EROS FAQ: Compatibility

This document is part of the EROS Frequently Asked Questions list. To return to the main index, click here.

What hardware does EROS run on?
The current system runs on x86-class PCs, 486 and higher. The 386 is not supported. The few multiprocessor boards we have tested work, but in single processor mode.
The binaries have been run successfully on Intel 486 (several variants), Pentium, and Pentium Pro systems. We have not tested AMD or Cyrix chips. Small modifications will be needed to the chip recognition code for those chips, but as far as we know the kernel should then support them without difficulty.
Support for networking is limited. At the moment, the only network interface cards supported are the 3COM 3c509/3c509b (10 Mbit, ISA) and the 3COM 3c905 (10/100 Mbit, PCI) cards. It should be easy to add other cards, but our work hasn't required that. We are particularly interested in adding a driver for the Tulip-based cards such as the SMC cards.
IDE and EIDE drives are fully supported. SCSI will be handled in the future, but is not currently supported.
There is currently no graphics support.
We are not aware of any peculiar BIOS dependencies.
Why not on the 386?
The 386 supervisor mode does not honor the write-protect bit in the page table entries. One critical piece of EROS code relies on the write-protect bit being honored. Alternative code would not be difficult to write, but at this point there are few enough 386 machines out there that I decided not to bother.
What do I need to install it?
Please see the cross-environment documentation. The section describing host requirements can be found here.