HP/DEC/Compaq

What OS to run? - Page 1

Cauldronborn
From Seattle
Who joined Oct. 1, 2005, 3:49 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 10:09 a.m...

I've recently aquired a big ol monstrosity of a Alphaserver. Not sure what model but its big and square (not as big but roughly Crimson shaped) that is supposed to have dual procs in it. It boots to some kind of prom but after that I'm lost. My question is what are my OS options and what are the Pro/Con's of each. I understand it will run Tru64 but possible licencing issues? Also NT but I'd like to forgo that. Anyone know how the linux or Open/Net/Free BSD support is for these? The guy I got it from was a BSD developer with multiple Alpha machines so there is hope there.

No matter where you go, there you are...
Buckaroo Banzai

Alver
From Wetteren, Belgium
Who joined Dec. 7, 2005, 4:46 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 12:07 p.m...

Never considered OpenVMS? It's not unix related and doesn't feel the slightest bit like any other OS out there... but it's very, very interesting to mess around with. And you can get free hobbyist licenses for it too, so it's 100% legal.

while (!asleep()) sheep++;

porter
From NZ
Who joined Nov. 1, 2006, 10:37 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 12:07 p.m...

I happily ran NetBSD 3.0 on my AlphaStation 400 (identical to AlphaServer 400, avanti). Now I have switched to a legal Tru64 5.1, Technology Enthusiast License.

Tru64 is hungry for licenses, you have to feed them in to enable normally standard subsystems.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 3:16 p.m...

Linux is generally well supported on alphas.

I have Debian installed on my Alphaserver 4100 and it works very well.

regan_russell
From Sydney, Australia
Who joined July 18, 2006, 9:32 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 5:56 p.m...

theinonen wrote: Linux is generally well supported on alphas.

I have Debian installed on my Alphaserver 4100 and it works very well.

It is a little known fact the Alphas running Linux can run OSF/1 binaries by copying the link loader and a whole bunch of share objects across.. I did when I had my personal Alpha in my office and one of the universities Alpha on the same subnet. I could run one or two apps with it. Not exactly legal in the licensing terms. But DEC didn't seem too concerned about it.

I run Tru64 now and work with VMS from time to time so its all good.

Regan

J5600, 2 x SUN, 2 x Mac, 3 x Alpha, 2 x RS/6000

ipaddict
From ::1
Who joined March 14, 2006, 2:14 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 21, 2007, 6:14 p.m...

regan_russell wrote: It is a little known fact the Alphas running Linux can run OSF/1 binaries by copying the link loader and a whole bunch of share objects across.

FreeBSD ships with an OSF/1 ABI layer that is designed for this sort of thing, as well. BSD is also generally well supported on the Alpha.

jan-jaap
Donor
From Wijchen, The Netherlands
Who joined June 17, 2004, 11:35 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 2:18 a.m...

ipaddict wrote: FreeBSD ships with an OSF/1 ABI layer that is designed for this sort of thing, as well. BSD is also generally well supported on the Alpha.

FreeBSD is dropping the Alpha at the next major release.
Linux has it's own problems as well: ever since the change from XFree to Xorg, Debian has been broken on many popular ATI cards on the Alpha. It was fixed only recently, after being broken the best part of 2006. There just aren't that many people interested in Alpha anymore...

To accentuate the special identity of the IRIS 4D/70, Silicon Graphics' designers selected a new color palette. The machine's coating blends dark grey, raspberry and beige colors into a pleasing harmony. ( IRIS 4D/70 Superworkstation Technical Report )

ipaddict
From ::1
Who joined March 14, 2006, 2:14 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 8:33 a.m...

jan-jaap wrote:

ipaddict wrote: FreeBSD ships with an OSF/1 ABI layer that is designed for this sort of thing, as well. BSD is also generally well supported on the Alpha.

FreeBSD is dropping the Alpha at the next major release.

That doesn't change it's current status, and certainly doesn't prevent one from running a well-supported release well into the future. There are plenty of 4.11 boxen still serving their users well.

porter
From NZ
Who joined Nov. 1, 2006, 10:37 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 12:14 p.m...

jan-jaap wrote: FreeBSD is dropping the Alpha at the next major release.

NetBSD uses the number of architectures it runs on as a discriminator and as a badge of honour!

Cauldronborn
From Seattle
Who joined Oct. 1, 2005, 3:49 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 12:17 p.m...

Well I thought about VMS but don't know what I'd do with it and just one more funky OS to learn. Since I doubt I can get Tru64 running on it I'm torn between some version of BSD and Linux (probably Debian but now not so sure). Anyone know which has the most current support for these?

No matter where you go, there you are...

Buckaroo Banzai

foetz
Moderator
Who joined April 14, 2003, 4:34 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 2:42 p.m...

Cauldronborn wrote: I've recently aquired a big ol monstrosity of a Alphaserver. Not sure what model but its big and square (not as big but roughly Crimson shaped) that is supposed to have dual procs in it. It boots to some kind of prom but after that I'm lost. My question is what are my OS options and what are the Pro/Con's of each. I understand it will run Tru64 but possible licencing issues? Also NT but I'd like to forgo that. Anyone know how the linux or Open/Net/Free BSD support is for these? The guy I got it from was a BSD developer with multiple Alpha machines so there is hope there.

no question, if there is one always use the dedicated unix which would be tru64 here.

r-a-c.de

R-ten-K
From Nor Cal
Who joined Nov. 15, 2004, 10:36 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 22, 2007, 3:04 p.m...

Cauldronborn wrote: Well I thought about VMS but don't know what I'd do with it and just one more funky OS to learn. Since I doubt I can get Tru64 running on it I'm torn between some version of BSD and Linux (probably Debian but now not so sure). Anyone know which has the most current support for these?

Since you provided little in terms of identifying the actual machine model you have, there is not a sure way of knowing what OS will be a good fit.

Both, CentOS and Debian should support most low and medium alpha systems. There is a Gentoo branch that builds using the Compaq C compiler, which is far better than gcc for AXP.

NetBSD also runs like a charm.

"Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a
pyramid with thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 9:44 a.m...

Not knowing the exact model of the alphaserver I think that safest choice would be linux. It has support for more systems than BSD.

For a video card I recommend Elsa gloria synergy or some other Permedia based card. (Works great with linux or FreeBSD)

NetBSD is nice if your model is supported. X11 is supported only by few TGA cards.

Ebbi
From South of Germany
Who joined Oct. 26, 2006, 3:20 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 12:05 p.m...

Is there a sticker somewhere on the case, where you can read something like a model or product number?

R-ten-K
From Nor Cal
Who joined Nov. 15, 2004, 10:36 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 12:11 p.m...

Ebbi wrote: Is there a sticker somewhere on the case, where you can read something like a model or product number?

There should be a alphastation or alphaserver moniquer somewhere, is it DEC or Compaq branded?

Google is your friend too in these cases. depending on the srm version, you should be able to use "show config" to get the machine model and configuration info from the srm prompt.

"Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a
pyramid with thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"

porter
From NZ
Who joined Nov. 1, 2006, 10:37 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 12:57 p.m...

theinonen wrote: Not knowing the exact model of the alphaserver I think that safest choice would be linux. It has support for more systems than BSD.

I would be happy to debate that. I suggest you review the number of architectures NetBSD supports....

Cauldronborn
From Seattle
Who joined Oct. 1, 2005, 3:49 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 1:12 p.m...

Nothing on the front, just says Digital. There is what looks to say model number in the back but the it is almost completely covered up by the top of the case. I'll try dismantle it a little bit later to get a more definite answer or perhaps it is in the prom.

No matter where you go, there you are...
Buckaroo Banzai

R-ten-K
From Nor Cal
Who joined Nov. 15, 2004, 10:36 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 2:06 p.m...

Again, google is your friend, try if you can identify the machine here:

http://people.freebsd.org/~wilko/Alpha-gallery/

"Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a
pyramid with thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"

Cauldronborn
From Seattle
Who joined Oct. 1, 2005, 3:49 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 10:47 p.m...

Well my question was more geared to what people's opinions/impressions are of using different OS's on Alpha and so Google is pretty darn useless. Perhaps I worded it badly but I already know I can use Tru64, OpenVMS, NT, Free/Net/OpenBSD, and various versions of Linux.

No matter where you go, there you are...

Buckaroo Banzai

Cauldronborn
From Seattle
Who joined Oct. 1, 2005, 3:49 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 23, 2007, 10:57 p.m...

Ok did some searching and turns out it is a Digital branded Alphaserver 1200.

No matter where you go, there you are...

Buckaroo Banzai