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AVR32 runs Linux? — Parallax Forums

AVR32 runs Linux?

David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,511
edited 2013-04-06 12:09 in Propeller 2
I hadn't noticed this before but I guess the AVR32 has an MMU and Linux has been ported to it. Maybe we should add TLB and page table support to the XMM cache drivers for P2 so we can boot Linux too! :-)

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2013-03-31 06:57
    Clearly impossible on the Propeller:)
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,511
    edited 2013-03-31 06:58
    David Betz wrote: »
    I hadn't noticed this before but I guess the AVR32 has an MMU and Linux has been ported to it. Maybe we should add TLB and page table support to the XMM cache drivers for P2 so we can boot Linux too! :-)
    Actually, the MMU was in an AVR32 version called the AP7 which I guess has been discontinued. You now have to go to an ARM-based chip to run Linux.
  • pedwardpedward Posts: 1,642
    edited 2013-03-31 11:50
    Or run an ARM emulator on AVR...
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2013-03-31 12:13
    Net BSD 2.2 runs on a PIC32 with 128K RAM. So it may be possible for the P2 to run it.
  • stevenmess2004stevenmess2004 Posts: 1,102
    edited 2013-03-31 15:34
    UClinux runs without an mmu http://www.uclinux.org/index.html, don't know how hard it would be to port.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2013-03-31 17:40
    Linux is running on an ATMega1284p (also done on an ATMega644a) running an ARM emulator (the ATMega used does not have an MMU). The circuit adds an 80286 30pin SIMM DRAM board and SD card. It is extremely slow to boot (2hrs to boot a bash prompt), but proven to work. P1 could likely do a better job, so just imagine what P2 could do.
    http://dmitry.gr/index.php?r=05.Projects&proj=07.%20Linux%20on%208bit
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,511
    edited 2013-03-31 18:46
    Cluso99 wrote: »
    Linux is running on an ATMega1284p (also done on an ATMega644a) running an ARM emulator (the ATMega used does not have an MMU). The circuit adds an 80286 30pin SIMM DRAM board and SD card. It is extremely slow to boot (2hrs to boot a bash prompt), but proven to work. P1 could likely do a better job, so just imagine what P2 could do.
    http://dmitry.gr/index.php?r=05.Projects&proj=07.%20Linux%20on%208bit
    I guess I'm talking about running Linux natively. Running it under an emulation of another processor may be an interesting challenge but it won't produce a useable system.
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2013-03-31 18:53
    I agree with David on this. It's more of a programmers joke than anything. I'd personally go with porting a OS that doesn't require a MMU and use that as a starting point.
  • pik33pik33 Posts: 2,350
    edited 2013-04-02 10:44
    So, it looks like someone has to write something called for example "MMUCog". Then port a Linux to the Propeller2.
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,511
    edited 2013-04-02 10:46
    pik33 wrote: »
    So, it looks like someone has to write something called for example "MMUCog". Then port a Linux to the Propeller2.
    Either that or use a version of Linux that doesn't require an MMU like UCLinux. Of course, there is a lot more to porting Linux to a processor than just providing an MMU. It might also be difficult to port Linux to a process that doesn't support interrupts. They can be simulated of course but that is kind of contrary to the Propeller philosophy.
  • KC_RobKC_Rob Posts: 465
    edited 2013-04-03 08:14
    rod1963 wrote: »
    Net BSD 2.2 runs on a PIC32 with 128K RAM. So it may be possible for the P2 to run it.
    Really? Wow, that's impressive. Love me some BSD!
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2013-04-03 20:01
    Google RetroBSD

    2.11BSD is the last in the series of Berkeley Unixes for the PDP-11. it's footprint is also much smaller than uclinux(BSD needs 1/10th the amount of RAM), so easier to port to memory constrained systems.
  • KC_RobKC_Rob Posts: 465
    edited 2013-04-04 08:03
    rod1963 wrote: »
    Google RetroBSD

    2.11BSD is the last in the series of Berkeley Unixes for the PDP-11. it's footprint is also much smaller than uclinux(BSD needs 1/10th the amount of RAM), so easier to port to memory constrained systems.
    Ah yes, thank you, Rod!

    BTW, somewhat off-topic, but is AVR32 getting very much attention (in particular, design wins)? I really don't hear much about it; OTOH, PIC32 seems to be at least holding its own against the ARM onslaught.
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2013-04-06 09:59
    The PIC32 benchmarks(see coremark.org) are equivalent to a STM32F4 running at 168Mhz. So yes it can hold it's own against other embedded ARM's. Microchip is also planning on expanding the line later in the year.

    It will be interesting to see what the Coremark is for the P2 once we get real silicon and a fully functional C compiler.
    .
  • bruceebrucee Posts: 239
    edited 2013-04-06 12:09
    The Coremark benchmarks measure not only performance, but also try to measure how much performance you get for the amount of power the chip consumes.

    I'd be curious if anyone has tried to move any of the coremark benchmarks to the prop 1 ? There have been some Dhrystone numbers published, though that is not used much anymore, though there are measures for the ARM.
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