This describes the current work that the FreeBSD sparc64 port needs. Contact: MarkLinimon.
(One of the best reasons for pressing forward with sparc64 had been the hope that sun4v becomes a viable FreeBSD platform in the future. Bugfixes for the one will aid the other. But note that as of May 2011, sun4v support was deleted from -HEAD due to bitrot and lack of developer interest. However, bugfixes for sparc64 ports often also fix building on powerpc.)
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.
We are looking for access to the following machines for testing purposes: Ultra 25 or 45 for testing the bq4802 variant found there (see this commit); V480 equipped with certain backplanes.
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. - complete with thanks and hat off to Marius Strobl
resources
General overview of FreeBSD on SPARC.
Supported Hardware in released vesions. Generally these are UltraSPARC-II or UltraSPCR-III machines. Later processors are only supported by the sun4v codebase, which has been removed from -HEAD; 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.