On 16 Sep, Shane S. wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the response.
> 
> So do you think I should forget about recompiling the kernel
> and just install it as if there is 1 processor?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nathan E Norman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 1998 11:31 AM
> To: Shane S.
> Cc: 'debian-user@lists.debian.org'
> Subject: Re: debian 2.0 install
> 
> 
> On Wed, 16 Sep 1998, Shane S. wrote:
> 
>  : 
>  : 
>  : 
>  : I just downloaded debian 2.0 linux and I want to install it
>  : on a SMP Wyse7000i machine. This machine has 2 486 processor.
>  : After reading the documentation, I have a question.
>  : After downloading, do I install debian 2.0 first, and
>  : then re-compile the kernel to take advantage of the SMP,
>  : or should I recompile in the begining?
> 
> I don't believe Linux SMP code supports dual 486 processors (due to the
> lack of standards for such machines).   Pentium and above
> multi-processor systems are supported.
> 

Before you give up:  My impression is that Linux SMP doesn't support
dual 486SX boxes, because of something involving floating point
support, but that it does support some 486 dual processor boxes.  

>From the Linux SMP page (way out of date, but presumably correct as of
whenever it was written:

* Intel MP v1.1 compliant 486, Pentium and Pentium Pro hardware. 
* Intel MP v1.4 compliant Pentium and Pentium Pro hardware. 
* Multiprocessor Sun4m sparc machines. 
* 2.1 development on Alpha, PowerPC, Sun4d, Ultrasparc. 


I would suggest installing as usual, pretending you have a single
processor box, which should work.  Then install the kernel source and
compile a custom kernel which supports SMP, and put it in LILO as a
secondary kernel (second menu entry), so that you can try it out but
have something to fall back on (the single processor kernel) in case it
really doesn't work.  If it does work, shuffle the LILO configuration
around to boot the SMP kernel by default.

I've been really lucky with SMP support, but I haven't tried it with
486s.  I think I've run into one SMP related bug, and got around that
by not using the SCSI port on my (now replaced) PAS16 sound card.


-- 
Stephen Ryan                   Debian GNU/Linux
Mathematics graduate student, Dartmouth College

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