Re: 64-bit OS for G5?
Re: 64-bit OS for G5?
- Subject: Re: 64-bit OS for G5?
- From: Dave Schroeder <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 12:34:17 -0500
First, you may be interested in:
<http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/news/2004/2004-04-07.shtml>
'Y-HPC' -- Terra Soft's new 64-bit offering will be available
pre-installed on Apple, IBM, and Momentum 970-based hardware, from the
Terra Soft Store, and for download from the forthcoming YDL.net
Professional account.
Built upon the 2.6 kernel, both 32- and 64-bit libraries, Y-HPC will
provide full 64-bit support for 970 (G5) based systems, offering native
double-precision floating point operations (FlOPS), 16GB (8GB tested to
date) memory addressing, and the gcc 64-bit tool chain.
And you may be interested in these scitech list posts:
From: email@hidden
Subject: Apple on 64-bit-ness
Date: September 10, 2003 2:10:08 PM CDT
To: email@hidden
Hi all,
There seems to be a bit of confusion on this topic. The short answer
is
* The PowerPC G5 processor is fully 64-bit
* Mac OS X supports many, but not all, services using 64-bit integers
* Currently, sizeof(void *) == 4
I realize that some people take a rigid position that 64-bit computing
-> 64-bit OS -> sizeof(void *) == 8. Which may be understandable
given their problem space, but reality - especially when dealing with
mass-market personal computers, not speciality workstations - is a bit
more complicated, and different people benefit from Mac OS X's level of
64-bit support in different ways.
A more official explanation is below. Please let me know if there's
any confusion about this.
Sincerely,
Ernest Prabhakar
Product Manager, UNIX & Open Source
Apple
----------------------------------------
Mac OS X Jaguar (10.2.7 and later) features a redesigned kernel and
updated system software math libraries specifically for the 64-bit
PowerPC G5 processor. The updated kernel delivers the most substantial
benefits of 64-bit computing by breaking through the 4GB physical
memory barrier enabling the kernel to use all the RAM that can be added
to the new Power Mac G5 (currently 8GB).
The key functions of the system math and vector libraries have been
hand tuned to make maximum advantage of new and faster math functions
that the 64-bit G5 is capable of. This is a great because unmodified
applications that use the system math functions will get an automatic
speed up when run on the G5. For example, the square root function is
implemented as a software algorithm when run on a G3 or G4 but on a G5
when a square root calculation is requested the math library uses the
super-fast hardware instruction that the G5 has.
This approach brings the maximum benefit of 64-bit processing to the
desktop personal computer market and does so with full native-speed
compatibility with existing 32-bit applications. Because the PowerPC
instruction set was designed initially with 64-bit instructions in
mind, this transition is a smooth and simple one for our developers and
customers.
Apple has also supplied a new compiler, GCC version 3.3 which generates
optimal code for the new G5 machine model. Importantly, this compiler
produces code that executes efficiently on G5, G4 and G3 systems so a
single Mac OS X application runs on each of our support processor
architectures. This allows developers to build and qualify a single
version of their applications for the 32-bit and 64-bit Mac systems.
Mac OS X Panther takes the same approach to the G5 as Jaguar but will
be able to optimized additional math functions based on feedback from
the developer community.
== References ===
Optimizing for the Power Mac G5
<http://developer.apple.com/performance/g5optimization.html> ):
Technical Note TN2086: Tuning for the G5: A Practical Guide
<http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2086.html>
Technical Note TN2087: PowerPC G5 Performance Primer
<http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2087.html>
Technical Note TN2090: Driver Tuning on Panther or G5 (Of interest only
if you have written a device driver)
<http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2090.html>
Power Mac G5 Performance White Paper (PDF)
http://www.apple.com/powermac/pdf/PowerMacG5_Perf_WP_071503.pdf
== Default Sizes ===
sizeof (char) == 1
sizeof (short) == 2
sizeof (int) == 4
sizeof (long) == 4
sizeof (long long) == 8
sizeof (void *) == 4
sizeof (void (*)(void)) == 4
sizeof (float) == 4
sizeof (double) == 8
sizeof (long double) == 8* [may change in the future]
sizeof (size_t) == 4
sizeof (off_t) == 8
== G5-Related Flags for GCC ===
-mcpu=970
This allows the compiler to use instructions only available on the G5
(also known as 970) processor.
-mtune=970
This tells the compiler to tune code as optimally as it can for the G5.
This flag can be safely used by itself on code that may run on
processors other than the G5, because code compatibility is not
changed.
-mpowerpc64
In combination with the above flags, this flag tells the compiler to
enable the G5's native 64-bit long long support for greatly enhanced
performance when working with long longs. At times, the
-force_cpusubtype_ALL flag may also be needed.
_______________________________________________
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: 64-bitsness in UNIX Tech Brief
Date: November 4, 2003 4:43:07 PM CST
To: email@hidden
Hi all,
These discussions will keep coming up again
and again to haunt us, unless Apple or somebody else makes a 64-bit
mac OS X/G5 FAQ somewhere...
I am reluctant to wade into this issue, but I have tried to provide
coherent statement of what level of 64-bit support is available in
Panther as part of the UNIX Tech Brief, which is downloadable from:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/
For most non-technical Mac customers, all they care about is that their
machine (read: kernel) can accept more than 4 GB of memory, so for them
the PowerPC G5 with Panther is a huge immediate win. The UNIX Tech
Brief, on the other hand, is designed for a people like yourselves who
do their own programming. As such, it tries to address some of the
subtleties of 64-bit computing beyond what can be covered in other
types of marketing materials. We are also working on a Tech Note
concerning techniques for accessing more than 4 GB in a single process
(using sequential mmap). I will also ask WWDR about the possibility
of a FAQ.
I hope this clears up at least some of the issues. If you have
specific suggestions of what additional information you would find
helpful, I would ask you to email me directly, since I am not
subscribed directly to the list.
Sincerely,
Ernie P.
-----------
Ernest N. Prabhakar, Ph.D.
Product Manager, UNIX & Open Source
Mac OS X Product Marketing
(408) 974-3075 <email@hidden>
_______________________________________________
On May 21, 2004, at 10:32 AM, Wolf Schweitzer wrote:
What is the road-map for the 64-bit OS? I am definitely getting ready
to move
to a real workstation if Apple doesn't publish either a concise
roadmap or, of
course, the OS.
(Hint: if other workstation users would be happy to split their stuff
into 2
GB chunks, they would ***all*** be using 32-bit systems on 64-bit
computers.)
Wolf Schweitzer.
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