"Support for 80386 processors (the I386_CPU kernel configuration option)"

Erik Trulsson ertr1013 at student.uu.se
Mon Jan 9 07:15:35 PST 2006


On Mon, Jan 09, 2006 at 09:58:20AM -0500, zimmermanjj at alltel.net wrote:
> Hello.  I quoted the subject of the email directly from the kernel changes
> section of the FreeBSD/i386-RELEASE release notes.  I am not sure if I am
> reading this correctly, but does this mean that people who have
> Intel-based processors (such as P4 and Celeron) should not use 6.0 and
> only use 5.4?  I want to intsall FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE on a Celeron and a
> P4, and to the best of my knowledge they are i386 processors (80386).  If
> someone could clear this up I would appreciate it.

No, P4 and Celeron are not 80386 processors. They are descended from the
80386 and belong to the i386 *family* of processors, which is a slightly
different thing.


What has been removed from 6.0 is the ability to run on an *actual* 80386
CPU.  They were state of the art in the late 80's, but that is a while ago.
If your computer has a clock frequency of 50 MHz or more, it is almost
certainly not using a real 80386. (If I remember correctly they were
only available in speeds ranging from 16 MHz to 40 MHz.)

FreeBSD 6.0 should run fine on any Intel CPU from the original Pentium and
onwards. (Also on an 80486, if it has an hardware FPU - either built in or
external.)


-- 
<Insert your favourite quote here.>
Erik Trulsson
ertr1013 at student.uu.se


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