The Linux/m68k development community is pleased to announce the first
"stable" release of Linux 2.0 for Motorola 680x0-based systems. The
basic kernel sources include support for Atari TT and Falcon series
and Amiga computers. There is also a port to the Motorola VME 162,
166 and 167 boards available (see below for contact information).
Linux is an implementation of the Unix operating system that has been
made freely available under the GNU Public License. It was originally
written for Intel 80386 processors by Linus Torvalds, and has been
subsequently ported to run on Motorola 680x0 series, SPARC, MIPS,
PowerPC and Alpha processors. Work is in progress on ports to the
Acorn ARM and Intel 8086 processors. For more details on Linux in
general, we refer you to the Linux Documentation Project (see below
for addresses).
Linux/m68k runs on the following CPUs: 68020 with 68851 MMU, 68030
(not 68EC30), 68040 (not 68EC040 -- see below for 68LC040), and 68060.
It does not run on the 68000 and 68010, because those systems have no
Motorola-supported MMUs.
For 68020, 68030, and 68LC040 users: The main distribution of the
kernel only works on systems with FPUs. There are kernels available
with FPU emulation, however.
What's New in 2.0
-----------------
The major changes since the last stable Linux/m68k release, version
1.2.13pl10, include the following:
* System response time is somewhat faster. The kernel can now be
compiled for a specific CPU, saving some runtime checks that cause
performance losses (particularly in the memory management code).
Specific 68040 and 68060 optimizations are optional.
* Harmonization with the main Linux source tree. This allows future
releases of Linux/m68k to be made nearly in sync with Linux/i386
releases (within a few days in most cases).
* Support for more filesystem types. Amiga filesystem support now
includes both reading and writing to all types except AmigaOS 3.x
Directory Cache filesystems (these are read-only), and is substantially
faster. The driver also supports read/write access to Amiga
MultiUserFileSystem (muFS) volumes.
* The ext2fs (Linux's native filesystem) has been changed so that all
CPUs use a common byte-order. Backwards compatibility is retained
with the Linux/m68k 1.2.13pl4 filesystem format; the new ext2fs
utilities (versions 1.05 and later) allow older filesystems to be
converted to the common format. Upgraders should use the new ELF
ramdisk for installation. The previous ext2fs format will be phased
out gradually.
* Many more kernel components can be built as modules. For example,
if you have a mostly ELF-based system, you can remove the a.out
support from the kernel proper into a module. The a.out module can
be demand-loaded by the kerneld daemon as needed. [You must include
support in the kernel for whatever format your init program is in.]
* The Point to Point protocol has been improved. A new release of the
pppd program is required for it to work (see below).
* Networking has changed significantly. You will need to update your
basic networking utilities (ping, traceroute, etc.) when you start
using 2.0.
* Many other goodies have been added that may only be of interest to a
few people. Filesystem quotas are now supported, as are IP
firewalling and masquerading, disk striping (RAID0), RARP, and
process accounting. NFS support has improved to the point where it
is possible to boot from NFS volumes. See the Documentation
directory of the kernel source for details.
* New hardware support for Linux/m68k since 1.2.13pl10 includes:
- 68060 processor support
- Cyberstorm and Cyberstorm II SCSI modules [Amiga]
- Blizzard 1230IV and 1260 SCSI modules [Amiga]
- Blizzard 2060 on-board SCSI [Amiga]
- All GVP SCSI adapters, except T-Rex cards and pre-Series II [Amiga]
- Color on OCS and ECS displays [Amiga]
- Hard drives (and other rigid disks) partitioned under MS-DOS
- Parallel port on the Multiface III card [Amiga - serial was
supported in 1.2.13pl10]
- ATAPI IDE CD-ROM support
* Hardware support not included in this release but available elsewhere:
- Floating Point emulation [copyright issues prevent its inclusion
in the distributed kernel tree]
* In the works:
- Apollo Domain workstation support
- Apple Macintosh support
- Sun 3 support
- MVME 147 support
- Debian/m68k (the first real "distribution" for Linux/m68k)
- Red Hat/m68k (another distribution)
- Cirrus Logic-based graphics cards for the Amiga [Picasso, Piccolo, SD64]
- Atari TOS and AmigaOS emulators
* Work is currently underway on Linux 2.1; Linux/m68k development is in sync
with the general kernel tree.
Command line changes
--------------------
The kernel command line has changed somewhat:
* Atari users: the 'atavideo' parameter is now simply 'video', like on the
Amiga. See 'Documentation/m68k/kernel-options.txt' for some new parameters
that are supported.
* If you are booting from a ramdisk, you must now specify the root device
or else the kernel will not boot.
For example, instead of:
amiboot -r ramdisk-name video=vga70
Use:
amiboot -r ramdisk-name video=vga70 root=/dev/ram
* GVP SCSI users DO NOT need the gvp11 parameter any more; the driver now
auto detects the DMA range that each SCSI controller is capable of using.
If you are currently using the gvp11 parameter, remove it.
For example, instead of:
amiboot root=/dev/sda1 video=vga gvp11=0xfffffffe
Use:
amiboot root=/dev/sda1 video=vga
How to get upgraded software
----------------------------
If you haven't already upgraded to ELF, the best way is to back up
your user directories, repartition (if you like) and get the
Watchtower-2 filesystems. These include all the software you need to
upgrade to 2.0.
If you already are running an ELF system, you'll need the following packages:
pppd version 2.2.0f or later
sysvinit version 2.60 or later
procps 1.01 or later
modules 2.0.0 or later (only if you are using modules)
NetTools 1.32alpha or later
e2fsprogs 1.06 or later
To compile a kernel, you will need at GCC version 2.7.2 or later and
binutils (ld, as, etc.) version 2.7 or later.
In addition, users should upgrade to the latest version of their
bootstrap (ataboot 1.8 or amiboot 4.0) or Amiga LILO (1.02).
You may need other packages as well depending on your configuration.
Please read 'Documentation/Changes' in the kernel source tree for
details.
Where to learn more about Linux
-------------------------------
* The Linux Documentation Project home page is a good place to start
learning about Linux in general. Point your World Wide Web browser
(for Linux/m68k, probably Arena or Lynx) at:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/index.html [USA]
* For Linux/m68k information, see:
http://www.clark.net/pub/lawrencc/linux/index.html [USA]
or
http://bunsen.pci.uni-hannover.de/linux68k.html [Germany]
* Don't forget to register yourself as a Linux/m68k user at:
http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~geert/Linux/m68k/ [Belgium]
It's not required, but it does help us get a "feel" for how popular
Linux/m68k is.
* The Linux/m68k FAQ is available at:
http://www.clark.net/pub/lawrencc/linux/faq/faq.html
[USA]
or as "FAQ.gz" on most Linux/m68k FTP sites (see the above web pages for
links to the main FTP sites and their mirrors).
* The Motorola MVME kernels are available, courtesy of Richard Hirst, at:
http://www.sleepie.demon.co.uk/ [United Kingdom]
* People interested in helping with the Macintosh port should visit:
http://www.bates.edu/~rpelkey/linux-mac68k/ [USA]
* The central repository for Linux/m68k is located at:
ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/LOCAL/680x0/ [Germany]
Major mirrors include:
ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/680x0/ [USA]
ftp://ftp.phil.uni-sb.de/pub/linux-m68k/mirror.erlangen/ [Germany]
A more comprehensive list of mirrors can be found as README.MIRRORS on
any Linux/m68k FTP site.
In addition, most comprehensive Linux CD-ROM sets include a copy of
this archive. (Check for whether a copy of tsx-11.mit.edu is included.)
* The 1.3, 2.0 and 2.1 development archives are located at:
ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/local/os/linux/680x0/ [Denmark]
* Usenet Newsgroups:
There are two Usenet newsgroups devoted to Linux/m68k.
news:comp.os.linux.m68k is an appropriate forum for all Linux/m68k
discussions in English; German-speakers may prefer to post in
news:maus.os.linux68k (if available at their site).
Some Linux/m68k discussion is also found in news:comp.unix.amiga and
news:de.comp.sys.amiga.unix . You may also be able to get
news:saar.lists.linux-m68k at your site; this is a mail to news
gateway for the Linux/m68k kernel developers' list.
* Some Linux/m68k users and developers hang out on LinuxNET, an Internet
Relay Chat service. Join us there in #linux68k; the main server is
irc.blackdown.org port 6667. [USA]
Acknowledgements
----------------
Linux is copyrighted by its individual contributors and is distributed
under the terms of the GNU General Public License. A copy of this
document can be found in the kernel source tree under the name
'COPYING', or as ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/COPYING
Major contributors to the Linux/m68k project include (in alphabetical
order):
Martin Apel
Bjoern Brauel
David Carter
Robert de Vries
Torsten Ebeling
Arno Griffioen
Greg Harp
Roman Hodek
Hamish Macdonald
Frank Neumann
Brad Pepers
William Rucklidge
Martin Schaller
Andreas Schwab
Jes Degn Sorensen
Geert Uytterhoeven
The current series of kernels are being coordinated by Jes Degn
Sorensen. Many other people have also contributed individual drivers
and patches for specific hardware configurations.
Some of the information in this announcement was culled from the
"Linux/m68k FAQ" by Joerg Mayer, and the general kernel "Changes"
document maintained by Chris Ricker. It was written by Chris
Lawrence, with assistance from the Linux/m68k kernel developers.
This document may be freely distributed provided the contents of it
are not modified without the consent of the author. An HTML version
of this document will also be available at the Linux/m68k home pages,
http://www.clark.net/pub/lawrencc/linux/index.html .
| Top |