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NAME

intro — introduction to special files and hardware support

DESCRIPTION

This section describes the special files, related driver functions, and networking support available in the system. In this part of the manual, the SYNOPSIS section of each configurable device gives a sample specification for use in constructing a system description for the config(1) program. The DIAGNOSTICS section lists messages which may appear on the console and/or in the system error log /var/log/messages due to errors in device operation; see syslogd(8) for more information.

This section contains both devices which may be configured into the system and network related information. The networking support is introduced in netintro(4).

DEVICE SUPPORT

This section describes the hardware supported on the HP PA-RISC platform. Software support for these devices comes in two forms. A hardware device may be supported with a character or block device driver, or it may be used within the networking subsystem and have a network interface driver. Character and block devices are accessed through files in the file system of a special type; see mknod(8). Network interfaces are indirectly accessed through the interprocess communication facilities provided by the system; see socket(2).

A hardware device is identified to the system at configuration time and the appropriate device or network interface driver is then compiled into the system. When the resultant system is booted, the autoconfiguration facilities in the system probe for the device and, if found, enable the software support for it. If a device does not respond at autoconfiguration time it is not accessible at any time afterwards. To enable a device which did not autoconfigure, the system must be rebooted.

The autoconfiguration system is described in autoconf(4).

SUPPORTED SYSTEMS

NetBSD hppa should run on systems similar to those, listed below, as long as they're based upon the following:

• HP PA-RISC 1.1 processors:

  PA7000

   

  PA7100/PA7150

   

  PA7200/PA7250

   

  PA7100LC

   

  PA7300LC

   

• Viper memory controller;
• GSC bus controllers:

  ASP

   

  LASI

  Super-integrated I/O

  WAX

  Basic I/O

• SCSI I/O-processors:

  NCR53c700/710

  Narrow Single-Ended

  NCR53c720

  Fast Wide Differential

• Intel i82596 CA/DX LAN coprocessors
• Venom, (H)CRX-8 and (H)CRX-24 video controllers
• EISA Adapters:

  i82350 (Mongoose)

   

  WAX-EISA

   

• PCI Adapters:

  Dino

  GSC-PCI bridge

  Cujo

  GSC-PCI 64bit bridge

• Human Interface Loop (HIL) keyboard and mouse
• PS/2 port keyboard and mouse

Below a list of HP 9000/700 models targetted for support is listed, including basic system characteristics.

LIST OF DEVICES

The devices listed below are supported in this incarnation of the system. Devices are indicated by their functional interface. Not all supported devices are listed.

hppa/asp(4)

The ASP I/O controller; found in most of the older machines which don't have LASI or WAX. Includes GSC-bus controller, to which most of the devices are attached. Most of I/O is still on external chips though.

com(4)

The RS-232 ports.

hppa/cpu(4)

The Central Processor itself, makes sure the machine does something useful.

tlp(4)

DEC/Intel 21140, 21143, 21145 and clone 10/100 Ethernet controller.

hppa/dino(4)

The pci(4) bridge on most of the newer systems.

hppa/harmony(4)

CS4215/AD1849 audio.

hil(4)

Human Interface Loop, sporting several input devices, e.g. keyboards, mice, tablets and such.

iee(4)

i82596 CA/DX LAN controller. Found in every 700, either included in the MBA or on an external chip on mainboard.

hppa/lasi(4)

LSI?, found in almost all HP 9000/700 workstations. Integrates most of the bus and I/O functions into one chip.

lpt(4)

The Centronics printer port.

hppa/mem(4)

Memory files and memory controller.

mongoose(4)

The eisa(4) bus controller on most of the older 700 machines.

oosiop(4)

Symbios/NCR 53C700 SCSI I/O processor.

osiop(4)

Symbios/NCR 53C710 SCSI I/O processor.

pdc(4)

The PROM interface, allows to call the routines in the machine's PROM for things like initial console output and such.

siop(4)

LSI/Symbios Logic/NCR 53C8xx SCSI I/O processor.

sti(4)

The system graphics driver.

hppa/wax(4)

The other reincarnation of hppa/lasi(4) used for cheap ASIC implementations for add-on devices.

SEE ALSO

config(1), autoconf(4)

PA-RISC Information Resource

HISTORY

The hppa intro first appeared with OpenBSD 2.0. It was ported to NetBSD 2.0 by Jochen Kunz.