[SPARCbook] Which BSD, and will anyone ever do the pcmcia bridge?

[Koyote]

. 
> 
> I also found this pretty nice book about writing Linux device drivers
> for free:
> http://www.xml.com/ldd/chapter/book/ I've been reading that one a bit.  


nice.

> 
> 
> So where can I find the source code that exists for the sbus pcmcia
> device driver in Linux? Someone mentioned "stubs", what does that mean. 

I'm not sure where one is for linux. netbsd has a working sbus pcmcia
driver already in the tree. 

both have hooks appropriate for the tadpole pcmcia bridge. some work has
been done in netbsd for it, but I haven't been able to contact the
person who was doing the work.

> 
> I have been using the kernel from Tomas Roehrs homepage at
> www.nj-onramp.com
> for a while now on the Sparcbook 3GX. It has been running nicely so far,
> there are many useful appliacations that seem to compile and run so much
> easier on Linux, that I can now use on my Sparcbook. It seems that the
> source code for the kernel was not available though. Can I find it at
> some distribution site, or perhaps you could put the source at the page
> as well?  
> 

Honestly, I've had more trouble with linux in general (except for
gentoo, which just works) than any bsd. but linux is more up to date than soalris 2.6 for
certain!

Try out the netbsd sparc port while you are exploring. the operating
systems are pretty different, but I tend to find netbsd snappier on
older hardware. And I will find a still being maintained sparc port for
linux somewhere and try it again.


Linux has much better overall support for wirting device drivers, though.


> Would it not make most sense to try and write a driver for the pcmcia
> controller for Linux, since that would 
> possibly enable a great many pcmcia devices for which Linux drivers
> exist, including wifi cards.
> But I guess having a wavelan driver for Solaris would be quite nice too.
> 

Anything that works is fine. I know that interfacing with a vacuum
deisnged custom ASIC pcmcia bridge is going to be harder than porting an
existing wi driver. But I'd be nearly as happy to see linux support for
the tadpole pcmcia in linux as a wi in solaris. (the simplest advantage
to solaris 2.6 being total support of all the tadpole hardware.)


> The technical documentation in the Sparcbook technical manual available
> at the Tadpole homepage is pretty detailed, including memory layouts and
> register adresses etc. If any additional info is required Tadpole may
> perhaps give it out if we ask nicely.
> 

They list the 3gx as still supported on some pages, so maybe so :)


> Thanks,
> Peter
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