Old platforms: bring out your dead

[Arnd Bergmann]

On Mon, Jan 11, 2021 at 11:28 AM Geert Uytterhoeven
<geert at linux-m68k.org> wrote:
> > > Regarding 32-bit vs 64-bit kernels, can you clarify what makes this one
> > > a 32-bit board? Is this just your preference for which kernel you install,
> > > or are there dependencies on firmware or hardware that require running
> > > this machine in 32-bit mode?
> >
> > TX492x is 32-bit (/proc/cpuinfo says mips1/mips2/mips3), TX493x is 64-bit.
> > As Debian dropped support for mips3 and older, I'm stuck at a Jessie nfsroot.
>
> Upon closer look, all TX49xx are 64-bit, but the VxWorks boot loader
> refuses to boot 64-bit kernels ("Size is incorrect"), hence I settled
> for a 32-bit kernel config a long time ago.

Ah, that makes sense.

> Probably I need to write a 32-bit bootwrapper first. which would allow
> me to upgrade the Debian userland beyond jessie using mips64el?

No, I don't think it would help you here, as Debian Stretch requires
either MIPS32r2 or MIPS64r2 processors, so neither MIPS-II nor
MIPS-III work any more.

Not sure what others are running on their pre-r2 hardware these days.

       Arnd