Re: Getting started on a LC630 and Debian installation docs
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014, Hayden wrote:
> Hi first time list user here,
>
> Recently I've been wanting to play around with my old 68k mac's again
> and decided I wanted to try and put Debian on my old LC630.
> Unfortunately on opening up my 630 I seem to possibly have one of the
> defective 68LC040's (XC68LC040RC33B 02E23G QEUE9439A Malaysia) so I was
> wanting to at least do a test boot to see if mine might not be
> defective.
It is defective, unfortunately. Aside from the CPU, the LC630 hardware had
good Linux driver support last time I tested it. It's a late model and
performs better than some earlier macs (Linux and MacOS).
BTW, some of those logic boards have two DRAM slots and these will accept
192 MB. My own LC630 has only one DRAM slot, with a 128 MB SIMM fitted,
which is probably sufficient (depending on what you want to use it for).
> The only information I'm finding on doing this is quite ancient
> (http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/docs/gettingstarted.php) and I was
> wondering if someone had information on testing this with one of the
> more modern kernels, rather than the really old etch kernel.
>
> If I do happen to have one of the defective batch what would my options
> be, short of buying a full 68040? Some of the pages I was reading sound
> like it's potentially do able but no one has done it, and other's say
> there is no way.
There is no practical way IMHO. Of course, if you have the skills and the
time, there's always a way. The CPU flaw did not prevent Apple from
implementing virtual memory in MacOS, for example.
In theory, you could patch the kernel to work around the CPU erratum
somehow, and thereby make use of a binary distro like Debian.
Alternatively, again only in theory, you could cross-compile an entire
distro from scratch, notwithstanding possible soft-float tool chain
issues. IMHO the source distros for embedded targets are better suited to
that kind of hacking.
> That said a lot of the information I'm seeing is quite a few years or
> even a decade out of date.
I agree. There is confusing historical information on
www.mac.linux-m68k.org but I generally keep the FAQ and hardware
compatibility information up-to-date. A refresh of the sf.net downloads
and the pages relating to Debian has long been on my long to-do list.
I don't really know what to do with Debian Hamm/Slink/Potato install
guides at http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/docs/
Can this stuff be archived on the Debian wiki?
>
>
> Thanks very much,
>
> Hayden K.
>
>
--
Reply to: