PA-RISC information - since 1999

PA-RISC Linux

Overview

PA-RISC Linux runs on a broad range of 32-bit and 64-bit HP 9000 PA-RISC workstations and servers. The port was supported by HP and a few research initiatives for a while and is the most complete open source PA-RISC operating system, having been developed for now more than 25 years. Two major Linux distributions include PA-RISC in their releases and codebase: Debian and Gentoo.

In the late 1990s, PA-RISC was the last big RISC/Unix architecture without a proper Linux port. Early work by the Puffin Group in 1998 on the port of Linux to HP PA-RISC gained momentum after HP started helping with equipment and documentation in 1999. It quickly superseded the earlier Mach-based MkLinux. Because of HP’s assistance, supported machines at the time were newer than other ports like OpenBSD or Mach, such as HP 9000 A180, Visualize B180 and 64-bit PA-RISC 2.0.

Since the late 2000s, work on the PA-RISC Linux port became slower, similar to other open source operating systems on PA-RISC, but the tempo increased in 2014 again. Most PA-RISC Linux documentation and websites changed and moved in the 2020s.

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Systems support

Most HP 9000 700 and B/C/J-Class workstations are supported with 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC processors. SMP multi-processing is supported, though not as smooth as other Linux platforms or HP-UX. Linux runs also on many HP 9000 PA-RISC server systems, although some proprietary I/O, CPU and memory are not supported.

PA-RISC Linux supported systems
Class Computers
HP 9000 700 705, 710, 712, 715, 720, 730, 750, 725, 735, 755
HP 9000 740 VME 742i, 743i, 744, 745i, 745, 747i, 748i, 748
HP 9000 A-Class A180, A180C A400, A500
HP Visualize B‑Class B132L, B160L, B132L+, B180L+, B1000, B2000, B2600
HP Visualize C-Class C100, C110,C132L, C160L, C160, C180, C200, C240, C360, C3000, C3600, C3700, C3750, C8000
HP 9000 D-Class D210, D220, D230, D250, D270, D280, D310, D320, D330, D350, D370, D380, D390
HP 9000 E-Class E25, E35, E45, E55 (very limited)
HP Visualize J‑Class J200, J210, J280, J282, J2240, J5000, J5600, J6000, J6700, J6750, J7000, J7600
HP 9000 K-Class K100, K200, K210, K220, K250, K260, K370, K380, K400, K410, K420, K450, K460, K570, K580
HP 9000 L-Class L1000, L2000, L3000
HP 9000 N-Class N4000
HP 9000 R-Class R380, R390
HP Integrity rp rp2400, rp2430, rp2405, rp2450, rp2470, rp3410, rp3440, rp5400, rp5450, rp5470, rp7400
Portables RDI PrecisionBook, SAIC Galaxy 1100

Performance on Linux is not quite on par with original HP-UX — 50% was a rough estimate in the late-2000s. However the overhead of running a full-blown HP-UX probably consumes much of this advantage, especially on older systems.

Hardware support

Most I/O subsystems are supported in PA-RISC Linux, including many common PC expansion options. Correct X11 graphical support is limited to a small set of HP adapters via the framebuffer device. As newer machines are more similar to standard Intel PCs, support is generally better but still lacking in some areas.

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Distributions

The center of kernel and toolchain development is the offical PA-RISC Linux project with source code, mailing lists, install instructions, an array of documentation and a hardware database. Two Linux distributions have included the PA-RISC port since the 2000s: Debian and Gentoo:

Documentation

Articles

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