[Question] Why only U540 is Linux-capable?

sifive / freedom

Source files for SiFive's Freedom platforms

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[Question] Why only U540 is Linux-capable? #123

Open danimesq opened 5 years ago

danimesq commented 5 years ago

And even being the only said to be Linux-capable, why it is only for IoT, networking and other basic usages? The others, such as E310, as no being Linux-capable, which kind of OS they would run?

erikdanie commented 5 years ago

Running linux requires certain things that only U-series cores have, i.e. virtual memory support.

The U54 is not necessarily only for IoT etc, but because it is a smaller core than some of our other offerings, the more basic usages that require Linux are best suited for it.

Since E310 is not linux capable, it is mostly used for baremetal programs (see freedom-e-sdk and freedom-metal) and we also support Zephyr RTOS on our E31 in the HiFive1 board.