[LinuxBIOS] is this motherboard supported? VIA EPIA-SP13000

[Pablo Sosa]

Hi there,

Hope this is the right forum to ask. I was checking the list of supported motherboards in order to try linuxbios, I could find I can buy one of this motherboards which are similar but not the same to VIA that are mentioned on the page, i.e.

VIA EPIA-SP13000 Motherboard, Socket 370Specs according to the vendor are:

Specifications:

- Processor: VIA C3™/ VIA Eden™ EBGA processor
 - Chipset: VIA CN400 North Bridge; VIA VT8237 South Bridge
 - System Memory: 1x DDR266/333/400 DIMM socket supports up to 1GB memory size
 - VGA: Integrated VIA UniChrome™Pro AGP graphics with MPEG-2 decoder /MPEG-4 Accelerator
 - Expansion Slots: 1 PCI
 - Onboard IDE: 2x UltraDMA 133/100 Connector
 - Onboard Serial ATA: 2 SATA Connectors
 - Onboard LAN: VIA VT6103 10/100 Base-T Ethernet PHY
 - Onboard Audio: VIA VT1617A 6channel AC' 97 codec
 - Onboard TV Out: VIA VT1623 TV Encoder
 - Onboard 1394: VIA VT6307S IEEE 1394 Firewire

On the link that's on the supported motherboards page appears, http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id..., and the specs from the manufacturer are:
VIA EPIA MII. 
Chipset 
              • VIA CLE266 North Bridge
• VIA VT8235M South Bridge

The North/South bridges in the manufacturer page, are different to the ones in the list of compatible motherboards. specs on the motherboard page are:
 VIA
 EPIA-MII
 VIA VT8623
 VIA VT8235, Ricoh RL5C476
 VIA VT1211
 VIA C3™, VIA EDEN™
 Socket 370
 OK
  So I'm a bit confused and wouldn't like to buy something that's unable to support linuxbios, I'll appreciate if someone can help me, or give me some advice

Cheers,
Pablo Sosa

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[Peter Stuge]

Hi Pablo,

On Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 02:08:52AM -0800, Pablo Sosa wrote:
> Hope this is the right forum to ask. I was checking the list of
> supported motherboards in order to try linuxbios, I could find I
> can buy one of this motherboards which are similar but not the same
> to VIA that are mentioned on the page, i.e.
>
> VIA EPIA-SP13000 Motherboard, Socket 370
> Specs according to the vendor are:
>
> Specifications:
> Processor: VIA C3 / VIA Eden  EBGA processor
> Chipset: VIA CN400 North Bridge; VIA VT8237 South Bridge

[..]
> So I'm a bit confused and wouldn't like to buy something that's
> unable to support linuxbios, I'll appreciate if someone can help
> me, or give me some advice

Your research is correct. The EPIA-SP boards use a lot of hardware
different from the EPIA-MII and most of it is yet unsupported in
LinuxBIOS.

Given data sheets, time and patience it is certainly possible to
teach LinuxBIOS about the hardware on the SP boards, but they are
already old since the C7 boards have been available for some time.

//Peter

[Al Boldi]

Peter Stuge wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 02:08:52AM -0800, Pablo Sosa wrote:
> > Hope this is the right forum to ask. I was checking the list of
> > supported motherboards in order to try linuxbios, I could find I
> > can buy one of this motherboards which are similar but not the same
> > to VIA that are mentioned on the page, i.e.
> >
> > VIA EPIA-SP13000 Motherboard, Socket 370
> > Specs according to the vendor are:
> >
> > Specifications:
> > Processor: VIA C3 / VIA Eden  EBGA processor
> > Chipset: VIA CN400 North Bridge; VIA VT8237 South Bridge
>
> [..]
> > So I'm a bit confused and wouldn't like to buy something that's
> > unable to support linuxbios, I'll appreciate if someone can help
> > me, or give me some advice
>
> Your research is correct. The EPIA-SP boards use a lot of hardware
> different from the EPIA-MII and most of it is yet unsupported in
> LinuxBIOS.

It seems that this is a recurring problem with many boards.

Would it be possible to reduce dependencies, by having a minimal/blind 
CPU/memory bootstrapper with a kernel payload to discover the rest of the 
system?

Thanks!

[Peter Stuge]

On Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 03:11:56PM +0300, Al Boldi wrote:
> > Your research is correct. The EPIA-SP boards use a lot of
> > hardware different from the EPIA-MII and most of it is yet
> > unsupported in LinuxBIOS.
>
> It seems that this is a recurring problem with many boards.

Yes, it is.
> Would it be possible to reduce dependencies, by having a
> minimal/blind CPU/memory bootstrapper with a kernel payload to
> discover the rest of the system?

This is indeed exactly what LinuxBIOS is.

LinuxBIOS is by definition quite hardware specific. It's task is to
know about all the tweaks and quirks of a certain set of hardware,
and tickle the hardware so that it behaves in a standard way.

We appreciate any help we can get in writing code for unsupported
hardware. This is becoming an increasingly complex task with new
technologies emerging every other month.

That said, I think that the V3 design and structure makes it easier
to structure the code further and have more general code. There has
already been some discussion about how to best generalize RAM
initialization e.g. which would be one good way to make porting a
little bit easiser and faster.

There's also the information problem, it's difficult to impossible
for LinuxBIOS as a group to acquire the neccessary datasheets that
detail how to set up the hardware, meaning many ports depend on
individuals who do have access to the documentation but are allowed
to release code.

And even AMD who support LinuxBIOS and contribute regularly in a
stellar manner have needed a lot of time for their legal department
to approve a code release.

It may sound like a crazy uphill battle, but I think the project is
doing well climbing up the hill, slow as it may be. :)

//Peter