There are many off-the-shelf options including systems from Motorola
and other parties. If you're planning on building your own custom
hardware, consider using one of the Single Board Computer systems
listed below instead. You might get by with just a custom daughter card,
or might not need to do any hardware of your own at all.
All the boards listed below are known to run Linux, although the
degree of support can vary. Mention to the vendor that you want to
run Linux on the board, and they should be able to point you to the
relevant files you need. The best supported boards are supported
directly in the main
kernel
development tree, which is most evident by having a dedicated
_MACH_...
constant already assigned in
include/asm-ppc/processor.h
.
If you still think you want to do a full custom design, pick a board
from one of the following sources with the closest feature match to
what you plan to kick start your software development while your
custom board is being designed and built:
These boards are officially supported by the
MontaVista
kernel.
Use the new
PlanetCore? bootloader, as the old RPXU monitor times
out on large tftp downloads.
This is a complete development kit, including hardware and software.
Has an onboard FPGA for configuring hardware, making it extremely
flexible for interfacing to exotic devices. They have a Linux
development kit available for it too.
If using a 2.2.x kernel, see:
http://lists.linuxppc.org/listarcs/linuxppc-embedded/199912/msg00088.html
The QS850 is a highly integrated and compact module for adding
networking features to any embedded system. It provides a complete
hardware and Linux-based software solution for Internet connectivity,
Network Management, and Non-volatile File System services.
See
QSLinux.
Have a range of very small mini-modules suitable for integration in a
larger system, plus a starter kit for development. Supported by DENX Software
Engineering, with pictures at:
http://www.denx.de/
Also, see:
http://lists.linuxppc.org/listarcs/linuxppc-embedded/199910/msg00088.html
A VMEBus board vendor who now provides Linux ports for their boards.
Before choosing this, see:
http://lists.linuxppc.org/listarcs/linuxppc-embedded/200010/msg00037.html
A range of high-performance
PowerPC-based products.
A range of high-performance
PowerPC-based products.
A VME based single board computer based on the Motorola MPC8260.
The briQ is a
PowerPC based network appliance computer the size of a
standard CD-ROM drive targetted at a range of applications such as
firewalls, routers, security devices and web servers. It is available
with either a
PowerPC 750 (G3) or 7400 (G4) processor and can run
any
PowerPC-based Linux distribution available.
Before you choose this one, see:
http://lists.linuxppc.org/listarcs/linuxppc-embedded/199909/msg00007.html
Nevertheless, it is possible to use Linux
PowerPC with (F)ADS. Search for
FADS.
Also, see Solutions4Linux ADS/FADS 8xx:
http://www.solutions4linux.de/powerpc.html
Contact
MontaVista.
Contact
MontaVista.
A number of development boards, including the MPC8260 based SBC8260.
MPC860 Processor Modules.
Modular development architecture including many varieties of
PowerPC processor.