Linux on Laptops without Intel® x86 Family or Compatible Processors


PowerPC | ARM | Sparc | Alpha | m68k | MIPS | Linux on Laptops

The PowerPC Processor Family

News: 17 August 1998 **NEW**

The following comes from Espen H. Koht:

The current list of Apple PPC based PowerBooks which 
run either MkLinux or LinuPPC seems to be:

1400
2400
3400
5300
G3
G3 Series

News: 21 April 1998

The following comes from Espen H. Koht:

  1. Linux-pmac runs on the PB2400 as well as the PB3400.
  2. MkLinux pre-DR3 already supports the 3400 (but not the 2400 as of now, due to a probing problem at boot time). My understanding is that is also runs on the 1400 and possibly the 5300. More official information will presumably be available on the release of DR3.

News: 28 November 1997

Fabio Riccardi has announced Linux for PowerBook 3400! It is based on the linux-pmac kernel, a monolithic kernel for the Apple PowerMacintosh family of computers (it is a different kernel project from the MkLinux project being sponsored by Apple and the Open Software Foundation.) A brief excerpt from the announcement:

     This is a fairly usable system, it includes a version of the
linux-pmac 2.1.24 kernel, with a working ethernet driver, a 16 bit
color display driver, and an Xserver - that is you have what you need
to make what probably is the fastest portable unix workstation ever :^)

Linux for the Apple PowerBook 3400

At the moment, this is the only known PowerPC-based laptop capable of running Linux. As far as I know, the only laptops based on the PowerPC family of microprocessors currently on the market are Apple PowerBooks, their clones, and the IBM ThinkPad Power Series, which may not be available in North America.

Because of architectural and proprietary information issues, Apple hardware has not until recently been receptive to a port of Linux. Apple and the Open Software Foundation have been actively porting Linux to the PowerMacintosh family of computers by integrating Linux into the Mach3 microkernel. PowerBooks have only recently been among the Macintoshes to be chosen for support.

The PowerPC-based IBM Thinkpads presently support versions of the AIX and Windows NT operating systems. These Thinkpads are not among the IBM machines targeted for initial support in the Linux for PowerPC port. They are, however, a part of IBM's Power Series of computers from which IBM has donated several desktop models to the Linux for PowerPC development team.

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The ARM Processor Family

There is one ARM-based laptop thought to be capable of running Linux: the Acorn A4 model (so-named because it has the same physical footprint as the A4 paper size.) The port of Linux to the ARM platform presently involves only Acorn computers, which seem to have an almost exclusively European, and particularly British, market. The A4 is included in the "It should run ok on (but has not been tested)" list of the hardware that ARM Linux runs on. See the ARM Linux web page for more information.

In an obscure and completely random connection, the family of Apple Newton MessagePads are built around ARM microprocessors. While the ARM port of Linux doesn't include MessagePads (wouldn't that be something? :-) there is one Linux software package of note for Newton users: newtl, a Newton/Linux communications system.

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The Sparc Processor Family

At the moment, there are two notebook families on the market that are based on Sparc International's family of processors: the SPARCbooks from Tadpole Technology, and the PowerLite series from RDI Computer Corporation. If you're amenable to a "luggable" machine, Tadpole also makes machines based on the UltraSPARC, called Voyager IIi. The port of Linux to the Sparc architecture is coming right along and the SPARCbooks are among the test machines being used. While production-quality Linux is not yet running on a SPARC notebook, it shouldn't be too long until it is. In fact, by the time you read this, it may be quite easy to set up Linux on a SPARC notebook; if anyone reading this has done it, please let me know.

John Gilmore gnu@toad.com reports the following (21 July 97):

Sun never built a "laptop", but they did build a "luggable" battery
powered machine called the SPARCstation Voyager.  It's actually a nice
machine to use, though it fills a suitcase (provided).  It has a
1024x800 active matrix LCD screen and an internal 2-1/2" SCSI disk.
It's a sun4m architecture machine.  They go for about $4000 on the
used market now -- down from $14,000 new.

I have had RedHat Linux 4.1 running on it for months now.  There are
various small glitches, and it was quite painful to install (tends to
watchdog when writing to the disk a lot, and Linux can't use the
floppy drive after booting), but it also runs for days at a time
without trouble.  X works fine.

Linux does not support power management, suspending, spinning the disk
down, controlling the screen brightness, the PCMCIA slots, the floppy
drive, and some other useful things, but it's better than running
Solaris on it!  (I haven't tried the parallel port or built-in ISDN.)

RedHat and Dave Miller don't "support" it, but it works, with some hand-
holding.

        John Gilmore gnu@toad.com

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The Digital Alpha Processor Family

From what I know, there was one notebook on the market that was based on Digital's Alpha processor: the ALPHAbook 1 from Tadpole Technology. While there was no technical obstacle to Linux being supporting this machine, it never became one of the machines officially supported by Linux/Alpha. This is primarily because none of those involved in the port never had access toone of these notebooks. This machine appears to be out of production now, and no other Alpha based notebooks are known to exist.

News: 23 November 1998

Although it's probably two-and-a-half years too late, I have linux
running on a Tadpole ALPHAbook 1 thanks to lots of help from Jay
Estrabrook (Jay.Estabrook@digital.com).  I've been working on
enhancing the power/thermal control of the system but I've been
having no luck finding documentation on the H8/337 interface.  I'd
be interested in hearing from anyone who is trying to use one of
these with linux or anyone who has pointers to hardware documentation.

Tom Pfau
pfau@maherterminals.com

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The Motorola 68k Processor Family

There are no known Motorola 68k-based laptops capable of running Linux at this time. There is, however, a handheld computer, the 3com PalmPilot, based on the newer Motorola 68360 processor, that is running a very alpha version of the Linux/Microcontroller port of the current Linux 2.0 kernel.

The only 68k-based laptops I know of are older model Apple Macintosh PowerBooks, the old Apple Macintosh Portable, and the Outbound Macintosh notebook clones. The one thing that all these machines have in common is an internal architecture based in part on the Macintosh ROM. Because Apple has not released the technical information concerning their low-level architecture, it has been very difficult for Linux developers to make any progress. There apparently is a project currently underway, called MacLinux 68K, to port Linux to 68K Macintoshes with MMUs.

Apple has apparently realized the importance of Linux support, however, and are now actively supporting a port for their PowerPC-based Macintoshes. Since the 68k-based Macintoshes are no longer in production, and the project would require the cooperation of Apple, it's not that likely that 68k-based Macintoshes will see official support any time soon, if ever.

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The MIPS Processor Family

According to the MIPS web site, there are at least two MIPS CPUs designed with notebooks in mind. I haven't heard of anyone running Linux on a MIPS based notebook, and the Linux/MIPS hardware compatibility list does not include any notebooks. There may be hope, however, if you're really desperate to find a MIPS-based laptop to run Linux on. Anthony Choi anc@hkstar.com noted on 14 September 1996:

NEC does make MIPS notebooks, but I've only seen the catalog before. The look 
is exactly same as the Intel-based VERSA M/P, the operating system is NEC's 
EWS  (System V R4 based). I think they only sell it in Japan.

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Comments

Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates (particularly updates!) about the information presented here to me at kharker@cs.utexas.edu. There are also a few general disclaimers about the Linux on Laptops for those interested in such things.


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Kenneth E. Harker kharker@cs.utexas.edu