>> While researching my options for a 21164-based
>> system, I found at one company a $5000 price
>> difference between identical systems targeted
>> for NT and (DEC, presumably) Unix.
>>
>> On inquiry, they indicated that DEC disables
>> something at the factory for the NT system, but
>> that Linux would work anyway. They could not
>> tell me exactly what was being disabled, or why,
>> or what effects it had on the chip.
>>
>> While in general I'm leary about crippled chips,
>> the price difference could sway me if nothing too
>> untoward is happening. Does anyone, particularly
>> from DEC, have any further information about what
>> is going on here?
Yes, there are some memory-management features that get zapped, leading
to 2 versions of the chip. One will run Digital Unix and OpenVMS and
Windows NT and Linux. The other will run Windows NT and Linux and its
behaviour if you try to run Digital Unix or OpenVMS is INDETERMINATE.
The reason for doing this is solely marketing-driven, and all Linux
fans should be glad because it will allow Digital to pick a lower
price-point for chips.
Note that the 'crippled' chip will *not* run the SRM console, and so
you will need to use Milo standalone or Milo via ARC to get the system
running.
regards,
Neal.
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Neal Crook
Principal Engineer, European Semiconductor Applications Engineering
Digital Equipment Co. LTD EMAIL neal.crook@reo.mts.dec.com
Mailstop RE02-F/B3 Tel. +44 1734 206297
Digital Park FAX +44 1734 203133
Imperial Way,
Reading, RG2 0TU
ENGLAND
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