hppa j67x0 feedback

ddc · Guru Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 522

hello
about hppa j67x0 {j6700,j6750} i wander
1) if it could run pci32bit card (the machine has been declared 64bit pci, not 32/64bit)
----> in case i have to add a matrox m1/m2 or a voodo02 + additional netboard
2) how is the SMP with 2 PARISC-8700, 'cause i know SMP isn't the most stable thing on hppa

anybody installed gentoo on this machine ?
i wander if to buy or not a j6750

regards

alex.blackbit · Advocate Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 2397

i never say a 64bit pci slot that denied a 32bit card, but mind the voltage!

HPRichard · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject:

Any 64bit PCI bus is capable to run in 32bit mode, but the voltage thing has to be regarded. The PCI buses in the J6xxx are all 3.3V, as the PCI bus of a normal PC motherboard is 5V. Most PCI cards are designed in a way, that only cards of the correct voltage fit into the sockets, they are keyed. If you look at the PCI slots of a normal PC, you can see the key for 5V. 3.3V slots are keyed on the other side. PCI cards which have key notches on both sides fit for both voltages. It is nice to know that every PCI slot on the J6xxx machines is connected to an extra PCI bus, so a 33MHz card in one slot do not slow down 66MHz cards in other slots.

The stability of SMP may vary from machine to machine. On a K370 with 5 CPUs SMP worked flawless for one or two days, but then it crashed and caused filesystem errors and the system is not able to boot up via the initscripts.

Gentoo Linux should work on this machine.