Bug#497230: [alpha] legacy and generic package descriptions
On Tue, 2008-09-02 at 00:32 +0100, Matthew W. S. Bell wrote:
> Well, I still don't entirely know what the -legacy package is for nor
> what constitutes an "Alpha Legacy Machine". Looking at the linux-2.6
> Debian changelog it appears it may be something to do with MILO.
Further investigation eventually reveals that the only change in the
kernels is the CONFIG_ALPHA_LEGACY_START_ADDRESS. This option has the
following help:
-
The 2.4 kernel changed the kernel start address from 0x310000 to
0x810000 to make room for the Wildfire's larger SRM console. Recent
consoles on Titan and Marvel machines also require the extra room.
If you're using aboot 0.7 or later, the bootloader will examine the ELF
headers to determine where to transfer control. Unfortunately, most
older bootloaders -- APB or MILO -- hardcoded the kernel start address
rather than examining the ELF headers, and the result is a hard lockup.
Say Y if you have a broken bootloader. Say N if you do not, or if `you
wish to run on Wildfire, Titan, or Marvel.
-
Hopefully this should be informative enough for the creation of some
explanatory prose for -legacy and -generic.
Matthew
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