PA-RISC information - since 1999

NetBSD/hppa

Overview

NetBSD is a free, open source Unix-like operating system with support for 32-bit PA-RISC computers in NetBSD/hppa, a Tier II port.

The NetBSD port to PA-RISC focuses on 32-bit computers and 64-bit systems in 32-bit. It is largely based on Michael Shalayeff’s work on OpenBSD/hppa from 1999 to 2005 and some updated OpenBSD code later on. NetBSD supports PA-RISC since around 2005, called NetBSD/hp700 until the 7.0 release.

Similar to OpenBSD/hppa, it seems usage of and interest in NetBSD on PA-RISC has declined significantly since the 2000s. Even though NetBSD provides are modern Unix user experience, running PA-RISC might not be as smooth as before.

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Systems support

NetBSD describes the following systems as supported (in the 9.2 release, as of 2021), unsure if all are completely supported and tested.

OpenBSD/hppa supported systems
* - in 32-bit mode
Class Computers
700s 705, 710, 712, 715, 720, 730, 750, 725, 735, 755
740s VME 742i, 743i, 744, 745i, 745, 747i, 748i, 748
A-Class A180, A180C
B-Class B132L, B160L, B132L+, B180L+, B1000*, B2000*, B2600*
C-Class C100, C110,C132L, C160L, C160*, C180*, C200*, C240*, C360*, C3000*, C3600*, C3700*
D-Class D200, D210, D220, D230, D300, D310, D320, D330
E-Class E25, E35, E45, E55 (apparently, and with serial console only, without SCSI)
J-Class J200, J210, J280*, J282*, J2240*, J5000*, J5600*, J6000*, J6700*, J6750*, J7000*, J7600*
K-Class K100, K200, K210, K220, K400, K410, K420
Portables RDI PrecisionBook, SAIC Galaxy 1100

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Hardware support

Processors

32-bit PA-RISC 1.0 PA-7000, PA-7100, PA-7100LC, PA-7200 and PA-7300LC; some systems with 64-bit processors in 32-bit mode: PA-8000, PA-8200, PA-8500, PA-8600 and PA-8700.

Buses and chipsets

Most PCI, GSC and Runway buses and onboard bus controllers are supported.

Networking

On--board Ethernet and Fast-Ethernet network interfaces are supported; the FDDI sliders on the 735/755 are not supported. Expansion cards for the GSC/HSC and PCI bus slots with a supported Ethernet chipset (Intel i82596, DEC 21142/43 Tulip, Intel i8255x, Realtek 8120/8139, NE2000, SiS 900) could work.

Realtek RTL8150L USB-based Ethernet adapters are supported.

Storage

Storage I/O is supported via the NCR 53C700 narrow, NCR 53C710 Fast-Narrow or NCR 53C875 Ultra-Wide SE SCSI controllers. The on-board NCR 53C720 Fast-Wide HVD controllers are not supported.

GSC/HSC and PCI expansion cards with one of the 53C710 or 53C8xx (siop) SCSI chipsets, Adaptec 2940 (ahc) PCI and various Qlogic ISP PCI SCSI adapters should also work, however not necessarily for booting.

Graphics

SGC graphics (framebuffer).

It seems with NetBSD 11.0 in 2024, more graphics drivers were added: PCI Visualize EG card, HCRX video cards and an X.Org (X11) driver for Visualize EG.

Human I/O

Human I/O is supported via PS/2 and HIL.

Misc

Several PCI USB adapters from VIA and ALi have been tested and are known to work; they support USB mass-storage and Ethernet devices. The onboard Harmony audio system is supported.

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Documentation

Manuals

Websites

Software

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