djb Engineering Notebook

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Cobalt x86 RaQ R A Q

(recently asked questions:)

Q. Do I really have to upgrade the flash ROM?

A. Yes, The boot command "netbsd image" exists only in the later open sourced versions. RaQs with Intel flash chip revision other than "W" can not be upgraded in system.

Q. Is NetBSD/i386 ready for production use with the RaQ 3?

A. Currently NetBSD does not boot or reboot automatically. Console input is required to boot and power cycle is required for reboot. There appears to be no way to set the Cobalt ROM to automatically boot NetBSD.
Probably build a custom kernel header that the cobalt rom would be happy to load. Another possibility is to use something like the kernel loader from the MIPS cobalt.

Q. What about the RaQ 550, XTR or the Qube 3?

A. I don't have one of those systems to test. See suggestions below for kernel config options.

Q. Will FreeBSD or OpenBSD boot?

A. No. Probably not without a lot of work. The boot params are different than those for NetBSD.

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Hardware Notes

• Upgrading the power supply -
  • original supply == EOS VLT60-3000, made by Celetronix (www.celetronix.com), 5V @ 8A, +12V @ 3A, -12V @ 0.5A
  • Larger supply, up to VLT150 possible
  • Has holes for another type of power supply - 4 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches
• Adding second IDE interface -
  • Clean out solder pads
• Adding PCI slot -
  • Clean out solder pads
  • PCI Riser == Meritec # 98115A-120-2MCF (SnPb) or 98115A-120-2MPF (RoHS)
  • Cut out back chassis label to reveal PCI back panel and mounting.
• Upgrading the CPU - original CPU == AMD K6-II/300 2.2 Volts
  1 = no resistor/jumper; 0 = resistor/jumper installed

  (P)R209	(N)R208	(M)R207	Divisior	Freq (MHz)
  0	0	0	4.5	450
  0	0	1	5	500
  0	1	0	4	400 (tested by djb)
  0	1	1	5.5	550
  1	0	0	2.5	250
  1	0	1	3	300 (default RaQ 3)
  1	1	0	2 or 6	200 (for older CPU) 600 (for newer CPU)
  1	1	1	3.5	350

• Changing CPU voltage
  1 = no resistor/jumper; 0 = resistor/jumper installed
  * = reliability at this voltage is unknown

  K6-2/K6-III model	R200	R199	R198	R197	R196
  AC_ (2.0v)	0	0	0	0	1
  AD_ (2.1v)	1	1	1	1	0
  AF_ (2.2v)	1	1	1	0	1
  AG_ (2.3v)	1	1	1	0	0
  AH_ (2.4v)	1	1	0	1	1
  AM_ (1.9v)*	0	0	0	1	1
  AN_ (1.8v)*	0	0	1	0	1
  AP_ (1.7v)*	0	0	1	1	1
  AT_ (1.6v)*	0	1	0	0	1
  AU_ (1.5v)*	0	1	0	1	1

• Updating the Flash ROM -
  You must having a working Cobalt RaQ Linux installation so you can update the ROM to at least version 2.10.3. You will need a terminal or something so you can drive the RaQ via the serial port. The RaQ serial port is fixed at 115200, 8, n, 1 and cannot be changed. Observe caution when flashing the new firmware. If the flashing procedure does not complete, you will be left with a RaQ 3 doorstop.

  I used a spare disk so I could keep the original Cobalt install around if I messed up.

• The front panel LCD appears at the standard lpt0 port (0x378).
  Could modify panel.c from cobalt arch for RaQ 3 and 4. This would get /dev/panel0.
• The leds are controlled in software. The "web", "Cobalt Logo", and the "check" on the back can all be turned off or on and are bits of i/o port ?

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Version 4.0

• Bugs/Problems
  • NetBSD halt and reboot hangs. Would need special reboot code, see Cobalt ROM monitor/boot.c.
  • Need code for the Acer Labs M7101 Power Management Controller.
    Use alipm.c from OpenBSD? This should get "iic at alipm0" and "lmtemp0 at iic? addr....." so that system temperature can be read.
  • clock: unknown CMOS layout - Probably due to the fact that the RaQ 3 does not have a PC type BIOS. Clock works fine.
  • Custom kernel needed. INSTALL or GENERIC kernels have problems.

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• Kernel Config (should work for all Cobalt x86 models)
  • 4.0 - Temporary fixes to get around Cobalt ROM "netbsd" command shortcommings. Apply machdep.c diff
    • Hack machdep.c to ignore single user flag.
    • Hack machdep.c to correct extended memory value. Cobalt ROM off by 1MB.
  • Option for Cobalt X86 fixes in machdep.c or locore.S for single user flag and ext memory calculation

    options          COBALT_X86_FIX
    

  • Console on serial port com1 CONS_OVERRIDE is not be necessary.

    # This option allows you to force a serial console at the specified
    # I/O address.   see console(4) for details.
    options         CONSDEVNAME="\"com\"",CONADDR=0x3f8,CONSPEED=115200
    #       you don't want the option below ON iff you are using the
    #       serial console option of the new boot strap code.
    #options        CONS_OVERRIDE   # Always use above! independent of boot info
    

  • Root device override to wd0a, dumps on wd0b

    # Kernel root file system and dump configuration.
    #config         netbsd  root on ? type ?
    config          netbsd  root on wd0a type ffs dumps on wd0b
    #config         netbsd  root on sd0a type ffs
    #config         netbsd  root on ? type nfs
    

  • PCI - Some systems have PCI slots. Add your favorite PCI adapter.
  • Ethernet
    • RaQ 3 and RaQ 4 - Intel 82559ER Ethernet

      fxp*    at pci? dev ? function ?        # Intel EtherExpress PRO 10+/100B
      

      and the MII/PHY

      inphy*  at mii? phy ?                   # Intel 82555 PHYs
      

    • Qube 3, RaQ XTR and RaQ 550 - National Semiconductor DP83815 (untested)

      sip*    at pci? dev ? function ?        # SiS 900/DP83815 Ethernet
      

      and the MII/PHY (Is this the right one?)

      nsphy*  at mii? phy ?                   # NS83840 PHYs
      

  • IDE interface
    • RaQ 3, RaQ 4 and Qube 3 - ALI IDE driver

      # IDE and related devices
      aceride*        at pci? dev ? function ?        # Acer Lab IDE controllers
      

    • RaQ XTR and RaQ 550 - ServerWorks and/or HiPoint HPT370 (untested)

      hptide*         at pci? dev ? function ?        # Triones/HighPoint IDE controllers
      rccide*         at pci? dev ? function ?        # ServerWorks IDE controllers
      

  • SCSI
    • RaQ 3, RaQ 4 and Qube 3 - optional Symbios 53c875

      esiop*  at pci? dev ? function ?        # Symbios 53c875 SCSI and newer
      

      Be sure to remove comments from SCSI devices

      # SCSI bus support
      scsibus* at scsi ?
      
      # SCSI devices
      sd*     at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI disk drives
      #st*    at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI tape drives
      cd*     at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI CD-ROM drives
      #ch*    at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI autochangers
      #ses*   at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI Enclosure Services devices
      #ss*    at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI scanners
      #uk*    at scsibus? target ? lun ?      # SCSI unknown
      

  • System Monitoring - Under development
    • RaQ 3 and RaQ 4 only ?

      alipm* 	at pci? # ALI M7101 PM Controller and its iic bus
      iic* 	at alipm?
      lmtemp* at iic? port 0x48 flags 0x0002
      

  • LCD panel - Under development
    • RaQ 3 and RaQ 4 only ?

      panel0	at isa? port 0x378
      

  • Keyboard, floppy, and display/vga options should be commented out
  • 4.0 - Kernel Image (should work for all Cobalt x86 models)
    
    • Gzipped kernels work just fine. To use gzipped kernel the filename must be specified = "netbsd /boot/netbsd.gz"
    • If a filename is not provided then the default is a bzip2'd kernel in /boot = "/boot/netbsd.bz2"
    • The ROM boot code sets the following NetBSD boot flags: Serial console; verbose; single user. This NetBSD kernel has been patched to ignore the "single user" flag.

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• Initial Setup
  

  INSTALL or GENERIC kernels will not work.

  1. Move the Cobalt disk to another i386 box with a keyboard and display to install NetBSD. Select the sysinstall program option to slice up the mbr for one ext2fs partition and one 4.2BSD partition. The sysinstall will then run disklabel so you can split up the 4.2BSD partition.

     (Cobalt:root) /root $mbrlabel wd0
     Found Linux Ext2 partition; size 48321 (23 MB), offset 63
       adding Linux Ext2 partition to slot f.
     Found 4.2BSD partition; size 6297984 (3075 MB), offset 48384
       skipping existing unused partition at slot c.
     
     16 partitions:
     #        size    offset     fstype [fsize bsize cpg/sgs]
      a:    787248     48384     4.2BSD   1024  8192 43736  # (Cyl.     48 -    828)
      b:    590688    835632       swap                     # (Cyl.    829 -   1414)
      c:   6297984     48384     unused      0     0        # (Cyl.     48 -   6295)
      d:   6346368         0     unused      0     0        # (Cyl.      0 -   6295)
      e:   4920048   1426320     4.2BSD   2048 16384 22328  # (Cyl.   1415 -   6295)
      f:     48321        63 Linux Ext2      0     0        # (Cyl.      0*-     47)
     
     Not updating disk label.
     

  2. This step needs more testing and details - Reboot NetBSD and do some config, etc.
     1. Setup users
     2. Make sure that the console is set to be on a serial port (edit /etc/ttys).
        console "/usr/libexec/getty std.115200" vt100 on secure
     3. mke2fs the ext2fs partition. (use mke2fs from pkgsrc/sysutils/e2fsprogs)
     4. Can't mount the new ext2fs partition? Try:
        sleep 5 </dev/rwd0c && mbrlabel -w wd0 && mount -t ext2fs /dev/wd0f /mnt
     5. Copy original GENERIC kernel to /netbsd-GENERIC, copy custom Cobalt x86 kernel to /netbsd.gz and to the ext2fs partition in /mnt/boot. Remember to bzip2 the Cobalt kernel in /mnt/boot. Also remember to gunzip the kernel in /.
  3. Put disk back in Cobalt.

     Press spacebar to enter ROM mode
     [-- spacebar --]
     Cobalt:Main Menu>boot
     
     Cobalt:Boot Menu>netbsd