From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Mathew McBride To: development@lists.ipfire.org Subject: Re: ARM 64? Date: Thu, 24 May 2018 21:02:18 +1000 Message-ID: In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============3414211116235142646==" List-Id: --===============3414211116235142646== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Michael, See answers below =EF=BB=BFOn 24/5/18, 8:31 pm, "Michael Tremer" = wrote: Hello, =20 On Thu, 2018-05-24 at 11:32 +1000, Mathew McBride wrote: > Hi Michael, > From the software side, the support in the kernel is fairly good, mainl= ine > 4.15 and later works. We (Traverse) only maintain a patchset for some s= mall > drivers (such as hwmon sensors not yet in the kernel - not required to = boot) > and other minor fixes not yet applied upstream. =20 Any idea if 4.14 works? We are going to use this kernel as the next one b= ecause it is a long-term supported one. 4.14 does work, but the network drivers for the LS1043 narrowly missed the 4.= 14 merge window. They just need to be cherry-picked from a later kernel, i.e https://gitlab.co= m/traversetech/traverse-kernel-patches/blob/kernel-4-14/patches/0001_soc-fsl-= qbman-Enable-QBMan-on-ARM-Platforms.patch =20 > If you build an image that uses UEFI boot it will work on both our hard= ware > (bare metal), as a VM and on the ARM64 server platforms (Ampere/XGene, > Centriq, ThunderX), or even our competitors (MacchiatoBin etc.) =20 I got an XGene. Not really a fan of that EFI thing it came with, but u-bo= ot was in a horrible state a few years ago, too. =20 https://planet.ipfire.org/post/our-start-with-arm64-the-applied-micro-m= ustang =20 > The big difference is that we use u-boot and it's EFI implementation - = and > that is improving at a rate that we don't feel it necessary to port Tia= noCore > to our board.=20 =20 Haven't tried u-boot in EFI mode, yet. But it is a good to have everythin= g open and freely distributable for us. I suppose u-boot is living in the NAND f= lash and the OS is on SSD or SD card? Yes, u-boot is on the NAND. It will boot EFI distributions on any supported b= lock device (SD, USB, SSD). There are some limitations - no EFI persistent variables etc. (yet) or RTC se= rvice, but I think that will eventually be solved. 'Real' ARM servers (these days) also use ACPI instead of passing a device tre= e, but this doesn't really make much of a difference in user space. > The board Guy linked (LS1043-S) is our OEM/volume product, and he can b= rief > you on the pricing off-list.=20 =20 Thanks for that. =20 [snip] =20 Regards, Matt >=20 > -------- Forwarded Message --------=20 > Subject:=20 > Re: ARM 64? > Date:=20 > Wed, 23 May 2018 10:58:00 +0100 > From:=20 > Michael Tremer mailto:michael.tremer(a)ipfire.org > To:=20 > mailto:guy(a)traverse.com.au, mailto:development(a)lists.ipfire.org >=20 > Hello Guy, >=20 > thank you very much for getting in touch. >=20 > Yes, we are working on an ARM 64 port, but so far we have not seen any > hardware > that was worth doing the port for. All those small and cheap single-boa= rd > computers lack power, the bigger systems are basically unavailable and = way too > expensive. >=20 > This board is way different though. CPU, Memory and especially the NICs= are > something that are way better sized and make a nice small appliance for= bigger > SOHOs or small to medium-sized offices. >=20 > Not entirely sure why there is only one 10G port. Usually where 10G goe= s in, > it > has to go out somewhere else again... >=20 > The big question is what software support is like in the Linux kernel f= or > this. > I have seen the patches linked on the product page and can only defer t= o Arne > to > have a look at it. >=20 > My question would now be: What is the desired RRP for this or wholesale= ? I am > just curious to find out if it is competitive or if people would find i= t too > expensive and buy Intel again. Then we shouldn't really bother with put= ting > the > time into a port. If you are not comfortable sharing prices on the list, > please > feel free to email me in private about this. >=20 > About the sponsorship. Thank you very much for considering us. I would = be > happy > to have a closer look. Would you be able to ship this into the UK or Ge= rmany? >=20 > Best, > -Michael >=20 > On Wed, 2018-05-23 at 12:46 +1000, Guy Ellis wrote: > > Dear list, > >=20 > > Just wondering if there is any interest in supporting ARM 64 hardware= =20 > > moving forward? > >=20 > > We can assist with donated hardware and support if there is interest. > > https://traverse.com.au/products/ls1043s-router-board/ > >=20 > > Regards, > > - Guy. > >=20 > >=20 >=20 >=20 >=20 =20 --===============3414211116235142646==--