5.1 on a 386

[Thomas T. Veldhouse]

I recall conversation in current about dropping i386 support.  Still, the
kernel config files back me up.

In GENERIC of the 4.x series

machine         i386
cpu             I386_CPU
cpu             I486_CPU
cpu             I586_CPU
cpu             I686_CPU
ident           GENERIC


In GENERIC of the 5.x series

machine         i386
cpu             I486_CPU
cpu             I586_CPU
cpu             I686_CPU
ident           GENERIC


And I find this in NOTES

#
# You must specify at least one CPU (the one you intend to run on);
# deleting the specification for CPUs you don't need to use may make
# parts of the system run faster.
# I386_CPU is mutually exclusive with the other CPU types.
#
#cpu            I386_CPU
cpu             I486_CPU
cpu             I586_CPU                # aka Pentium(tm)
cpu             I686_CPU                # aka Pentium Pro(tm)

So, support is there, but I wonder how much.

Tom Veldhouse

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Moran" <wmoran at potentialtech.com>
To: "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy at veldy.net>
Cc: "John Nielsen" <john at jnielsen.net>; <questions at freebsd.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: 5.1 on a 386


> Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:
> > I could be wrong, but I thought that they finally gave up on 386 support
and
> > now the base minimum is 486.  It could very well be that you can't
compile
> > the system for a 386 without significant modification.
>
> If this is the case, then the hardware notes need updated, I quote:
> "All Intel processors beginning with the 80386 are supported, including
the
> 80386, ..."
> ... and ...
> "While technically supported, the use of the 80386SX is specifically not
> recommended."
> That last sentence is slightly vague.  I assume that they recommend
against
> the 386 simply because it's not powerful enough to be worthwhile, but it
> doesn't say specifically why.
>
> >
> > Tom Veldhouse
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "John Nielsen" <john at jnielsen.net>
> > To: <questions at freebsd.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 2:25 PM
> > Subject: 5.1 on a 386
> >
> >
> >
> >>Hi folks-
> >>
> >>I am setting up FreeBSD 5.1-RELEASE on a 386DX.  I'm mostly doing it as
a
> >>learning exercise (or perhaps because I'm a masochist), but the machine
> >
> > may
> >
> >>be used as a firewall at some point.  I have the OS installed with a
> >
> > custom
> >
> >>kernel, and things are actually going quite well.
> >>
> >>There are (of course) some problems though.  Most of the userland
> >
> > utilities
> >
> >>work great, but some just dump core.  The one I miss in particular is
> >
> > groff
> >
> >>(for manpages, etc).  I suspect that the problems are a result of CPU
> >>instructions that the poor 386 doesn't understand.
> >>
> >>I do have a separate build machine (soon to be running 5.1 as well), so
> >
> > I'd
> >
> >>like to recompile everything (kernel, userland, and
> >>ports-to-be-made-into-packages) for the 386 with the appropriate flags
to
> >>gcc and friends.  Hopefully that will take care of the issues I'm
seeing.
> >>
> >>So my question is, what flags should I use and where should I put them?
> >
> > I'd
> >
> >>like to be able to switch easily between builds for the 386 and "normal"
> >>builds (for everything else).  Can I just put an override in
> >
> > /etc/make.conf
> >
> >>or do I have to futz with /usr/share/mk/bsd.cpu.mk?  (In the case of the
> >>latter, detailed hints would be appreciated.. I don't grok Make all that
> >>well yet.)
> >>
> >>Thanks,
> >>
> >>JN
>
> --
> Bill Moran
> Potential Technologies
> http://www.potentialtech.com
>
>