Vortex86 Processor Detection Landing For Linux 5.16

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Vortex86 Processor Detection Landing For Linux 5.16

Recently I wrote about Vortex86 processors seeing detection work under Linux for improving the state of these aging x86 32-bit SoCs. That work is now slated to be introduced in the upcoming Linux 5.16 cycle for those running these aging SoCs/processors...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Vortex86-Detection-Linux-5.16

[ssokolow]

That work is now slated to be introduced in the upcoming Linux 5.16 cycle for those running these aging SoCs/processors.

Do you have a source for them being "aging" rather than "sticking with the niche they were intended for"? More speed isn't always what the customers are spec-ing.

[tildearrow]

This is ironic considering most distros have deprecated or even removed x86 (32-bit) support.
I'm glad it's still alive though because we still have one 32-bit netbook around and dealing with the lack of several packages in openSUSE is a pain...

[Awesomeness]

Do you have a source for them being "aging"

There is a screenshot of a product lineup with dates when the CPUs launched.

[ssokolow]

There is a screenshot of a product lineup with dates when the CPUs launched.

And satellites used radiation-hardened 486 chips for ages because they met the goals without having to come up with radiation-hardened versions of newer, smaller-process CPU designs. What's your point?

It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of those Vortex86 modules are used to replace aging hardware while remaining compatible with in-house process-control software written for ancient versions of Windows NT 4.0... sort of like how a MiSTer FPGA emulation box isn't considered "aging" from day one, just because it's designed to meet demand for running archaic software.

[Awesomeness]

And satellites used radiation-hardened 486 chips for ages because they met the goals without having to come up with radiation-hardened versions of newer, smaller-process CPU designs. What's your point?

The point is that the age of the processors is information available right from the article. "aging" does not mean bad, it means becoming older and with perhaps the exception of the 2018 model, all others are old by now.

[ssokolow]

The point is that the age of the processors is information available right from the article. "aging" does not mean bad, it means becoming older and with perhaps the exception of the 2018 model, all others are old by now.

But, in this context, "aging" generally means "no longer what new projects are spec-ing in their niche" if not flat-out "obsoleted by later products in the same series" or "EOL'd".

[habilain]

But, in this context, "aging" generally means "no longer what new projects are spec-ing in their niche" if not flat-out "obsoleted by later products in the same series" or "EOL'd".

As far as I can see, they only implement up to i586, which dates back to '95, and they're specifically (in the Vortex86 marketing, at least) targetted at legacy systems. They're also fabbed on various not-so-cutting edge process nodes, and they only officially support rather old OS's (e.g. WinCE, Linux 4.14). In summary, I think "ageing" is a fair description of the technology the Vortex86's use, at least, as well as their targetted application. That's not to say they're bad or don't have a use case or are bad products, but these do not seem to be what any new project would choose to use, unless there were very specific requirements in interacting with legacy systems.

[pgeorgi]

they only implement up to i586, which dates back to '95

That's what you can implement these days without needing patent licenses for the instruction set. Let's see if they'll add amd64 support in about 5 years.

[habilain]

That's what you can implement these days without needing patent licenses for the instruction set. Let's see if they'll add amd64 support in about 5 years.

Actually, I think i486 is what you can implement patent free (as i486 was > 20 years ago). i586 (which is '93, not '95 - my mistake), is potentially patent encumbered until '23. Most likely Via had licensed the IP for up to i586, and current management doesn't think it's worth licensing any more IP.