[LinuxBIOS] Tyan Thunder n3600R (S2912) support status?

[niko]

Hello there,

I'm in the midst of an upgrade for my server, but I want the entire 
thing to run 100% Free Software, including LinuxBIOS.  The Tyan S2912 
seems to be a perfect match feature/specifications wise for what I am 
searching for.  I need a dual Socket F board with built in SAS and SATA2 
with RAID-5 support on the latter, and ideally two gigabit NICs to 
boot.  This Tyan board largely fits this description more than any other 
board on the LinuxBIOS supported motherboard compatibility list.

The problem is that on the list it is still marked "WIP" with a yellow 
box instead of a green one.  What is the current status of LinuxBIOS 
support for this board?  Will it work at all or maybe partially?  What 
is/isn't working?  I need these certain features on my next motherboard, 
but I also need stability with LinuxBIOS on the board.  Is this too much 
to ask for a dual Socket F board such as this Tyan?

I should also note that I'm not particularly attached to this board.  If 
LinuxBIOS works better with another dual Socket F board, I would love to 
know about it.  I just need the SAS and SATA2, really.

I would sincerely love it if someone could help me understand the 
current state of LinuxBIOS support for this class of motherboards...

..here's hoping the compatibility list is out of date!

Thank you,

©Niko

[yhlu]

On 10/5/07, niko  wrote:
> Hello there,
>
> I'm in the midst of an upgrade for my server, but I want the entire
> thing to run 100% Free Software, including LinuxBIOS.  The Tyan S2912
> seems to be a perfect match feature/specifications wise for what I am
> searching for.  I need a dual Socket F board with built in SAS and SATA2
> with RAID-5 support on the latter, and ideally two gigabit NICs to
> boot.  This Tyan board largely fits this description more than any other
> board on the LinuxBIOS supported motherboard compatibility list.
>
> The problem is that on the list it is still marked "WIP" with a yellow
> box instead of a green one.  What is the current status of LinuxBIOS
> support for this board?  Will it work at all or maybe partially?  What
> is/isn't working?  I need these certain features on my next motherboard,
> but I also need stability with LinuxBIOS on the board.  Is this too much
> to ask for a dual Socket F board such as this Tyan?
>
> I should also note that I'm not particularly attached to this board.  If
> LinuxBIOS works better with another dual Socket F board, I would love to
> know about it.  I just need the SAS and SATA2, really.
>
> I would sincerely love it if someone could help me understand the
> current state of LinuxBIOS support for this class of motherboards...
>
> ..here's hoping the compatibility list is out of date!

stefan, can you update that!

anything is missed?

I hope we can find another MB
split power plane ( for quad core support) + MCP55 + IO55 + HTX + SAS controller

before that s2912 is most updated one...

YH

[Uwe Hermann]

On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 11:04:29AM -0700, yhlu wrote:
> > ..here's hoping the compatibility list is out of date!
>
> stefan, can you update that!
>
> anything is missed?
>
> I hope we can find another MB
> split power plane ( for quad core support) + MCP55 + IO55 + HTX + SAS controller
>
> before that s2912 is most updated one...

Can you please give us a list of which hardware parts you tried on that
board (S2912) and which work or don't work?

Something like the Status table from
http://linuxbios.org/index.php/GIGABYTE_GA-M57SLI-S4_Build_Tutorial#Status

E.g. do the following parts all work and are they all tested?

CPU
RAM
IDE
IDE using CF-to-IDE adapter
SATA
USB
On-board ethernet
On-board audio
PCI add-on cards
PCI Express add-on cards
Floppy
Serial port (COM1)
Serial port (COM2)
Parallel port
PS/2 keyboard
PS/2 mouse
Mainboard sensors/fans
CPU frequency scaling / powersave modes
Flashrom

etc. etc.

Thanks, Uwe.

[yhlu]

On 10/5/07, Uwe Hermann  wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 11:04:29AM -0700, yhlu wrote:
> > > ..here's hoping the compatibility list is out of date!
> >
> > stefan, can you update that!
> >
> > anything is missed?
> >
> > I hope we can find another MB
> > split power plane ( for quad core support) + MCP55 + IO55 + HTX + SAS controller
> >
> > before that s2912 is most updated one...
>
> Can you please give us a list of which hardware parts you tried on that
> board (S2912) and which work or don't work?
>
> Something like the Status table from
> http://linuxbios.org/index.php/GIGABYTE_GA-M57SLI-S4_Build_Tutorial#Status
>
> E.g. do the following parts all work and are they all tested?
>
> CPU ==>yes
> RAM ===> yes
> IDE ===> yes
> IDE using CF-to-IDE adapter ===>  not tested
> SATA ==> yes
> USB ==> yes
> On-board ethernet ===> yes
> On-board audio ====> N/A
> PCI add-on cards ===> N/A
> PCI Express add-on cards ===> display card
> Floppy ===> why? not tested
> Serial port (COM1) Yes
> Serial port (COM2) ?
> Parallel port ===> why? not tested
> PS/2 keyboard ===> why? not tested
> PS/2 mouse ===> why? not tested
> Mainboard sensors/fans ===> N/A
> CPU frequency scaling / powersave modes ===>no acpi, so no
> Flashrom ==========> not test, i had rom emulator

HTX card: from infipath? works.

YH

[Uwe Hermann]

On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 01:28:42PM -0700, yhlu wrote:
> > CPU ==>yes
> > RAM ===> yes
> > IDE ===> yes
> > IDE using CF-to-IDE adapter ===>  not tested
> > SATA ==> yes
> > USB ==> yes
> > On-board ethernet ===> yes
> > On-board audio ====> N/A
> > PCI add-on cards ===> N/A
> > PCI Express add-on cards ===> display card
> > Floppy ===> why? not tested
> > Serial port (COM1) Yes
> > Serial port (COM2) ?
> > Parallel port ===> why? not tested
> > PS/2 keyboard ===> why? not tested
> > PS/2 mouse ===> why? not tested
> > Mainboard sensors/fans ===> N/A
> > CPU frequency scaling / powersave modes ===>no acpi, so no
> > Flashrom ==========> not test, i had rom emulator
>
> HTX card: from infipath? works.

Great, thanks!

I created a wiki page for this board here:
http://linuxbios.org/index.php/Tyan_S2912_Build_Tutorial

Please check the information and correct it or add more items as you see fit.

Thanks, Uwe.

[Uwe Hermann]

Oh, I almost forgot...

On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 01:28:42PM -0700, yhlu wrote:
> > CPU ==>yes
> > RAM ===> yes
> > IDE ===> yes
> > IDE using CF-to-IDE adapter ===>  not tested
> > SATA ==> yes
> > USB ==> yes
> > On-board ethernet ===> yes
> > On-board audio ====> N/A
> > PCI add-on cards ===> N/A
> > PCI Express add-on cards ===> display card
> > Floppy ===> why? not tested

Sure, the typical server admin probably doesn't care about this type of
stuff, but I think in general we want to fully support _all_ the
hardware which is available on the board.

Thus, I think we should have a common Status table in the wiki for _all_
boards and we should explicitly test all available hardware parts in
LinuxBIOS so we have an exact status report as possible for each board.

Our users will surely appreciate it.
> > Serial port (COM1) Yes
> > Serial port (COM2) ?
> > Parallel port ===> why? not tested
> > PS/2 keyboard ===> why? not tested
> > PS/2 mouse ===> why? not tested
> > Mainboard sensors/fans ===> N/A

The spec page says

- Winbond W83627HF Super IO
- Analog Devices ADT7476 Hardware Monitoring IC

Don't those two provide sensors of various kinds? Did you test any of
them (via lm-sensors probably)?

Uwe.

[Rasmus Wiman]

Uwe Hermann  skrev:
> The spec page says
> Winbond W83627HF Super IO
> Analog Devices ADT7476 Hardware Monitoring IC
>
> Don't those two provide sensors of various kinds? Did you test any of
> them (via lm-sensors probably)?

Yes, it should. That's the difference between W83627F and HF, the HF
has sensors, the F doesn't, according to the data sheet.

[Ward Vandewege]

On Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 12:32:52AM +0200, Rasmus Wiman wrote:
> Uwe Hermann  skrev:
> > The spec page says
> > Winbond W83627HF Super IO
> > Analog Devices ADT7476 Hardware Monitoring IC
> >
> > Don't those two provide sensors of various kinds? Did you test any of
> > them (via lm-sensors probably)?
>
> Yes, it should. That's the difference between W83627F and HF, the HF
> has sensors, the F doesn't, according to the data sheet.

If it's anything like the other Tyan boards I've played with, some of the
sensors/fans will be hooked up to the SuperIO, and the bulk will be hooked up
to the ADT7476.

I think I added some code to the s2881 tree that sanitizes fan speed control
(as in, puts it under automatic hardware control). IIRC, the other Tyan
boards don't have that yet.

Thanks,
Ward.