Messages

1

General CPU Discussion / Re: Asymmetric CPUs with the Same Core Count

« on: October 01, 2022, 01:12:02 pm »

Do you mean the timebase register? Not equivalent with the time-stamp counter on x86(_64) but should be usable for similar purposes.

https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/PowerPC.html

2

Talos II / Re: Petitboot lock after Fedora 36 update

« on: September 27, 2022, 10:54:33 am »

Probably couldn't hurt, but this looks like the filesystem is corrupt enough to freak out the Petitboot kernel, so I'm not sure that would fix it.

3

Talos II / Re: Petitboot lock after Fedora 36 update

« on: September 26, 2022, 08:15:54 pm »

Firmware update??

4

GPU Compute / Accelerators / Re: Talos II GPU slot preference

« on: September 26, 2022, 10:49:43 am »

Interesting observation. I wonder how one could benchmark that.

5

Applications and Porting / Re: Firefox 91 ESR on void vs Firefox on Fedora 36

« on: September 25, 2022, 06:57:34 pm »

Yes, you can do this, though 91ESR is no longer supported. I've finally got spare cycles to finish pulling it up to 102ESR and then trying to get the last problems ironed out of it.

6

General CPU Discussion / Re: DD2.4?

« on: September 22, 2022, 06:24:28 pm »

My understanding is DD2.2 is no longer manufactured. Any that you buy are used or NOS.

I have not heard of a DD2.4 stepping and given IBM's current concentration on Power10 it doesn't seem likely.

7

General CPU Discussion / Re: Asymmetric CPUs with the Same Core Count

« on: September 20, 2022, 11:01:25 am »

I don't have a system that big, but I don't remember seeing anything like that with my dual-8. Are you sure Hostboot didn't guard anything out? (At a BMC root prompt, try `pflash -P GUARD -c` to ensure there are no guard entries in the PNOR.)

8

Applications and Porting / Re: Thunderbird not working Debian buster (1:68.12.0-1~deb10u1 & 1:78.4.0-1~deb10u1)

« on: September 20, 2022, 10:58:37 am »

Although I use my custom-built Firefox on Fedora, I use Fedora-built Thunderbird, and no problems.

9

General Discussion / Re: Samsung PM9A1 IcyBox IB-PCI208-HS not working in one Talos II, OK in the other

« on: September 14, 2022, 04:05:59 pm »

Do the new cards work in the first workstation? I couldn't tell.

10

Operating Systems and Porting / Re: [NEWS] Debian 11 is out

« on: September 14, 2022, 04:02:43 pm »

The SC732 is very similar, though I don't know if it takes the same power supplies. I'd say the power supply replacement was the biggest reduction, but even just getting rid of the rear fan and relying on the front fans helped.

11

Blackbird / Re: Stereo audio channels swapped?

« on: September 13, 2022, 11:13:38 am »

I don't recall this being a problem on the optical output (which I feed into a Denon receiver), but maybe I'm just not discriminating enough.

12

Operating Systems and Porting / Re: [NEWS] Debian 11 is out

« on: September 13, 2022, 11:11:26 am »

Finally, I got my Talos 2 (second hand machine) recently so I am not just a dreaming follower anymore 
Everything works well so far. Ready to enjoy my machine. I just would like it to be less noisy (CPU fans).

Congrats. To get the fan noise down with the default SC747 chassis, make sure your firmware is fully up to date first. My system also has the superquiet power supplies (bought from a third-party) and I disconnected and removed the two rear fans since the HSFs and other case fans are more than sufficient. With these changes, my dual-8 T2 is very quiet most of the time, even under load -- certainly much quieter than the Quad G5 next to it.

13

Blackbird / Re: Issue with blackbird booting with GPU

« on: September 13, 2022, 11:06:06 am »

How is your TalosII configured to boot faster? Or do you use !BMC?

Sorry if that was unclear: I meant with fast reset on. It's just that it fails so often that it doesn't seem worth the modest improvement, at least on my machine.

Is there pretty good support for the wx series card in fedora? I've thought about getting a wx2100 or wx3100 for my blackbird to have a little lower power card.

I use a Raptor BTO WX7100 in my Fedora 36 Talos II, and it's fine. The fast reboot problems I mention are with other devices. I do have the firmware loaded in BOOTKERNFW so I can access Petitboot.

14

Blackbird / Re: Issue with blackbird booting with GPU

« on: September 11, 2022, 03:30:51 pm »

Fast reboot isn't much faster? It saves me 90 seconds if active.

Maybe it's the way my T2 is configured, but while I agree it's quicker, I don't find it *much* quicker. Plus, when it muffs it, you end up doing a full reboot anyway.

15

General CPU Discussion / Re: Ultravisor state and/or FlexVer as a substitute for confidential/trustworthy rem

« on: September 08, 2022, 10:24:29 pm »

Why would you do otherwise? Since it's a source of entropy, virtualizing it would potentially compromise the cryptographic security of the guest. RDRAND on recent (Ivy Bridge at least) x86_64 is the same way. See https://lwn.net/Articles/887207/ for an example of when this goes wrong.