Alpha/Linux Wiki

The UP1100 is a motherboard built by Samsung and Alpha Processor, Inc. (API), later API NetWorks, and introduced in 2000. ¹⁾

• 600 MHz EV67 with 2 MiB L2 cache (3.2 GiB/s) ²⁾
• AMD-751 Chipset, ALi M1535D south bridge ³⁾ (the spec sheets list the M1543C)
• 3x 168-pin DIMMs, supports 64 MiB to 768 MiB of ECC unbuffered PC100 SDRAM
• 1x AGP 2x (see Known issues)
• 3x 33 MHz 32-bit PCI slots
• DECchip 21143 Ethernet
• ALi M5451 Sound ⁴⁾
• 2x Ultra DMA 33/66 IDE connectors, 2x USB ports, 2x serial ports, an ECP/EPP parallel port, and a floppy controller, all driven by the M1535D, plus PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports ⁵⁾
• ATX form factor, 12 in x 9.6 in (30.48 cm x 24.38 cm) ⁶⁾
• Front panel connectors for the power button, reset button, power LED, hard disk activity LED, speaker, and keyboard lock ⁷⁾
• Configuration switchpack SW1: switches 1 and 2 select the firmware image (both on, the default, for the SRM console; both off for the fail-safe booter), and switches 7 and 8 set the L2 cache size (7 on and 8 off for 2 MiB; both on to disable the cache). The other switches must stay at their factory settings. ⁸⁾

• The AMD-751 can address at most 768 MiB. ⁹⁾ The maximum configuration is 3x 256 MiB ECC unbuffered (not registered) CL3 SDRAM DIMMs. ¹⁰⁾
• Unlike DEC's Alpha systems, the UP1100 works with a single DIMM. ¹¹⁾

The UP1100 can run from a good quality 300 W power supply, but 350 W to 400 W is recommended. ¹²⁾ The manual specifies a 300 W ATX power supply connected through a standard 20-pin ATX connector, and recommends the EMACS AP2-5300F (28 A at +3.3 V, 30 A at +5 V) or a comparable supply. ¹³⁾

The UP1100 uses the SRM console. UP1100 SRM releases include 5.6-13. ¹⁴⁾ After API closed, 5.6-13 was available from Microway's web site. ¹⁵⁾ The UP1000 and UP1100 SRM images are different and cannot be used on each other's boards. ¹⁶⁾

The A5.6-13 package, up1100_srm_A5.6-13.zip (the gtsrm.rom image and the up1100fw.txt file list), is kept in the alphalinux/firmware repository, with A5.6-12 in its archive directory. The two files are copied to a DOS floppy, and lfu is run from SRM with dva0 as the device and up1100fw.txt as the file list; update srm then writes the image. ¹⁷⁾

If the flash is corrupted, for example by a power failure during an update, the fail-safe booter reloads SRM: with the power off, SW1 switches 1 and 2 are set off, the SRM firmware floppy is inserted, and the system is powered on. The fail-safe booter loads the image into memory, LFU is run to write it to flash, and the switches are then returned to their default positions. ¹⁸⁾

Current kernels support the UP1100 with CONFIG_ALPHA_NAUTILUS or a generic kernel; it boots from SRM with aboot. ^{19) 20)} The onboard devices use these drivers:

• IDE (ALi M1535D): pata_ali ²¹⁾
• Ethernet (DECchip 21143): tulip ²²⁾
• Sound (ALi M5451): snd-ali5451 ²³⁾

• The IDE controller's DMA engine cannot perform 48-bit LBA transfers on ALi revisions before C5, so the pata_ali driver uses PIO for accesses beyond the first 128 GiB of a disk. ²⁴⁾
• The AGP slot is limited to PCI transfers; see UP1000.
• ATI Rage II and Rage Pro based video cards do not work; see UP1000.
• The BIOS emulator in the UP1100's SRM firmware cannot initialize any AGP Radeon card. ²⁵⁾ The UP1500's newer firmware does not have this problem. ²⁶⁾
• There is no halt switch connector on the motherboard. ²⁷⁾

The following sources conflict with each other or with the account given above. They are listed here for further investigation.

• South bridge
  • UP1100 Spec Sheet and UP1100 Spec Sheet (May 2000): "M1543C"
  • UP1100 User Manual and UP1100 Technical Reference Manual: "M1535D"
  • "Re: UP1100 and linux 2.4.0, anyone?", John Jasen, axp-list, 31 Jan 2001: "According to the users guide, its an ALI M1535D PCI to ISA bridge."
  • "Re: UP1100 and linux 2.4.0, anyone?", Michal Jaegermann, axp-list, 30 Jan 2001: "the one I have here reports '[ALi] M1533 PCI to ISA Bridge [Aladdin"