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prelude
n00b
Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Posts: 15
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 Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:44 pm Post subject: building gentoo for older CPU |
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I have several small computers that fulfill a number of jobs and have done so for quite some time. Many years ago I managed to get gentoo working on them properly but as that goes life happens and the system "just works" (tm) so it keeps chugging along and before you know it, they are un-updateable.
In the past I have run distcc, crossdev on the distcc host and a number of other tricks to keep those boxes running but it seems these days that won't cut it any longer with gcc/glibc compile sizes (or linker memory requirements) that will simply kill that poor old thing. So, here is the question/challenge at hand: what would be the best way to go about getting these babies to run for me?
I tried: installing stage3-i486 and changing the CHOST since this is not an 486. but that was not possible on the system itself due to lack of memory so
I tried: moving the bootdisk over to my PC, fire up vmware, boot the 32bit cd and chroot into the OS and run the entire thing from there. I dropped out with an error I can't remember but even if I could I run into the problem that the CPU is not compatible with my PC anyway since it is a via C3 and I run a xeon so the instruction sets are not 100% compatible.
I must admit I considered simply foregoing Gentoo and just run debian or whatever but as far as I can tell there are really no more decent distributions with 32-bit support around anymore. If there are, they are i686 and this little baby is not compatible due to the missing CMOV and some other instruction. As it stand, Gentoo is still the perfect candidate for these machines I just need to find a way to keep them up to date in a way that does not entail removing the OS disk every week or so. I have read people mounting the root partition over NFS and stunts like that, I am not against it but I really need something that is rather bullet proof since I will be away from those machines for quite some time in the near future so all I can do is remotely manage and maintain them.
Any experiences and suggestion are highly appreciated!
Cheers,
-P |
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NeddySeagoon
Administrator
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 54244
Location: 56N 3W
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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prelude,
In this wiki page any help?
Which C3 do you have?
Does /proc/cpuinfo have cmov in flags?
That would make it i686.
The i486 in CHOST has little or no effect on performance. It means that the toolchain can run on a i486.
This does not affect the output code as that is controlled by CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS.
Its not worth the toolchain rebuild time to swap CHOST for the very small gains you may get in build times.
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Regards,
NeddySeagoon
Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail. |
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prelude
n00b
Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hi NeddySeagoon,
I have the following CPU:
| Code: | processor : 0
vendor_id : CentaurHauls
cpu family : 6
model : 7
model name : VIA Samuel 2
stepping : 3
cpu MHz : 550.030
cache size : 64 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 1
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fdiv_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu de tsc msr cx8 mtrr pge mmx 3dnow cpuid
bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit mmio_unknown
bogomips : 1100.06
clflush size : 32
cache_alignment : 32
address sizes : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:
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Looking at it, the only instruction that this cpu has that an intel cpu does not is the 3dnow extension. I wonder how important that will be since I do not intend to run any graphical stuff on it. Perhaps I should simply set it to be a i586? In any case I think that simply not adding 3dnow in my chroot env should do the trick. Since rebuilding the toolchain is not worth it as you mentioned (I learned that just today after so many years of gentoo use, thanks  )I believe I will take a look at your wiki page a little closer and see if that is usable. Mind you I do not have a spare gentoo system but I will spin one up in a VM just to maintain these little bad boys.
Thanks!
-P |
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NeddySeagoon
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Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 54244
Location: 56N 3W
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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prelude,
| Code: | | flags : fpu de tsc msr cx8 mtrr pge mmx 3dnow cpuid |
No cmov, so its i586.
3dnow was AMDs response to Intel mmx, which you have.
They are both multimedia instruction sets.
If you won't use multimedia packages, you will loose very little.
If you do, you have mmx.
_________________
Regards,
NeddySeagoon
Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail. |
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