[parisc-linux] [OT] PCI hardware question

[parisc-linux] [OT] PCI hardware question

[eddantes]

Hello list

I guess this is not the best place to ask, but I don't really know any 
other, so here is my question.

I'm planning to buy a second hand station at some point and have fun 
with Linux, but in the documentation process, I discovered some stations 
have problemw with PCI hardware.

The question is: which kind of PCI stuff is this? Regular, PC compatible 
cards, or HP specific?

If I remember correctly, various cards (PCI, ISA, AGP and so on) come 
with a firmware, that has to "match" the host computer. I know some OSes 
bypass this firmware and re-discover everything, others don't.

So the logical other way to ask the question is: is it possible to stick 
(fairly standard) ISA or PCI PC cards into an HP station and get them to 
work?

Relly sorry if this is a brain-dead question... :)


Thanks a lot
/Dantes

Re: [parisc-linux] [OT] PCI hardware question

[Grant Grundler]

eddantes@wanadoo.fr wrote:
> I'm planning to buy a second hand station at some point and have fun 
> with Linux, but in the documentation process, I discovered some stations 
> have problemw with PCI hardware.
> 
> The question is: which kind of PCI stuff is this? Regular, PC compatible 
> cards, or HP specific?

HP specific PCI Host bus adapter called Dino (aka GSCtoPCI).
See hwdb.parisc-linux.org to know which systems used it.
Some systems have been fixed with a newer rev of the Dino chip.
You can:
o update the PDC and install a PCI card
o boot parisc-linux
o or look for -0004 on the IO board

to figure out if the PCI is usable or not.
Only HP PCI graphics cards are permitted to be used in PCI
when a broken DINO rev is in the system. PDC revs higher
than about 5.x will enforce this.

Read comments in drivers/gsc/dino.c for more details.

grant

Re: [parisc-linux] [OT] PCI hardware question

[eddantes]

Grant Grundler wrote:

[snip]

> HP specific PCI Host bus adapter called Dino (aka GSCtoPCI).
> See hwdb.parisc-linux.org to know which systems used it.
> Some systems have been fixed with a newer rev of the Dino chip.
> You can:
> o update the PDC and install a PCI card
> o boot parisc-linux
> o or look for -0004 on the IO board
> 
> to figure out if the PCI is usable or not.
> Only HP PCI graphics cards are permitted to be used in PCI
> when a broken DINO rev is in the system. PDC revs higher
> than about 5.x will enforce this.
> 
> Read comments in drivers/gsc/dino.c for more details.
> 
> grant


OK, thanks a lot for the precisions. I'll keep those infos in RAM when 
hunting down the perfect station. I am kind of tempted by a C240 or a 
C360, the latter being not as common as the former (at least on eBay, 
any other shop / surplus / auction site welcome), both have Dino. Well, 
that sounds like a PDC update.

One quick question about it: on on of HP's servers, it says that PDC 
updates must be performed using a tape drive. 
(ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/firmware_patches/hp/cpu/PF_CC2X0063.txt for the 
C200/C240) I guess tapes are not so common anymore, especially in 
workstations, even if I probably have an old SCSI DDT-1 or something 
like that lying around somewhere in my 
pile-of-junk-salvaged-to-repare-dead-computers. Any other way to do it? 
CD-R? Small empty HDD partition?

And at last, what about compatibility of PCI cards between different 
architectures? I'm wondering about it due to the different PC and Apple 
cards from some manufacturers (Adaptec and ATI, for example). The bottom 
line being: if I stick a PC-world USB 2.0 or whatever card in a C240, 
any chance that it *may* work, even if it requires software tweaking and 
/ or hacking?

Thanks again!
/Dantes

Re: [parisc-linux] [OT] PCI hardware question

[Grant Grundler]

eddantes@wanadoo.fr wrote:
> One quick question about it: on on of HP's servers, it says that PDC 
> updates must be performed using a tape drive. 

Uhm...you can dd to a disk, boot from a network, or boot from a tape.
PDC updates are all available as lifimages.
lifimages are bootable from any media.

> CD-R? Small empty HDD partition?

both.

> And at last, what about compatibility of PCI cards between different 
> architectures? I'm wondering about it due to the different PC and Apple 
> cards from some manufacturers (Adaptec and ATI, for example). The bottom 
> line being: if I stick a PC-world USB 2.0 or whatever card in a C240, 
> any chance that it *may* work, even if it requires software tweaking and 
> / or hacking?

likely, but alot of things will "just work".
gfx are the least likely to work.

grant