This describes the current work that the FreeBSD sparc64 port needs. Contact: MarkLinimon.
One of the best reasons for pressing forward with sparc64 is for the hope that sun4v becomes a viable FreeBSD platform in the future. Bugfixes for the one will aid the other.
Our sparc64 userbase is much smaller than that for i386 and amd64. As such, its status lags behind those two. This is the place to share ideas and resources.
how to help
Add yourself to the signup sheet for volunteers
tasklist
- A howto for novice testers might be helpful. Suggestions for content welcome.
The state of the packages on sparc64 includes some suggestions.
- Creation of a sparc64 ports tinderbox, since many developers do not have access to a sparc64 box.
CraigButler has installed FreeBSD onto several b100s inside a b1600 to use as package builders. However no driver is currently available for Suns 'Cassini' network cards, he would like help developing one.
resources
General overview of FreeBSD on SPARC.
Supported Hardware in released vesions. Generally these are UltraSPARC-II machines. Support for UltraSPARC-III has recently been added to -HEAD by Marius Strobl; he has made available an install image snapshot. (Please test and report your results to freebsd-sparc64@ !) For later processors, see the sun4v overview page and the sun4v wiki page.
Various resources from RoyceWilliams, including the sparc64-compatible hardware reference.
A survey of available machines on (e.g.) eBay from Johan A. van Zanten.