Re: Some HW questions.

[Mark Kettenis <kettenis@wins.uva.nl>]

   Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 13:14:00 -0400
   From: Bill White <bill.white@griggsinst.com>

   I have some questions about hardware.  Basically I am trying to figure
   out how to assemble a Hurd victim machine with the least amount of
   out-of-pocket expense.  I have a collection of random HW which I have
   collected over the past several years in my attic, and I am trying to
   assemble it into one usable machine, on the cheap if possible.  If cheap
   means 0/Euros that would be nice.

   I suspect the answer to all of them will be yes, but I wanted to ask
   before I spend any time on a (literally) bootless effort.

   1.) Will it be possible to install the Hurd on a 486DX120, or do I 
       need a Pentium?  What about a 486DX50?
   2.) Does anybody have any experience with older Cyrix 586 CPUs?  I have
       a 200Mhz device which may still work.  Linux worked on it reasonably
       well before I upgraded.

In principle, GNU mach (which is the microkernel that the Hurd uses)
runs on an i386 with FPU.  Since the 486DX has an FPU it should be no
problem.

   3.) If I have a 350Mb hard drive, but I have a machine which I intend to
       use entirely as a Hurd victim machine, will this be enough?  That is
       to say, can I use this machine only for Hurd binaries, and cross-compile
       everything from my Linux machine?

Not everything can be cross compiled.  But 350Mb should be enough to
play a bit with the Hurd and compile small packages.  The big ones
(the Hurd itself, the GNU C Library and GNU Mach) cross-compile fine.

   4.) What's the minimum amount of memory I will need?  Will 8Mb be
       sufficient?  16Mb?  32Mb?  512Mb?

8Mb is definitely too little.  32Mb should be enough to do some real
work, if you have a reasonable amount of swap (100Mb).

Mark