*BSD News Article 8545


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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!sgiblab!swrinde!gatech!news.byu.edu!ux1!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cs.weber.edu!terry
From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C)
Subject: Re: Running 386BSD on older 386's
Message-ID: <1992Dec3.221637.3100@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu
Organization: Weber State University  (Ogden, UT)
References: <1992Dec3.162501.17332@sernews.raleigh.ibm.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 22:16:37 GMT
Lines: 35

In article <1992Dec3.162501.17332@sernews.raleigh.ibm.com> murray@bullwinkle.raleigh.ibm.com (Charlie Murray) writes:
>Is anyone aware of problems with running 386BSD on older 386 machines?
>I have a 25MHz 386DX that I purchased about three years ago.  I bought
>it mail order and have no idea as to the make.  When I insert the
>tinyBSD boot disk and reboot, the drive just spins and nothing happens.
>
>I seem to remember seeing something about older 386 clone motherboards
>and problems with running 386BSD.

Make sure you have a "double sigma" 386 chip, or you're doomed to not
running any UNIX by the 10 bit I/O path (early 386 chips were broken).
To find out, look at the top of the chip for the Greek character "sigma"
....it looks like:

 .--  .--
  >    >
 .--  .--

(sort of like two "E"'s) if it isn't broken.

This is more of a 386 hardware FAQ than anything else, since it applies
equally to all UNIX systems.


					Terry Lambert
					terry@icarus.weber.edu
					terry_lambert@novell.com
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
-- 
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