Subject: Fw: hello

From: "David Christensen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 14:55:22 -0800

[email-masked]:

Thank you all for your replies.  :-)

Hartvig Ekner <[email-masked]> wrote:
>> 2.  What is the preferred host OS...
> We use Linux/x86 for kernel compiles,

Which Linux distribution does MIPS use?  Since I'm going to be working
on an Atlas board using software from MIPS, I would like to match things
up exactly.

As an aside, is anybody using a VMware virtual machine for their
development host?

> and native compile for apps.

OK  that sounds like a safe bet.

>> 3.  What is the preferred toolchain...
> This is what we use for cross Kernel compiles (toolchain from oss):
>
> /home/hartvige> gcc -v
> Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-redhat-linux/2.96/specs
> gcc version 2.96 20000731 (Red Hat Linux 7.1 2.96-85)

Hmmm.  That looks like a native i386 compiler.  I'm surprised its not
something like "mips-elf-gcc".

I'll assume the cross-compile toolchain was built per
http://oss.sgi.com/mips/mips-howto.html section 10.

>> 4.  Is MIPS Linux self-hosted?
> Yes. Even without workstations, you could use MIPS or Algo development
> boards for self-hosted development (which is what we do - primarily
> Malta boards).

Good.  :-)

>> 5.  Can you do native development on MIPS Linux?
> Yes.

Good.  :-)

>> 6.  Does MIPS Linux support sound (oss or alsa) on any platform?
>>     Does it support sound on MIPS Atlas?
> Yes. Plug in a Creative SB card, based on the Ensoniq chip and
> enable the es1371.c in the kernel compile. Works both LE & BE, and
> with apps like madplay (mp3) and mplayer (mpeg4).

Great!  :-)

Florian Lohoff <[email-masked]> wrote:
>> 1.  Is there a reason why SourceForge isn't being used for the MIPS
>>     Linux project?
> The Linux-mips project is much older than sourceforge and looking at
> the history of hyped venture capital companys does not really give a
> good feeling about using sourceforge. Personally spoken i dont like
> sourceforge - For most cases its just too bloated and working for ISPs
> its not a problem to get some public accesible ftp/web/cvs space.

OK  I've used SourceForge as a software consumer and liked it.  I just
received their approval for an GPL'd Perl utility I wrote ("dirdiff").

>> 4.  Is MIPS Linux self-hosted?
> Definitly

Good. :-)

>> 5.  Can you do native development on MIPS Linux?
> Yep - The Debian autobuilder run native on little and big endian.

Hmmm.  Do you mean GNU autoconf running natively on MIPS, or something
running on a Debian x86 host, or something else?

>> 6.  Does MIPS Linux support sound (oss or alsa) on any platform?
Does
>>     it support sound on MIPS Atlas?
> Somme rumors about Indy/Indigo2 HAL support have been heard.

OK

> The problem with some sourceforge trees and the split up information
> is that like you already experienced is a real problem for Linux-mips
> as there is no "source of the only wisdom". I dont like that tree-
> forking etc. Either build your stuff clean - ready for inclusion -
> or just drop the tree under the table as a big bad ugly hack.

OK

Adrian Schroeter <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>> 6.  Does MIPS Linux support sound (oss or alsa) on any platform?
>>>     Does it support sound on MIPS Atlas?
>> Some rumors about Indy/Indigo2 HAL support have been heard.
> oss works for me here on Indy/Indigo2. The arts drivers seems to be
> too outdated atm.

OK

Leo Przybylski <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Well, all Linux/MIPS stuff on on oss.sgi.com is maintained largely by
> Ralf Baechle who is also contributor to numerous Linux/MIPS projects
> on sourceforge. As far as I know he is also a huge part of the
> sourceforge Linux/MIPS. You may have noticed that Bradley D. LaRonde
> is also a huge contributor.
>
> You have probably guessed that all the projects on sourceforge
> regarding linux mips are related by the maintainers and contributors.
> Most of the code is being contributed to sourceforge, oss.sgi.com,
> debian, redhat and so on. When everyone has their own toolchains,
> roots and kernels it's hard to keep them in their own repositories.
> oss.sgi.com has tried largely to do this though which is why it is a
> good place to start. The ftp site carries debian and redhat binaries,
> patches, etc... There's also the linux-mips kernel located in the
> oss.sgi.com CVS repository.
>
> As for why it is working to keep most of the resources in oss.sgi.com
> contrary to sourceforge, I don't really have an answer to that. Hope
> this helps.

Thanks for the background.  Clearly, linux-mips has much history behind
it.

David

---

From: Karsten Merker <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 07:39:27 +0100

> on an Atlas board using software from MIPS, I would like to match things

Several different - there is a Debian port (big and little endian),
H.J. Lu's RedHat mini-port (big endian AFAIK), Karel van Houten's 
RedHat-based rootfs (little endian), Keith M. Wesolwski's Simple
Linux (big-endian). I think the most complete of all is Debian.

> As an aside, is anybody using a VMware virtual machine for their

Why should we? VMware emulates i386 on i386, so it would be of no
help for mips development.

> >> 3.  What is the preferred toolchain...

I always build natively:
gcc version 2.95.4 20011002 (Debian prerelease)
GNU ld version 2.11.93.0.2 20020207 Debian/GNU Linux

> running on a Debian x86 host, or something else?

The autobuilder is a system that checks for new Debian packages which
are not yet built for mips/mipsel and automatically builds and uploads
them into the Debian archive. It runs natively (in our case on a
Lasat Masquerade Pro for little endian and on an SGI Indigo2 for big 
endian).

Regards,
Karsten
-- 
#include <standard_disclaimer>
Nach Paragraph 28 Abs. 3 Bundesdatenschutzgesetz widerspreche ich der Nutzung
oder Uebermittlung meiner Daten fuer Werbezwecke oder fuer die Markt- oder
Meinungsforschung.

---

From: Hartvig Ekner <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 09:59:40 +0100 (MET)

Hi David,

> on an Atlas board using software from MIPS, I would like to match things

Internally for development we use H.J's RedHat 7.1/MIPS miniport.
Ready-to-go kernel images and installation instructions (via NFS or
CDROM) for Atlas and Malta boards can be found on ftp.mips.com.

> something like "mips-elf-gcc".

Sorry - I ran the command in the wrong window :-)

For kernel cross compilation we use the following binary RPM's (LE shown only):

	binutils-mipsel-linux-2.9.5-3
	egcs-mipsel-linux-1.1.2-4

They can be found on:

	ftp://oss.sgi.com/pub/linux/mips/crossdev/i386-linux/mipsel-linux/

---

From: Ralf Baechle <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 09:38:42 -0800

> As an aside, is anybody using a VMware virtual machine for their

While it can be done there is not much point in doing so unless you hate
performance ;)

> OK  that sounds like a safe bet.

Which is the primary reason for native compiles.

> something like "mips-elf-gcc".

Yes, that's his native compiler.  mips-elf-gcc however should not be used,
there are subtle differences between the various ELF/MIPS targets that
would turn your life into hell ...

> http://oss.sgi.com/mips/mips-howto.html section 10.

That's roughly the procedure, though the procedure described is not 100%
suitable for the recommended compiler version.  So I recommend downloading
the binary rpms.

> > is also a huge contributor.

No.  I don't touch or follow the Sourceforge project at all.

  Ralf