NetBSD/x68k

About NetBSD/x68k

NetBSD/x68k is the port of NetBSD for the Japanese personal computer SHARP X68000/X68030 series. It runs on some models of X680x0 with MMU and FPU. When you use NetBSD/x68k, you may have to replace your machine settings (e.g. changing MC68EC30 with MC68030).

The History of NetBSD/x68k

The NetBSD/x68k port was started in 1993 by OKI Masaru. At first, it was ported from NetBSD/amiga, and tracked NetBSD 0.9, NetBSD 1.0, and NetBSD 1.1. NetBSD/x68k has been included in the official release of NetBSD from 1.2 onwards.

Since April 2002, Nishimura Takeshi is maintaining the NetBSD/x68k port.

Easily installed binary distributions of NetBSD/x68k are available for the 2.0 release and for snapshots of NetBSD-current.

There is also a separate homepage in Japan and a mailing list of NetBSD/x68k.

NetBSD/x68k News

2005-12-23: NetBSD 3.0 released: NetBSD 3.0 has been released with support for 57 architectures. More information is available in the 3.0 release announcement.

2005-11-02: NetBSD 2.1 released: NetBSD 2.1, the first maintenance release of the netbsd-2 release branch, has been released with binary distributions for 48 architectures. More information is available in the 2.1 release announcement.

2004-12-09: NetBSD 2.0 released: NetBSD 2.0 released with support for 48 architectures. More information is available in the 2.0 release announcement.

2004-03-01: NetBSD 1.6.2 released: NetBSD 1.6.2 released with support for 40 architectures. More information is available in the 1.6.2 release announcement.

2003-04-21: NetBSD 1.6.1 released: NetBSD 1.6.1 released with support for 40 architectures. More information is available in the 1.6.1 release announcement.

2002-09-14: NetBSD 1.6 released: NetBSD 1.6 released with support for 39 architectures. More information is available in the 1.6 release announcement.

Archive of NetBSD/x68k news items

Supported System Models

It is necessary to install Xellent30 or Jupiter-X MPU accelerator for X68000 series.

040turbo and 060turbo are also supported for X68030.

X68030/X68030HD
X68030compact/X68030compactHD
X68000XVI/X68000XVI HD
X68000SUPER/X68000SUPER HD
X68000EXPERT/X68000EXPERT HD
X68000PRO/X68000PRO HD
X68000ACE/X68000ACE HD

Supported Peripherals

NetBSD/x68k requires Motorola 680[346]0 processor (with MMU), SCSI board and harddisks, and over 4MByte memory and 100MByte of disk space.

Although the in-kernel FPU emulator can be built into the kernel for 68030-based systems, we recommend to install a FPU.

Peripherals for which support was added in NetBSD 1.5.3 are marked (1.5.3). Peripherals for which support was added in NetBSD 1.6 are marked (1.6).

Sharp genuine MB89352 SCSI host adapter and their compatibles
Most SCSI devices
Built-in floppy drives
Built-in frame buffer (both of the text and graphics screen)
Built-in Z8530 serial
Built-in parallel (Centronics printer interface)
The standard keyboard
The mouse / trackball
NS16550 UARTs
Neptune-X DS8390 Ethernet
Nereid Ethernet (1.5.3)
Mach-2 SCSI host adapters
Tsukumo TS-6BE16 extended memory
Built-in ADPCM voice synthesizer (1.6)

Not Yet Supported

Hardware that we do NOT currently support, but get many questions about:

Old (SASI compatible) hard disk interface

We are planning future support for many of these devices. Contributions are welcomed!

NetBSD/x68k Information

NetBSD/x68k homepage (in Japanese)
NetBSD/x68k mailing list (in Japanese)

Mailing Lists

The NetBSD/x68k mailing list, covering NetBSD's port to Sharp's Japanese X68000/X68030 machines:
[ subscribe | archive ]
The NetBSD/m68k mailing list, covering all of the m68k-based ports:
[ subscribe | archive ]

Current Releases

NetBSD/x68k 3.0 via FTP
NetBSD/x68k 3.0 Install Notes
NetBSD/x68k 1.6.2 pre-built binary packages via the NetBSD Packages Collection
NetBSD 3.0 release announcement
NetBSD/x68k changes to 2.0
Changes from NetBSD 1.6 to NetBSD 2.0
NetBSD FTP Mirror Sites
NetBSD on CD-ROM