Hi, On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Phil Brutsche wrote:
> A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way, someone said... > > > On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, aphro wrote: > > > > > you sure that MB supports dual processors? it seems as if linux doesn't > > > say its a SMP capable MB at all. > > > > Well, the machine (AcerAltos) has two slots for CPU daughterboards. > > > > > can linux run on SMP 486s ? never heard of anyone who ever ran a dual cpu > > > 486, although ive heard of their existance.. > > > > What's so "special" about 486s so that they couldn't run in parallel? > > In order to run parallel, processors need special wiring and circuitry to > handle the 'bus protocol' for synchronizing bus accesses and what not. > Not all processors have that; it's possible that 486s don't. That would > explain why Linux doesn't see the motherboard as dual capable - the > necessary circuitry isn't there. The necessary circuitry would then be > provided by the second CPU card. This is why AMDs K6, K6-II, and K6-III > (iirc[1]) don't do SMP - they lack the necessary circuitry. > > Another reason why Linux doesn't see the computer as dual capable just > dawned on me: in pre-Pentium systems (and even some early Pentium systems) > there was no unified 'standard' method for the operating system to detect > and initialize the additional CPUs. i believe Intel MPI specs predates Pentium and were used for 486 boards. Therefore Linux should work on 486 SMP systems OK
