Novice: Archimedes 310 + Linux??
Jostein Welde Thorbjørnsen
First: I hope you don't mind me crossposting this across the .misc,
.tech and .hardware groups. I am not familiar with the comp.sys.acorn
hierarchy, and I hope I haven't broken any unwritten rule.
I recently heard that the Arc 310 that's been wasting away in my attic
for a few years is supposed to be able to run Linux. Is this correct?
If so: What will I need to do with it?
Currently it's stripped down to 1 meg of ram and no hard drive. I will
of course install
-more ram (4 megs? 8 megs?). I just put in some standard 30-pin SIMMS,
right?
-a hard drive (I've got an old 40 meg SCSI unit and a SCSI card lying
around.). To do this, I need a program to format the drive. Is something
available for free or as shareware?
Will I be able to run Linux on such a setup? And would it be possible to
run X-windows? I don't mind if its as slow as ... something very slow. I
just want to see if it can be done.
Regardless of wether I can run Linux or not, I'd appreciate answers to
the following questions:
-What monitor can I use? I used to have an old Philips-type RGB screen
(the kind used for Amigas and Ataris), but I sold it a couple of years
ago. Can I use a standard VGA monitor? An EGA or CGA monitor?
-What upgrades are possible? OS upgrades, processor upgrades and so on.
I hope it's possible to breathe some new life into my Arc, in stead of
it just being a rather interesting doorstop.
--
Jostein
Chris Rutter
In article <1997032914...@karmoy105.telepost.no>,
wtho...@online.no (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jostein_Welde_Thorbj=F8rnsen?=) wrote:
> I recently heard that the Arc 310 that's been wasting away in my attic
> for a few years is supposed to be able to run Linux. Is this correct?
Well, sort-of. ARMLinux is available, and will run on certainly the
A5000 architecture, the RiscPC architecture, and possibly even pre-A5000,
but I'm not sure. You'd have to check. Altavista search for "Russel King"
"ArmLinux"
> If so: What will I need to do with it?
> Currently it's stripped down to 1 meg of ram and no hard drive. I will
> of course install
Okay, you'll need a hard-disk first. 40mb probably.
> -more ram (4 megs? 8 megs?). I just put in some standard 30-pin SIMMS,
> right?
Wrong. You'll need some special Acorn memory -- available from Simtec.
> -a hard drive (I've got an old 40 meg SCSI unit and a SCSI card lying
> around.). To do this, I need a program to format the drive. Is something
> available for free or as shareware?
Free. You just need Acorn's !HForm program to format it Acorn.
> Will I be able to run Linux on such a setup? And would it be possible to
> run X-windows? I don't mind if its as slow as ... something very slow. I
> just want to see if it can be done.
Erm, you probably wouldn't be able to run X-windows, and I'm not even
sure that ARMLinux works on that architecture, but you could check.
> -What monitor can I use? I used to have an old Philips-type RGB screen
> (the kind used for Amigas and Ataris), but I sold it a couple of years
> ago. Can I use a standard VGA monitor? An EGA or CGA monitor?
You need a VIDC enhancer to use VGA monitors.
> -What upgrades are possible? OS upgrades, processor upgrades and so on.
Okay, OS you can upgrade to RISC OS 3.11. Processor can be upgraded to
ARM6, or ARM3 as far as you're concerned. Memory can be upgraded to 8mb.
Harddisc (via SCSI) can go up to 512mb.
> I hope it's possible to breathe some new life into my Arc, in stead of
> it just being a rather interesting doorstop.
Hmm. Sell it an buy a new one. ;-)
Cheers,
Chris.
--
// Chris Rutter <wid...@fluff.org>
/ QTMPlay v2.26b (http://www.fluff.org/widget/)
James Porritt
In article <1997032914...@karmoy105.telepost.no> wtho...@online.no (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jostein_Welde_Thorbj=F8rnsen?=) wrote:
> First: I hope you don't mind me crossposting this across the .misc,
> .tech and .hardware groups. I am not familiar with the comp.sys.acorn
> hierarchy, and I hope I haven't broken any unwritten rule.
>
> I recently heard that the Arc 310 that's been wasting away in my attic
> for a few years is supposed to be able to run Linux. Is this correct?
>
> If so: What will I need to do with it?
> Currently it's stripped down to 1 meg of ram and no hard drive. I will
> of course install
>
> -more ram (4 megs? 8 megs?). I just put in some standard 30-pin SIMMS,
> right?
> -a hard drive (I've got an old 40 meg SCSI unit and a SCSI card lying
> around.). To do this, I need a program to format the drive. Is something
> available for free or as shareware?
>
40 megs is not nearly enough to run Linux, never mind Xwindows!
On a Linux related issue, is the ARM610 Linux kernel available yet?
--
James (Poz) Porritt - 2nd year CompSci at Durham University
Creator of alt.music.abba
Rik Griffin
In message <19970329....@jporritt.demon.co.uk> James Porritt wrote:
> 40 megs is not nearly enough to run Linux, never mind Xwindows!
However RISCiX 1.1x will _just_ fit on a 40 Meg drive. Probably.
And that includes X11R4. You won't have much room for swap space though!
Where you get RISCiX from is another matter. It's not freely availably
(in fact not available at all probably).
--
Reasons why motorcyles are better than women:
Your parents don't remain in touch with your old motorcycle after you
dump it.
Daniel Pead
In article <19970329....@colegium.demon.co.uk>, Chris Rutter
<ch...@collegium.co.uk> writes
> Okay, you'll need a hard-disk first. 40mb probably.
Piece of string - You could probably run a drastically cut-down LINUX on
40MB but a "typical" LINUX installation runs to 100-200 MB.
>> -more ram (4 megs? 8 megs?). I just put in some standard 30-pin SIMMS,
>> right?
>
> Wrong. You'll need some special Acorn memory -- available from Simtec.
Upgrading the RAM in an A310 to 4MB is quite possible, but non-trivial
(1MB was a lot in those days). You'll need an upgrade kit which may
involve some messy soldering (although there were/are some upgrade kits
around). Upgrading beyond 4MB is even less trivial as you need to slave
a second MEMC to the on-board one.
>
>> -a hard drive (I've got an old 40 meg SCSI unit and a SCSI card lying
>> around.).
Even assuming ArmLINUX runs on an A310 (which you need to check) you
ALSO need to make sure that it has a driver for your particular SCSI
card. And, as noted above, you'll need more than 40MB.
>
>
>To do this, I need a program to format the drive. Is something
>> available for free or as shareware?
>
> Free. You just need Acorn's !HForm program to format it Acorn.
>
Not necessarily HFORM, but you should have got something with the SCSI
card. If its an Acorn card, then you use SCSIDM which, ISTR is
available from Acorn's own FTP site.
>> Will I be able to run Linux on such a setup?
AFAIK ArmLINUX runs on an A5000 - but thats a question for the ArmLINUX
developers.
>> -What monitor can I use? I used to have an old Philips-type RGB screen
>> (the kind used for Amigas and Ataris), but I sold it a couple of years
>> ago. Can I use a standard VGA monitor? An EGA or CGA monitor?
>
> You need a VIDC enhancer to use VGA monitors.
I've got a horrible feeling that the A310 only gave composite sync and
most VGA monitors need seperate sync. T *think* that *some* VIDC
enhancers also split the syncs...
>
>> -What upgrades are possible? OS upgrades, processor upgrades and so on.
>
> Okay, OS you can upgrade to RISC OS 3.11.
... but you need a special daughter board, as well as the ROMS.
>Memory can be upgraded to 8mb.
... but not easily
>Harddisc (via SCSI) can go up to 512mb.
>
Provided your SCSI card supports partitioning the total HD size can go
much higher than this. LINUX (if it works at all) will also remove this
limit.
>> I hope it's possible to breathe some new life into my Arc, in stead of
>> it just being a rather interesting doorstop.
>
> Hmm. Sell it an buy a new one. ;-)
A fully upgraded A310 - even running RISC-OS - is relatively useful
compared to most other 10 year old computers, and if you can pick up the
parts in bargain buckets for next-to-nothing then go for it. However,
IMHO, its not worth spending any non-trivial sum of money on.
Unfortunately, the Acorn machines that can practically run UNIX are
still quite valuable as RISC-OS machines. OTOH, PC LINUX will run on
skip-fodder machines, so look out for old 386 or 486 boxes.
--
Daniel Pead
Owen M. Astley
In article <19970329....@jporritt.demon.co.uk>,
James Porritt <p...@jporritt.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <1997032914...@karmoy105.telepost.no> wtho...@online.no (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jostein_Welde_Thorbj=F8rnsen?=) wrote:
>
>> First: I hope you don't mind me crossposting this across the .misc,
>> .tech and .hardware groups. I am not familiar with the comp.sys.acorn
>> hierarchy, and I hope I haven't broken any unwritten rule.
It shouldn't really be crossposted to csa.misc with anything, and csa.tech
doesn't exist (anymore?). Followups set to csa.hardware
>> I recently heard that the Arc 310 that's been wasting away in my attic
>> for a few years is supposed to be able to run Linux. Is this correct?
>>
>> If so: What will I need to do with it?
>> Currently it's stripped down to 1 meg of ram and no hard drive. I will
>> of course install
>>
>> -more ram (4 megs? 8 megs?). I just put in some standard 30-pin SIMMS,
>> right?
>> -a hard drive (I've got an old 40 meg SCSI unit and a SCSI card lying
>> around.). To do this, I need a program to format the drive. Is something
>> available for free or as shareware?
>
>40 megs is not nearly enough to run Linux, never mind Xwindows!
It is. Here we have a 386 with 4mb and 40mb hard disc running Linux quite
happily (if slowly). It depends what you want to do really, but the more
memory and hard disc space you have the better.
On the other hand, it would probably be only a bit more expensive so buy
a cheap PC. Given that you would need to buy a monitor anyway (this
bit seems to have been snipped), a bigger hard disc to do some serious(ish)
work, and 4mb will be limiting...
You can get new Pentium PCs for 700ukp+VAT, or buy a second hand 486 or
Pentium. Make sure that you have about 8mb, 500mb disc at least (the more
the better).
Although I hate to say it, I think that the Intel structure is better
designed for Linux (and certainly better supported).
>On a Linux related issue, is the ARM610 Linux kernel available yet?
Not the last time I checked.
Owen
Alan Calder
ch...@collegium.co.uk (Chris Rutter) wrote:
>> -What monitor can I use? I used to have an old Philips-type RGB screen
>> (the kind used for Amigas and Ataris), but I sold it a couple of years
>> ago. Can I use a standard VGA monitor? An EGA or CGA monitor?
> You need a VIDC enhancer to use VGA monitors.
Surely not? I used Mode 27 on my old 310 + Taxan 770 quite happily without
a VIDC enhancer. As I remember Mode 27 is equivalent to VGA 640x480x16 so
an ordinary VGA monitor should work fine. It's the other modes that will be
a problem.
Cheers
Alan
--
This message comes to you from one of the Calders at Brook Farm
cal...@mag-net.co.uk
Ian Clark
In comp.sys.acorn.hardware, Chris Rutter <ch...@collegium.co.uk> writes
>> -What monitor can I use? I used to have an old Philips-type RGB screen
>> (the kind used for Amigas and Ataris), but I sold it a couple of years
>> ago. Can I use a standard VGA monitor? An EGA or CGA monitor?
>
> You need a VIDC enhancer to use VGA monitors.
>
extra HW.
Ian, [8-)
--
Ian Clark, se9...@dmu.ac.uk
http://www.cms.dmu.ac.uk/~se96ic
Risc Tracker - Faster Action - DropBox - DeskMen
Tony Houghton
In article <0rRL9UAj...@cat1.demon.co.uk>
Ian Clark <roo...@cat1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> You need a VIDC enhancer to use SVGA modes, VGA (640x480) doesn't need
> extra HW.
Some VGA monitors won't lock on to the signals an old Arc produces
without extra hardware. Multisync ones are usually OK.
--
\________________________
\ http://www.tcp.co.uk/~tonyh/
The Curling Pages \ (Now with great new look)
Tom Waller
>
> In article <1997032914...@karmoy105.telepost.no>,
> wtho...@online.no (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jostein_Welde_Thorbj=F8rnsen?=) wrote:
>
> > for a few years is supposed to be able to run Linux. Is this correct?
>
> > I hope it's possible to breathe some new life into my Arc, in stead of
> > it just being a rather interesting doorstop.
>
> Hmm. Sell it an buy a new one. ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Chris.
Acorn will give you 200 uk pounds for a trade in against any model RiscPC
until the end of April plus 20/20 interest free credit... variable deposit
balance (not to exceed 2K) payable over 20 months.... same as cash price.
An ARM2 based Archimedes, even ARM3 is not good for much now and only
supports low res screen modes at 256 colours.... better leave it as a door
stop.... hard disc would have to be pre IDE (506) type... difficult to get
or IDE/SCSI card and drives required... just not worth the bother to run
unix..
Regards,
Tom Waller,
Tower Electronics Ltd, The Lewes, Main Street, Fyvie.
Turriff Aberdeenshire. 01651 069/785 or Fax/Data to 01651 891653
E Mail to...@enterprise.net Web http://www.enterprise.net/tower-risc
Dom Esplen
In article <4772972B28%mo...@cheesey.demon.co.uk>, Rik Griffin
<URL:mailto:mo...@cheesey.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Where you get RISCiX from is another matter. It's not freely availably
> (in fact not available at all probably).
Its a pity Acorn don't release it onto their ftp site, making it
freely avaliable.. it can't have an comercial value now, with
Linux avaliable.. but then again, they complained about the
ROM Image from the BBC B being available publicly.
But, how about it Acorn?
dom.
--
Dom Esplen (Mr Bean) be...@poxbox.co.uk
David Alan Gilbert
> In article <4772972B28%mo...@cheesey.demon.co.uk>, Rik Griffin
> <URL:mailto:mo...@cheesey.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Where you get RISCiX from is another matter. It's not freely availably
> > (in fact not available at all probably).
>
> Its a pity Acorn don't release it onto their ftp site, making it
> freely avaliable.. it can't have an comercial value now, with
> Linux avaliable.. but then again, they complained about the
> ROM Image from the BBC B being available publicly.
Unfortunatly they probably CAN'T release RISCiX freely because it is a
standard Unix which probably includes bits of AT&T code buried in it somewhere
and hence they have had to license some of it themselves.
Dave
--
----------- (Phone: 0161-275-3547) ------------------------ Man can not live -
David Alan Gilbert - gilb...@cs.man.ac.uk - G7FHJ@GB7BEV by bread alone. He
----------- (University of Manchester - AMULET Group) ----- needs chocolate. -
--
----------- (Phone: 0161-275-3547) ------------------------ Man can not live -
David Alan Gilbert - gilb...@cs.man.ac.uk - G7FHJ@GB7BEV by bread alone. He
----------- (University of Manchester - AMULET Group) ----- needs chocolate. -