[9fans] Plan9 on laptops/netbooks

[Rubén Berenguel]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if I can get a somewhat working native Plan9 installation in
any of my "spare" machines. They would be (in order of more sparey to less
sparey)

Acer Aspire One (ZG5)
Acer TravelMate 4001 LMi
Acer Aspire 5865 WLMi (or something similar, quoting from memory)
Intel Macbook (Early 2008 IIRC)

I don't ask for much: USB support and some networking support (Wifi
preferably, ethernet acceptable). I already have Plan9 installed in the
Travelmate, but looks like neither the wireless card (an Intel, but not the
recently released drivers on 9front) nor the ethernet card (Broadcom) are
meant to work with Plan9, so no luck here as far as I can tell. I may be
wrong, I'd be happy then :)

I have tried USB booting the Aspire One, with no luck either. The 9legacy
USB image hangs in the known "bios into real mode" something, the 9front
usbboot procedure does not boot either. I get as far as mbr pbs ok, but
nothing else. Hangs there, without reading from the USB. From some hints
I've read here and there, it looks like it may boot, but can't tell how.
I'd love this stupid little machine to have Plan9, native... So far it runs
Arch with Fluxbox, which is a decent lightweight system.

I have not tried the Aspire 5865 (yet) but I'm not any more hopeful it can
work as the TravelMate does not work.

I have not tried the Macbook either, since as a "last" resort I can run it
in qemu with a kind of decent speed. Also, this is my work machine until I
get a new one this week or the next

Would any of these machines offer at least my requirements, which are
basically "work"? I already have a Raspberry Pi with Plan9, works correctly
but it's not as portable as I'd like (and my router is upstairs with no
ethernet cabling towards where my TV sits...).

Thanks,

Ruben

PS: I don't have any kind of love relation with Acers. The Travelmate was
an old laptop I was given to see if I could use it for something, I bought
the Aspire for a trip where I needed something lightweight and less
valuable than my Mac, back in the day.) But they are not that bad: all
still boot and work after the years :)

[l***@proxima.alt.za]

You may want to look into USB-ether for the Travelmate?

++L

[s***@9front.org]

The following wifi devices are handy if only Ethernet is
supported on your machine:

Iogear GWU627: 802.11n, web interface (which demands
javascript support) can be configured using Inferno's charon
browser. Plugs into Ethernet port, powered by USB or optional
wallwart.

Vonets VAP11G: 802.11g, uses proprietary Windows program
for congfiguration but is very small and lightweight. Plugs into
Ethernet port, powered by USB or optional wallwart.

9front has support for some Broadcom Ethernet chips. The
following have been tested:

BCM5751M NeXtreme Gigabit (vid/did: 14e4/167d)
BCM5755/5780 NeXtreme Gigabit (vid/did: 14e4/167b)

-sl

[erik quanstrom]

Post by s***@9front.org
BCM5751M NeXtreme Gigabit (vid/did: 14e4/167d)
BCM5755/5780 NeXtreme Gigabit (vid/did: 14e4/167b)

i've also used this driver with some changes in 9atom
(driver is included) with a few different cards. thanks
for the code.

unfortunately i did not write the vid/dids down. i did
not have success with the *S models in dell or hp blade
servers.

- erik

[l***@proxima.alt.za]

Post by s***@9front.org
9front has support for some Broadcom Ethernet chips. The

Would anyone hazard an opinion on the effort required to implement a
device driver for the REALTEK 8188? Olimex supply a neat little USB
dongle for it (it gets hot very quickly - but it has no case, so it
presumably also cools OK) and they support mostly "open" devices.

++L

[Steve Simon]

For the supported hardware list,
I use the 9front broadcom driver with a

vid/did = 14e4/1696
Broadcom BCM5782 Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

-Steve