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Update documenation for Sparc, based on patch by Jurij Smakov
1 <!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
2 <!-- $Id$ -->
3
4 <sect1 id="hardware-supported">
5 <title>Supported Hardware</title>
6 <para>
7
8 Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements
9 of the Linux kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any
10 architecture or platform to which the Linux kernel, libc,
11 <command>gcc</command>, etc. have been ported, and for which a Debian
12 port exists, can run Debian. Please refer to the Ports pages at
13 <ulink url="&url-ports;"></ulink> for
14 more details on &arch-title; architecture systems which have been
15 tested with Debian.
16
17 </para><para>
18
19 Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware
20 configurations which are supported for &arch-title;, this section
21 contains general information and pointers to where additional
22 information can be found.
23
24 </para>
25
26 <sect2><title>Supported Architectures</title>
27 <para>
28
29 Debian &release; supports twelve major architectures and several
30 variations of each architecture known as <quote>flavors</quote>.
31
32 </para><para>
33
34 <informaltable>
35 <tgroup cols="4">
36 <thead>
37 <row>
38 <entry>Architecture</entry><entry>Debian Designation</entry>
39 <entry>Subarchitecture</entry><entry>Flavor</entry>
40 </row>
41 </thead>
42
43 <tbody>
44 <row>
45 <entry>Intel x86-based</entry>
46 <entry>i386</entry>
47 <entry></entry>
48 <entry></entry>
49 </row>
50
51 <row>
52 <entry>AMD64 &amp; Intel EM64T</entry>
53 <entry>amd64</entry>
54 <entry></entry>
55 <entry></entry>
56 </row>
57
58 <row>
59 <entry>DEC Alpha</entry>
60 <entry>alpha</entry>
61 <entry></entry>
62 <entry></entry>
63 </row>
64
65 <row>
66 <entry morerows="3">ARM and StrongARM</entry>
67 <entry morerows="3">arm</entry>
68 <entry>Netwinder and CATS</entry>
69 <entry>netwinder</entry>
70 </row><row>
71 <entry>Intel IOP32x</entry>
72 <entry>iop32x</entry>
73 </row><row>
74 <entry>Intel IXP4xx</entry>
75 <entry>ixp4xx</entry>
76 </row><row>
77 <entry>RiscPC</entry>
78 <entry>rpc</entry>
79 </row>
80
81 <row>
82 <entry morerows="1">HP PA-RISC</entry>
83 <entry morerows="1">hppa</entry>
84 <entry>PA-RISC 1.1</entry>
85 <entry>32</entry>
86 </row><row>
87 <entry>PA-RISC 2.0</entry>
88 <entry>64</entry>
89 </row>
90
91 <row>
92 <entry>Intel IA-64</entry>
93 <entry>ia64</entry>
94 <entry></entry>
95 <entry></entry>
96 </row>
97
98 <row>
99 <entry morerows="3">MIPS (big endian)</entry>
100 <entry morerows="3">mips</entry>
101 <entry>SGI IP22 (Indy/Indigo 2)</entry>
102 <entry>r4k-ip22</entry>
103 </row><row>
104 <entry>SGI IP32 (O2)</entry>
105 <entry>r5k-ip32</entry>
106 </row><row>
107 <entry>Broadcom BCM91250A (SWARM)</entry>
108 <entry>sb1-bcm91250a</entry>
109 </row><row>
110 <entry>Broadcom BCM91480B (BigSur)</entry>
111 <entry>sb1a-bcm91480b</entry>
112 </row>
113
114 <row>
115 <entry morerows="4">MIPS (little endian)</entry>
116 <entry morerows="4">mipsel</entry>
117 <entry>Cobalt</entry>
118 <entry>cobalt</entry>
119 </row><row>
120 <entry morerows="1">DECstation</entry>
121 <entry>r4k-kn04</entry>
122 </row><row>
123 <entry>r3k-kn02</entry>
124 </row><row>
125 <entry>Broadcom BCM91250A (SWARM)</entry>
126 <entry>sb1-bcm91250a</entry>
127 </row><row>
128 <entry>Broadcom BCM91480B (BigSur)</entry>
129 <entry>sb1a-bcm91480b</entry>
130 </row>
131
132 <row>
133 <entry morerows="5">Motorola 680x0</entry>
134 <entry morerows="5">m68k</entry>
135 <entry>Atari</entry>
136 <entry>atari</entry>
137 </row><row>
138 <entry>Amiga</entry>
139 <entry>amiga</entry>
140 </row><row>
141 <entry>68k Macintosh</entry>
142 <entry>mac</entry>
143 </row><row>
144 <entry morerows="2">VME</entry>
145 <entry>bvme6000</entry>
146 </row><row>
147 <entry>mvme147</entry>
148 </row><row>
149 <entry>mvme16x</entry>
150 </row>
151
152 <row>
153 <entry morerows="3">IBM/Motorola PowerPC</entry>
154 <entry morerows="3">powerpc</entry>
155 <entry>CHRP</entry>
156 <entry>chrp</entry>
157 </row><row>
158 <entry>PowerMac</entry>
159 <entry>pmac</entry>
160 </row><row>
161 <entry>PReP</entry>
162 <entry>prep</entry>
163 </row><row>
164 <entry>APUS</entry>
165 <entry>apus</entry>
166 </row>
167
168 <row>
169 <entry morerows="1">Sun SPARC</entry>
170 <entry morerows="1">sparc</entry>
171 <entry morerows="1"></entry>
172 <entry>sun4cdm</entry>
173 </row><row>
174 <entry>sun4u</entry>
175 </row>
176
177 <row>
178 <entry morerows="1">IBM S/390</entry>
179 <entry morerows="1">s390</entry>
180 <entry>IPL from VM-reader and DASD</entry>
181 <entry>generic</entry>
182 </row><row>
183 <entry>IPL from tape</entry>
184 <entry>tape</entry>
185 </row>
186
187 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
188
189 </para><para>
190
191 This document covers installation for the
192 <emphasis>&arch-title;</emphasis> architecture. If you are looking
193 for information on any of the other Debian-supported architectures
194 take a look at the
195 <ulink url="http://www.debian.org/ports/">Debian-Ports</ulink> pages.
196
197 </para><para condition="new-arch">
198
199 This is the first official release of &debian; for the &arch-title;
200 architecture. We feel that it has proven itself sufficiently to be
201 released. However, because it has not had the exposure (and hence
202 testing by users) that some other architectures have had, you may
203 encounter a few bugs. Use our
204 <ulink url="&url-bts;">Bug Tracking System</ulink> to report any
205 problems; make sure to mention the fact that the bug is on the
206 &arch-title; platform. It can be necessary to use the
207 <ulink url="&url-list-subscribe;">debian-&arch-listname; mailing list</ulink>
208 as well.
209
210 </para>
211 </sect2>
212
213 <!-- supported cpu docs -->
214 &supported-alpha.xml;
215 &supported-amd64.xml;
216 &supported-arm.xml;
217 &supported-hppa.xml;
218 &supported-i386.xml;
219 &supported-ia64.xml; <!-- FIXME: currently missing -->
220 &supported-m68k.xml;
221 &supported-mips.xml;
222 &supported-mipsel.xml;
223 &supported-powerpc.xml;
224 &supported-s390.xml;
225 &supported-sparc.xml;
226
227 <sect2 id="gfx" arch="not-s390"><title>Graphics Card Support</title>
228 <para arch="x86">
229
230 You should be using a VGA-compatible display interface for the console
231 terminal. Nearly every modern display card is compatible with
232 VGA. Ancient standards such CGA, MDA, or HGA should also work,
233 assuming you do not require X11 support. Note that X11 is not used
234 during the installation process described in this document.
235
236 </para><para>
237
238 Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the
239 underlying support found in X.Org's X11 system. Most AGP, PCI and
240 PCIe video cards work under X.Org. Details on supported graphics
241 buses, cards, monitors, and pointing devices can be found at
242 <ulink url="&url-xorg;"></ulink>. Debian &release; ships
243 with X.Org version &x11ver;.
244
245 </para><para arch="mips">
246
247 <!-- FIXME: mention explicit graphics chips and not system names -->
248 The X.Org X11 window system is only supported on the SGI Indy and the O2. The
249 Broadcom BCM91250A and BCM91480B evaluation boards have standard 3.3v PCI
250 slots and support VGA emulation or Linux framebuffer on a selected range
251 of graphics cards. A <ulink url="&url-bcm91250a-hardware;">compatibility
252 listing</ulink> for Broadcom evaluation boards is available.
253
254 </para><para arch="mipsel">
255
256 The X.Org X11 window system is supported on some DECstation models. The
257 Broadcom BCM91250A and BCM91480B evaluation boards have standard 3.3v PCI
258 slots and support VGA emulation or Linux framebuffer on a selected range
259 of graphics cards. A <ulink url="&url-bcm91250a-hardware;">compatibility
260 listing</ulink> for Broadcom evaluation boards is available.
261
262 </para><para arch="sparc">
263
264 Most graphics options commonly found on Sparc-based machines are supported.
265 X.org graphics drivers are available for sunbw2, suncg14, suncg3, suncg6,
266 sunleo and suntcx framebuffers, Creator3D and Elite3D cards (sunffb driver),
267 PGX24/PGX64 ATI-based video cards (ati driver), and PermediaII-based cards
268 (glint driver). To use an Elite3D card with X.org you additionally need to
269 install the <classname>afbinit</classname> package, and read the documentation
270 included with it on how to activate the card.
271
272 </para><para arch="sparc">
273
274 It is not uncommon for a Sparc machine to have two graphics cards in a
275 default configuration. In such a case there is a possibility that the
276 Linux kernel will not direct its output to the card initially used by the
277 firmware. The lack of output on the graphical console may then be mistaken
278 for a hang (usually the last message seen on console is 'Booting Linux...').
279 One possible solution is to physically remove one of the video cards;
280 another option is to disable one of the cards using a kernel boot parameter.
281 Also, if graphical output is not required or desired, serial console may be
282 used as an alternative. On some systems use of serial console can be
283 activated automatically by disconnecting the keyboard before booting the
284 system.
285
286 </para>
287 </sect2>
288
289 <sect2 arch="x86" id="laptops"><title>Laptops</title>
290 <para>
291
292 Laptops are also supported. Laptops are often specialized or contain
293 proprietary hardware. To see if your particular laptop works well
294 with GNU/Linux, see the
295 <ulink url="&url-x86-laptop;">Linux Laptop pages</ulink>
296
297 </para>
298 </sect2>
299
300 <sect2 condition="defaults-smp">
301 <title>Multiple Processors</title>
302 <para>
303
304 Multiprocessor support &mdash; also called <quote>symmetric multiprocessing</quote>
305 or SMP &mdash; is available for this architecture. The standard Debian
306 &release; kernel image was compiled with SMP support. This should not
307 prevent installation, since the SMP kernel should boot on non-SMP systems;
308 the kernel will simply cause a bit more overhead.
309
310 </para><para>
311
312 In order to optimize the kernel for single CPU systems, you'll have to
313 replace the standard Debian kernel. You can find a discussion of how
314 to do this in <xref linkend="kernel-baking"/>. At this time
315 (kernel version &kernelversion;) the way you disable SMP is to deselect
316 <quote>&smp-config-option;</quote> in the <quote>&smp-config-section;</quote>
317 section of the kernel config.
318
319 </para>
320 </sect2>
321
322 <sect2 condition="smp-alternatives">
323 <title>Multiple Processors</title>
324
325 <para>
326
327 Multiprocessor support &mdash; also called <quote>symmetric
328 multiprocessing</quote> or SMP &mdash; is available for this architecture.
329 The standard Debian &release; kernel image was compiled with
330 <firstterm>SMP-alternatives</firstterm> support. This means that the kernel
331 will detect the number of processors (or processor cores) and will
332 automatically deactivate SMP on uniprocessor systems.
333
334 </para><para arch="i386">
335
336 The 486 flavour of the Debian kernel image packages for &arch-title;
337 is not compiled with SMP support.
338
339 </para>
340 </sect2>
341
342 <sect2 condition="supports-smp">
343 <title>Multiple Processors</title>
344 <para>
345
346 Multiprocessor support &mdash; also called <quote>symmetric
347 multiprocessing</quote> or SMP &mdash; is available for this architecture.
348 However, the standard Debian &release; kernel image does not support
349 SMP. This should not prevent installation, since the standard,
350 non-SMP kernel should boot on SMP systems; the kernel will simply use
351 the first CPU.
352
353 </para><para>
354
355 In order to take advantage of multiple processors, you'll have to
356 replace the standard Debian kernel. You can find a discussion of how
357 to do this in <xref linkend="kernel-baking"/>. At this time
358 (kernel version &kernelversion;) the way you enable SMP is to select
359 <quote>&smp-config-option;</quote> in the <quote>&smp-config-section;</quote>
360 section of the kernel config.
361
362 </para>
363 </sect2>
364
365 <sect2 condition="supports-smp-sometimes">
366 <title>Multiple Processors</title>
367 <para>
368
369 Multiprocessor support &mdash; also called <quote>symmetric
370 multiprocessing</quote> or SMP &mdash; is available for this architecture,
371 and is supported by a precompiled Debian kernel image. Depending on your
372 install media, this SMP-capable kernel may or may not be installed by
373 default. This should not prevent installation, since the standard,
374 non-SMP kernel should boot on SMP systems; the kernel will simply use
375 the first CPU.
376
377 </para><para>
378
379 In order to take advantage of multiple processors, you should check to see
380 if a kernel package that supports SMP is installed, and if not, choose an
381 appropriate kernel package.
382
383 </para><para>
384
385 You can also build your own customized kernel to support SMP. You can find
386 a discussion of how to do this in <xref linkend="kernel-baking"/>. At this
387 time (kernel version &kernelversion;) the way you enable SMP is to select
388 <quote>&smp-config-option;</quote> in the <quote>&smp-config-section;</quote>
389 section of the kernel config.
390
391 </para>
392 </sect2>
393 </sect1>

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