★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://www.linux.org.uk/SMP/title.html

Linux SMP

Linux for shared memory multiprocessor machines.

Intel MP v1.1 compliant 486, Pentium and Pentium Pro hardware.
Intel MP v1.4 compliant Pentium and Pentium Pro hardware.
Multiprocessor Sun4m sparc machines.
2.1 development on Alpha, PowerPC, Sun4d, Ultrasparc.

The initial port was made possible thanks to

Multiprocessor Linux Kernel Development

Current Status

Linux 2.0 includes basic SMP support for Intel and Sun hardware. The only configuration I know is not supported is 486SX processors. This causes all sorts of awkward scheduling problems with floating point its better not to support it. Apart from that we should support all compliant boards. If not then report the problem and we'll try and get it fixed. As far as is known only one old IBM dual 486SLC board exists that is affected by this issue.

News: 2.0.36 includes some important SMP fixes for the 2.0 series. These resolve all the major known 2.0 SMP problems.

For information on the Sparc SMP see the SparcLinux home page hosted at Red Hat Software.

Mailing List

A mailing list linux-smp@vger.rutgers.edu exists for this project. Email majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu with the text 'subscribe linux-smp' to join the list. An archive is maintained on the Linux HQ site.

FAQ

David Mentre keeps a FAQ for Linux/SMP. This is fairly Intel oriented but does answer most of the first questions people ask on the mailing list.

Hardware Needed

The current ix86 kernel supports Intel MP v1.1 and Intel MP v1.4 compliant motherboards with between 1 and 16 486/Pentium/Pentium Pro processors.

At the moment I am developing using a Caldera provided ASUS P54PNIP4 motherboard with 32Mb of RAM. This has been deliberately loaded down with as much junk hardware for testing as I can lay my hands on.