Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Quick Search: in
X on octane VPro?
View unanswered posts
View posts from last 24 hours

 
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Gentoo on Alternative Architectures
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Galahad
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 126

PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 6:42 pm    Post subject: X on octane VPro? Reply with quote

I'm interested in the status of this.

I just installed ~mips gentoo on my octane2 V6 and X shows some strange errors with FBDEV and can't mmap something. I had assumed the fbdev driver should work in any case.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Redhatter
Retired Dev
Retired Dev


Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 548
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh, I could've told you that would happen before you tried. :-)

The issue here, is that fbdev relies on mapping a chunk of the video board's memory (using mmap) into system memory for X to read and write to. This is only possible on the O2's GBE, thanks to UMA -- the video card simply uses the main system memory. As VPro (and Impact, and Newport, and Extreme) don't share their memory with the main system, it's not possible to map this memory into the address space and make it directly accessible to X. So any data for the video card needs to be transferred manually.

This would be fine... but nobody knows (except SGI, who are remaining tight-lipped) how to do DMA with VPro. Thus any data would have to be done using PIO, making things painfully slow, and chewing CPU time to buggery. If someone knows how, and is at liberty to reveal the secret ... an X driver may become possible (and an X driver with OpenGL no less... the geometry engine is already understood, and is used for rendering the console), but until then, it's not technically feasable to do.
_________________
Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

Gentoo/MIPS Cobalt developer, Mozilla herd member.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Galahad
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 126

PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought it would be something like that ;) .
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ddc
Guru
Guru


Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 525

PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 9:07 am    Post subject: Re: X on octane VPro? Reply with quote

Galahad wrote:
I'm interested in the status of this.

I just installed ~mips gentoo on my octane2 V6 and X shows some strange errors with FBDEV and can't mmap something. I had assumed the fbdev driver should work in any case.



sgi octane2 R12K ?
if so, how did you install gentoo on it ? every time i try to netboot the right kernel suggest in the handbook i'm stopped by this error: prom write error on cacheline 0x1fcc0f00 at PC=8000000202729e0


about X, i think we'd better buy a PCI-cage and to plug in a matrox-PCI or a voodoo2-PCI: as framebuffer they are well supported in nonPC architecture.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Galahad
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 126

PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used the livecd from dev.gentoo.org/~kumba
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kumba
Developer
Developer


Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 393
Location: Sigma 957

PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anything found in my dev directory these days is to be considered highly experimental. I've got an X cd in the works for several of the systems, but that's been held up by my main desktop deciding to become a major PITA (stupid +12v rails in my PSU).

I'm hoping to get them all out as RC6 soon.



--Kumba
_________________
"The past tempts us, the present confuses us, the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between."
--Emperor Turhan, Centauri Republic
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Galahad
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 126

PostPosted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have no problems with highly experimental. The whole linux-mips thing is highly experimental.

It worked fine :) .
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pliablemammal
n00b
n00b


Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 52
Location: Sacramento

PostPosted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have two extra impact frame buffers, one is MXI with texture and one is just the normal impact card but the MXI is full height so it's kinda a weird. It would work for your system since the impact driver is supported, but it doesn't seem like the Xorg stuff is DRI yet.

I'm in Northern California if you want to try it let me know.

I have like 3 extra Octanes all with at least a gig of ram in them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
iluxa
Retired Dev
Retired Dev


Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:53 am    Post subject: Re: X on octane VPro? Reply with quote

ddc wrote:

sgi octane2 R12K ?
if so, how did you install gentoo on it ? every time i try to netboot the right kernel suggest in the handbook i'm stopped by this error: prom write error on cacheline 0x1fcc0f00 at PC=8000000202729e0


This probably means your CPU is hosed.
_________________
Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh
Total Knowledge. CTO
http://www.total-knowledge.com

CPPSERV: C++ Servlet Container and CSP (C++ Server Pages) parser: Application server for Real Programmers(TM)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Gentoo on Alternative Architectures All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum