for such topics.
DeleteI would recommend Fedora, but I'm biased :-)
For eg. XFCE desktop I guess the on-board AST graphics will be good.
I use Raptor's BTO WX 7100 with my Talos II, but I'm planning to run the Blackbird strictly in 2D mode. There was a delivery exception, hoping to get it on Monday ...
DeleteI also like Fedora fine (this is Fedora), but many people use Debian. And of course there's Void and Adelie.
I will try every Linux distribution. And I decided to invest in RAM (2x32GB) first. And only later to invest in a graphics card and NVMe (PCIe 4.0). Because RAM often fluctuates in price and usually graphics cards and NVMs become cheaper and cheaper over time.
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ReplyDelete