Pegasos
Encyclopedia
MicroATX
microATX, also known as µATX is a standard for motherboards that was introduced in December 1997. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is 244 mm × 244 mm , but some microATX boards can be as small as 171.45 mm × 171.45 mm...
motherboard
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
powered by a PowerPC 750CXe or PowerPC 7447 microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
, featuring three PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
slots, one AGP
Accelerated Graphics Port
The Accelerated Graphics Port is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004 AGP has been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express...
slot, two Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
ports (10/100/1000 & 10/100), USB, DDR
DDR SDRAM
Double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
, AC'97 sound, and FireWire. Like the PowerPC Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
counterparts, it boots via Open Firmware
Open Firmware
Open Firmware, or OpenBoot in Sun Microsystems parlance, is a standard defining the interfaces of a computer firmware system, formerly endorsed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . It originated at Sun, and has been used by Sun, Apple, IBM, and most other non-x86 PCI chipset...
.
For hard disk drive booting the Open Firmware
Open Firmware
Open Firmware, or OpenBoot in Sun Microsystems parlance, is a standard defining the interfaces of a computer firmware system, formerly endorsed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . It originated at Sun, and has been used by Sun, Apple, IBM, and most other non-x86 PCI chipset...
requires an RDB boot partition that contains either an affs1
Amiga Fast File System
The Amiga Fast File System is a file system used on the Amiga personal computer. The previous Amiga filesystem upon the release of FFS became known as Amiga Old File System . OFS, while fine on floppy disk, soon proved too slow to keep up with era hard drives...
or ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
partition. Note that any changes to the ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
on-disc format may prevent booting. It is, however possible to add some ext3
Ext3
The ext3 or third extended filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian...
features so long as the volume can still be recognized as ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
.
The Pegasos was sold by Genesi USA, Inc.
Genesi
Genesi is computer company focused on building Power Architecture and ARM architecture computers. The organization is split into two units, Genesi USA, Inc. working out of Texas operating as the primary front-end for sales, customers and developers, and bplan GmbH based in Germany as the primary...
, and designed by their R&D branch bplan GmbH based in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
There are two versions of the system: The Pegasos I and the Pegasos II.
Pegasos I
The Pegasos I supports the IBM 750CXe CPU (G3), has 100 Mbit/s Ethernet onboard and uses PC133 SDRAMSDRAM
Synchronous dynamic random access memory is dynamic random access memory that is synchronized with the system bus. Classic DRAM has an asynchronous interface, which means that it responds as quickly as possible to changes in control inputs...
. It was discontinued after a hardware bug
Cache coherency
In computing, cache coherence refers to the consistency of data stored in local caches of a shared resource.When clients in a system maintain caches of a common memory resource, problems may arise with inconsistent data. This is particularly true of CPUs in a multiprocessing system...
in the MAI Logic ArticiaS northbridge
Northbridge (computing)
The northbridge has historically been one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a PC motherboard, the other being the southbridge. Increasingly these functions have migrated to the CPU chip itself, beginning with memory and graphics controllers. For Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Fusion...
was discovered. Later versions of the Pegasos I came with a hardware fix which was designated "April". Further improvements were made in an "April 2" design which solved further problems. It has been replaced by the Pegasos II.
Pegasos II
DDR SDRAM
Double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
support, and the ability to use the Freescale "G4" processor line.
The 750CXe (G3) CPU boards do not require a cooling fan - it has been marketed as "cool computing". The current G4 boards are based around the Freescale MPC7447 chip with a small fan. Passive cooling solutions are possible and sold with the "Home Media and Communication System", which is based on Pegasos II G4.
Genesi discontinued production of the Pegasos II in 2006, as the result of new European Union legislation requiring the use of more expensive and inferior lead-free solder, imposed despite the fact that replacing normal solder delivers no environmental benefits.
Open Desktop Workstation
The Open Desktop Workstation, or ODW, is a standardized version of the Pegasos II. It was the first open source based PowerPC computer and gave PowerPC a host/target development environment. Genesi has released the complete specifications (design and component listing) free of charge. The ODW-derived Home Media Center won the Best in Show award at the Freescale Technology Forum in 2005http://www.freescale.com/media_center/news_releases/2005/corp/06-21-05_FTF_BESTOFSHOW.html, have an ATIAti
As a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
certificationhttp://ati.amd.com/products/certified/genesi.html and a "Ready for IBM Technology" certification.http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/gsdod/solutiondetails.do?solutionId=10567&lc=en
Specification
- Freescale 1.0 GHz MPC7447 processor
- 512 MB DDR RAMDDR SDRAMDouble data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
(two slots, up to 2 GB) - 80 GB ATA100AT AttachmentParallel ATA , originally ATA, is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, solid-state drives, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in computers. The standard is maintained by X3/INCITS committee...
hard diskHard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the... - Dual-Layer DVD±RW Drive
- Floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
support - 3× PCI slotsPeripheral Component InterconnectConventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
- AGPAccelerated Graphics PortThe Accelerated Graphics Port is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004 AGP has been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express...
based ATI Radeon 9250Radeon R200The Radeon R200 is the second generation of Radeon graphics chips from ATI Technologies. The architecture features 3D acceleration based upon Microsoft Direct3D 8.1 and OpenGL 1.3, a major improvement in features and performance compared to the preceding Radeon R100 design. The GPU also includes 2D...
graphics (DVIDigital Visual InterfaceThe Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
, VGAVideo Graphics ArrayVideo Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
and S-VideoS-VideoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
out) - 4× USBUniversal Serial BusUSB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
- PS/2PS/2 connectorThe PS/2 connector is a 6-pin Mini-DIN connector used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series of personal computers, with which it was introduced in 1987...
mouse and keyboard support - 3× FireWire 400 (two external)
- 2× Ethernet ports, 100 Mbit/sFast EthernetIn computer networking, Fast Ethernet is a collective term for a number of Ethernet standards that carry traffic at the nominal rate of 100 Mbit/s, against the original Ethernet speed of 10 Mbit/s. Of the fast Ethernet standards 100BASE-TX is by far the most common and is supported by the...
and 1 GbitGigabit EthernetGigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed... - AC'97 sound - in/out, analog and digital (S/PDIFS/PDIFS/PDIF is a digital audio interconnect used in consumer audio equipment over relatively short distances. The signal is transmitted over either a coaxial cable with RCA connectors or a fiber optic cable with TOSLINK connectors. S/PDIF interconnects components in home theaters and other digital high...
) - PC gameGame portThe game port is a device port found on IBM PC compatible systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was the traditional connector for joystick input devices until superseded by USB in the 21st century....
/MIDI-port - ParallelParallel portA parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
and serialSerial portIn computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
ports (supporting IrDAInfrared Data AssociationThe Infrared Data Association defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short-range exchange of data over infrared light, for uses such as personal area networks ....
) - MicroATXMicroATXmicroATX, also known as µATX is a standard for motherboards that was introduced in December 1997. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is 244 mm × 244 mm , but some microATX boards can be as small as 171.45 mm × 171.45 mm...
motherboard (236×172 mm) - Small Footprint Case - (92×310×400 mm)
Operating system support
Several operating systems run on the Pegasos Platform. Genesi is very eager to support any efforts to port and optimize operating systems or applications for their computers.- MorphOSMorphOSMorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
is broadly compatible with legacy Commodore AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
applications which profess to be "OS friendly" (meaning they do not access native Amiga hardware directly), as well as a growing number of native applications. Genesi is the primary sponsor for MorphOS. - Amiga OS 4.1AmigaOS 4AmigaOS 4, , is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner...
support was announced by Hyperion on the 31st of January 2009. - LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
distributions including Debian GNU/LinuxDebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
, MontaVista Linux, openSUSEOpenSUSEopenSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
, Yellow Dog LinuxYellow Dog LinuxYellow Dog Linux, also known as YDL, is a free and open source operating system for high performance computing on multicore architectures. It focuses on GPU systems and computers using the Power Architecture . YDL is currently developed by Fixstars...
, Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
and Crux PPCCRUXCRUX is a lightweight, i686-optimized GNU/Linux distribution targeted at experienced GNU/Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It also utilizes a ports system to install and upgrade applications. The current release is 2.7.1.Although crux is the...
are also available for the Pegasos. Support for the Pegasos as a platform device has been integrated into the Linux kernel mainline as of kernel version 2.6.13. - Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
– It is possible to run Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
on the Pegasos using Mac-on-LinuxMac-on-LinuxMac-on-Linux is an open source virtual machine program for running Mac OS on PowerPC computers running Linux. It can also be used to run another instance of another PowerPC-based operating system ....
, although doing so is reportedly in violation of Apple's EULA. http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/faq/mac-os.shtml - NetBSDNetBSDNetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
support introduced since release 5.0http://www.de.netbsd.org/ports/ofppc/. - OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
– Genesi hired a developer in 2002 to port OpenBSD to the Pegasos II. Both Pegasos I and Pegasos II boards were supported. The relationship ended poorly in 2004 with the developer not being paid for the work that he has done (due to Genesi's cashflow problems), and due to lack of documentation from Genesi/bPlan, support was completely removed after one release cycle. http://www.openbsd.org/pegasos.html http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=108028112117093&w=2 - OpenSolarisOpenSolarisOpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
– Genesi/Freescale is initial supporter of the OpenSolarisOpenSolarisOpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
port to PowerPC and the Pegasos II being used as the reference platform for development. - QNXQNXQNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed by Canadian company, QNX Software Systems, which was later acquired by Canadian BlackBerry-producer Research In Motion.-Description:As a microkernel-based...
supports the Pegasos platform.http://www.qnx.com/partners/partner.html?partnerid=161488 - SymobiSymobiSymobi is a modern and mobile real-time operating system. It was and is developed by the German company Miray Software, since 2002 partly in cooperation with the research team of Prof. Dr. Uwe Baumgarten at the Technical University of Munich. The graphical operating system is designed for the...
is available as demo image.
Firmware
- Pegasos I/G3 "PRE-APRIL", Board: 1A (0.1b73), CPU: 750 CX 1.0, SF: 1.1 (20020814)
- Pegasos I/G3, Board: 1A1 (0.1b112), CPU: 750 CX 1.0, SF:1.1 (20021203121657)
- Pegasos I/G3, Board: 1A1 (0.1b114), CPU: 750 CX 1.0, SF: 1.1 (20030317114750)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.1, CPU: 744X 1.1, SF: 1.2 (20040224)
- Pegasos II/G3, Board: 1.1 (0.2b1), CPU: 750 CX 1.0, SF: 1.2 (20040402193939)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.1, CPU: 744X 1.1, SF: 1.1 (20040405)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.1, CPU: 744X 1.1, SF: 1.2 (20040405)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2, CPU: 744X 1.2, SF: 1.1 (20040505)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.0, CPU: 744X 1.0, SF: 1.2 (20040810112413)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2, CPU: 744X 1.1, SF: 1.2 (20040810112413)
- Pegasos II/G3, Board: 1.2, CPU: 750 CX 1.0, SF: 1.2 (20040810112413)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2, CPU: 744X 1.2, SF: 1.2 (20040810112413)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2, CPU: 744X 1.2, SF: 1.2 (20050602111451)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2 ,CPU: 744X 1.2, SF: 1.2 (20050808153840)
- Pegasos II/G4, Board: 1.2 (2B5),CPU: 744X 1.2, SF: 1.2 (20051216161829)
IKARUS low level console
- a <>
- b
- c
- g <>
- i <>
- l
- m
- o <>
- q shutdown
- r
- s
- v
- w <>
- x exit
- z
External links
- Pegasos Support Forum & Community
- Review of the Pegasos on Obligement magazine
- Review of the Pegasos II on Obligement magazine
- The Pegasos book - Free ebook about the Pegasos PowerPC and its operating systems (MorphOSMorphOSMorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
, LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
with Mac-on-LinuxMac-on-LinuxMac-on-Linux is an open source virtual machine program for running Mac OS on PowerPC computers running Linux. It can also be used to run another instance of another PowerPC-based operating system ....
). - Pegasos II AGP support ? (in ANN forum; about controversy of 'AGP' type)