From e9fca06a726db8f2e010e396fff87754c4f0a8f8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Steve McIntyre <93sam@debian.org> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 01:33:07 +0000 Subject: Multiple small tweaks to ARM support * Clarify support for X-Gene * flash-kernel knows how to deal with U-Boot for X-Gene * Spelling fixes * Minor wording fixes --- en/hardware/supported/arm.xml | 127 ++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------- 1 file changed, 67 insertions(+), 60 deletions(-) (limited to 'en/hardware') diff --git a/en/hardware/supported/arm.xml b/en/hardware/supported/arm.xml index 9ea342df1..b7007b92d 100644 --- a/en/hardware/supported/arm.xml +++ b/en/hardware/supported/arm.xml @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ -ARM systems are much more heterogenous than the i386/amd64-based PC +ARM systems are much more heterogeneous than the i386/amd64-based PC architecture, so whilst 64-bit ARM machines should boot in a standardised way, like PCs, the situation is more complicated for 32-bit ARM machines. @@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ for PC systems. As this approach does not scale to a large number of different systems, work was done to allow booting with a single ARM kernel that can run on different ARM systems. Support for newer ARM systems gets implemented in a way that allows the use of such a -multiplatform kernel, but for several older systems a seperate +multiplatform kernel, but for several older systems a separate specific kernel is still required. @@ -48,16 +48,18 @@ flavour name on 64-bit arm64). -The ARM architecture has evolved over time and modern ARM processors provide -features which are not available in older models. &debian; therefore -provides three ARM ports: the &debian;/arm64 port for all 64-bit machines, and the &debian;/armel and the &debian;/armhf ports for 32-bit machines. -&debian;/armel targets older ARM processors without support for a hardware -floating point unit (FPU), while &debian;/armhf works only on newer ARM -processors which implement at least the ARMv7 architecture with version 3 of -the ARM vector floating point specification (VFPv3). &debian;/armhf makes -use of the extended features and performance enhancements available on -these models. &debian;/arm64 works on processors which implement at least the ARMv8 architecture (which is 64bit). - +The ARM architecture has evolved over time and modern ARM processors +provide features which are not available in older models. &debian; +therefore provides three ARM ports: the &debian;/arm64 port for all +64-bit machines, and the &debian;/armel and the &debian;/armhf ports +for 32-bit machines. &debian;/armel targets older ARM processors +without support for a hardware floating point unit (FPU), while +&debian;/armhf works only on newer ARM processors which implement at +least the ARMv7 architecture with version 3 of the ARM vector floating +point specification (VFPv3). &debian;/armhf makes use of the extended +features and performance enhancements available on these models. +&debian;/arm64 works on processors which implement at least the ARMv8 +architecture (which is 64bit). -Technically, all currently available ARM CPUs can be run in either endian mode (big or little), -but in practice the vast majority use little-endian mode. All of &debian;/arm64, &debian;/armhf and &debian;/armel support -only little-endian systems. - +Technically, all currently available ARM CPUs can be run in either +endian mode (big or little), but in practice the vast majority use +little-endian mode. All of &debian;/arm64, &debian;/armhf and +&debian;/armel support only little-endian systems. Platforms supported by Debian/arm64 @@ -102,32 +104,35 @@ only little-endian systems. The tested platforms are listed below, but in general, the - multiplatform support in the arm64 Linux kernel allows running - &d-i; on arm64 systems not explicitly listed below, so long as the - kernel used by &d-i; has support for the target system's - components and a device-tree file for the target is available. In - these cases, the installer can usually provide a working userland - installation, and so long as UEFI is in use, it should be able to - make the system bootable as well. If UEFI is not used (some 64-bit - machines have been shipped with uboot) it will not be able to make - the system bootable. + multiplatform support in the arm64 Linux kernel also allows + running &d-i; on arm64 systems not explicitly listed below, so + long as the kernel used by &d-i; has support for the target + system's components and a device-tree file for the target is + available. In these cases, the installer can usually provide a + working userland installation, and so long as UEFI is in use, it + should be able to make the system bootable as well. If UEFI is not + used (some 64-bit machines have been shipped with U-Boot) you will + probably also need some manual steps to make the system bootable. -The following platforms are known to be supported by &debian;/arm64 in this release. There is only one kernel, which supports all platforms. +The following platforms are known to be supported by +&debian;/arm64 in this release. There is only one kernel, which +supports all the listed platforms. - Applied Micro (APM) Mustang/X-gene + Applied Micro (APM) Mustang/X-Gene - The APM Mustang was the first linux-capable ARMv8 system - available. It uses the X-gene soc, since also used in - other machines, which is an 8-core 16GB device, with - ethernet, USB, serial. The form-factor is a desktop PC - box. All the hardware is supported in the mainline kernel. - + The APM Mustang was the first Linux-capable ARMv8 system + available. It uses the X-gene SoC, since also used in + other machines, which is an 8-core CPU, with ethernet, + USB, serial. A common form-factor looks just like a + desktop PC box, but many versions are expected. Most of + the hardware is supported in the mainline kernel, but USB + support is lacking in the &releasename-cap; kernel. @@ -135,14 +140,14 @@ only little-endian systems. ARM Juno Development Platform - - + Juno is a capable development board with a 6-core (2xA57, 4xA53) ARMv8-A 800Mhz CPU, Mali (T624) graphics, 8GB DDR3 RAM, Ethernet, USB, Serial. It was designed for system - bringup and power testing so is neither small nor cheap, + bring-up and power testing so is neither small nor cheap, but was one of the first boards available. All the - hardware is supported in the mainline kernel. + hardware is supported in the mainline kernel and in + &releasename-cap;. @@ -150,10 +155,11 @@ only little-endian systems. - When using &d-i; on non-UEFI systems, you will have to manually + When using &d-i; on non-UEFI systems, you may have to manually make the system bootable at the end of the installation, e.g. by running the required commands in a shell started from within - &d-i;. + &d-i;. flash-kernel knows how to set up an X-Gene system booting + with U-Boot. @@ -181,7 +187,7 @@ only little-endian systems. The Versatile Express is a development board series from ARM consisting of a baseboard which can be equipped with various CPU - daughterboards. + daughter boards. @@ -242,7 +248,7 @@ only little-endian systems. Using a local display is technically possible without native display drivers via the simplefb infrastructure in the mainline kernel, which relies on the - u-boot bootloader for initializing the display + u-boot bootloader for initialising the display hardware, but this is not supported by the u-boot version in &debian; 8. @@ -299,9 +305,10 @@ only little-endian systems. - When using &d-i; on such systems, you have to manually make the system - bootable at the end of the installation, e.g. by running the required - commands in a shell started from within &d-i;. + When using &d-i; on such systems, you may have to manually make + the system bootable at the end of the installation, e.g. by + running the required commands in a shell started from within + &d-i;. @@ -313,15 +320,14 @@ only little-endian systems. EfikaMX -The EfikaMX platform (Genesi Efika Smartbook and Genesi EfikaMX nettop) has -been supported in &debian; 7 with a platform-specific kernel, but is not -supported anymore from &debian; 8 onwards. The code required to build the -formerly used platform-specific kernel has been removed from the -upstream Linux kernel source in 2012, so Debian cannot provide newer -builds. - -Using the armmp multiplatform kernel on the EfikaMX platform would require -device-tree support for it, which is currently not available. +The EfikaMX platform (Genesi Efika Smartbook and Genesi EfikaMX +nettop) has been supported in &debian; 7 with a platform-specific +kernel, but is no longer supported from &debian; 8 onwards. The code +required to build the formerly used platform-specific kernel has been +removed from the upstream Linux kernel source in 2012, so Debian +cannot provide newer builds. Using the armmp +multiplatform kernel on the EfikaMX platform would require device-tree +support for it, which is currently not available. @@ -416,10 +422,11 @@ test and run &debian; on ARM if you don't have the hardware. Intel's I/O Processor (IOP) line is found in a number of products related to data storage and processing, such as the GLAN Tank from IO-Data and the -Thecus N2100. &debian; has -supported the IOP32x platform in &debian; 7, but does not support -it anymore from version 8 on due to hardware constraints of the platform -which make it unsuitable for the installation of newer &debian; releases. +Thecus N2100. &debian; +has supported the IOP32x platform in &debian; 7, but does not support +it any longer from version 8 on due to hardware constraints of the +platform which make it unsuitable for the installation of newer +&debian; releases. @@ -431,7 +438,7 @@ which make it unsuitable for the installation of newer &debian; releases. The MV78xx0 platform has been used on the Marvell DB-78xx0-BP development board. It was supported in Debian 7 with a platform-specific kernel (based on the Linux kernel version 3.2), but is not supported -anymore from Debian 8 onwards. +any more from Debian 8 onwards. -- cgit v1.2.3