Since we included the Linux APUS distribution on AFCD40 and despite the fact that we said would not provide technical support, we have been bombarded with e-mail asking for help? Here are the answers to some common questions, we've been asked.

What is Linux APUS?

Linux is freely distributable operating system which is very similar to UNIX. Although Linux began life only as a PC-only operating system, versions now exist for many different architectures, including m68k, PPC, Alpha and MIPS.

APUS stands for Amiga Power Up System. Linux APUS is a project to port the Linux kernel for the PPC Amigas. This project is still largely at an experimental stage.

Does it actually work? Yes, of course.

What Amigas will it work on? At the moment any Amiga with a PowerUp board, i.e., an A1200 with a BlizzardPPC card or an A3000/4000 with a CyberstormPPC card.

Well, it doesn't work on my machine. Have you read the documentation? Extensive FAQs were provided on AFCD40.

Why did you provide the docs for Linux/m68k? Because Linux APUS kernel was derived from the Amiga Linux/m68k kernel. They both support similar hardware and have similar configuration options.

Will it work on my BVision/CVisionPPC?

Yes. To boot into a screen displayed on the BVision, you have to use the Permedia2 frame buffer device. The version included with the kernel on AFCD40 is quite old (I think). Latest versions and info can be found at http://www.cs.unibo.it/~nardinoc/pm2fb/ Supply the kernel option

video=pm2fb

i.e., add to this to your boothack command options or specify it in the Launcher GUI. You may also need to disable the AGA frame buffer (with video=amifb:off).

Does it support my 4-way IDE interface?

Yes. Supply the kernel option

ide=doubler

Is there a 68k version of Red Hat Linux? Yes, there is. It's a semi-commercial release available from Weird Science. It also has full telephone and email technical support.

Where can I get more information?

The following sites are all useful sources of general and Amiga-specific Linux information:

http://sunsite.auc.dk/ftp/pub/os/linux/apus/ The Linux APUS home page
http://www.linux-m68k.org/ The Linux m68k home page
http://members.tripod.com/~DuncanG Duncan Gibb's Linux APUS on AFCD40 FAQ
http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/ The Linux Documentation Project

If you have any questions about Linux APUS or wish to add to or correct the information supplied above, please contact us at the usual address.