Solved 3D driver on Loongson

Foxsen, the administrator of Lemote BBS, says he has solved 3D driver for Loongson Box after one month work.

ATI didn't provide any proper driver for Loongson Box. I heard that Lemote collected some information and then used a guess-and-try method to write basic driver for R7000 before the Boxes were usable. And now foxsen further finished 3D driver.

However, currently the 3D driver doesn't fully exploit R7000's capacity which gives only 237 FPS on 24bit. Foxsen promised to improve it. Anyway, he' s really a respectable man.

200 Loongson laptops are going to be released

According to the Lemote, 200 laptops with Loongson Inside will be produced before Spring Festival(Feb. 17, 2007). However, these laptops are not for sale but for test. About 100 of them will be owned by cooperative enterprises and the rest for Lemote staffs.

The design of Lemote Box is actually blueprint of Loongson laptops. They have almost same hardware installed(Lemote Box use laptop main memory and harddisks). The Box does not have a DVD drive, which is a difference.

To my astonishment, Loongson fans seem to be even more enthusiastic about laptops than Lemote boxes, despite a possible higher price.

OpenRays for Loongson: First Linux distribution special for Loongson

OpenRays, a Chinese Linux distribution, started their support for Loongson CPU two days ago.

Rays and OpenRays (I don't know if their relationship is just like SUSE and OpenSUSE), are based on Debian GNU/Linux system. This kind of Linux are mainly designed for and used by Chinese, so it has better Chinese language support than other world-wide Linux distributions.

Because M$ Windows are so common in China, the default desktop of OpenRays looks like a Windows, making people easier to switch from Win. We can see from the screenshot(provided by "sanlunchefu" on Lemote BBS) that there is a START button on the left of bottom panel.

Notice that "$ cat /proc/cpuinfo" on Loongson box(see the terminal window in the screenshot) does not tell you the actual frequency of Loongson.

Run EIOffice2007 on Loongson Box

"Sanlunchefu"(in Chinese means "pedicab driver"), a member on Lemote BBS, said that he had made Evermore Integrated Office 2007, the latest version of EIOffice, successfully run on Loongson Box.

Written completely in Java, EIOffice is portable to Linux, including Debian GNU/Linux on Loongson CPU.

The software looks and behaves very very much like M$ office. People may feel easier to switch from M$ to Evermore. It is excellent in exporting and importing M$ office filetypes. PDF and html are also supported. Moreover, EIOffice featured a Science Editor, which allow users to edit some complex math curves or chemical symbols, etc.

However, unlike OpenOffice, EIOffice is not a free software, though it is rather cheap. I hope Lemote will negotiate with Evermore Software on this issue.

Loongson 2F may come out in 2007

Loongson 2F, a new member of Loongson CPU familiy, may come out in 2007.

According to Lemote official, Loongson 2F is planed to tape out before Chinese Spring Festival (Feb 17, 2007) if possible.

Better designed, Loongson 2F is expected faster than Loongson 2E(The CPU what I am using now) by 20％-30% with even smaller power consumption, 2W!

Meanwhile, it is said that Loongson 3, the multi-core Loongson CPU for web servers and supercomputers has been placed on developers' agenda. If Loongson 3 is successfully developed, we will enjoy multi-core performance with power consumption no more than a typical 1-core x86 CPU.

Loongson developers described a beautiful prospect for the CPU. But I think there are a lot of difficulties on their way. How can the new-born CPU compete with mainstream x86 CPUs?

Loongson Box can use TV set as monitor

These are the front and the back panels of Lemote Box.

Upper is the front panel, from left to right: 4 USB 2.0 ports, mic, phone, line out, infrared port, IDE indicator light, power indicator light, reset button, power switch.

Lower is the back panel, from left to right: PS/2 port, networking port, VGA output, S-Video output, COM, power supply(DC 12V).

The S-Video output makes it possible that TV set with NTSC mode be the monitor of Lemote Box. Currently, it supports only 800x600 resolution on TV set. But it is a good start.

Linuxers are working on genuine 64bit OS on Loongson

Youbest, lyxmoo, along with other members on Lemote BBS are now developing a genuine 64bit Linux system for Loongson. Former Debian GNU/Linux installed on Loongson Box had got a 64bit kernel but the operation system is still 32bit only.

Youbest had already finished a simple command-line 64bit Linux OS on Loongson by Jan. 12. The OS is now available for every Loongson users. On Jan. 15, lyxmoo released 64bit compiler environment for Loongson 2E.

Moreover, kingkongmao finished developing a new PMON supporting ELF64 for Loongson this morning.

Correction

In a recent post I said that float point(FP) ability of Loongson cannot be fully exploited by gcc because gcc only take use of two FP elements of total four in Loongson. That is not exactly true. Loongson Instruction Set has special instructions like multiply-add (MADD), multiply-subtract (MSUB), etc. Every FP element can execute an MADD-like instruction but gcc can not generate assembler executables with these Loongson-specific advanced instructions. As a result, one MADD will be cut into a muliplication and an addition by gcc, being executed in two steps. So the complier seems utilize only two of the four FP elements in effect.

About Loongson Box: something I must say

Loongson Box is sold at CNY 1599 (US$ 200) without monitor and keyboard/mouse. All Lemote boxes of the pilot run will be delivered to users before Chinese traditional new year, Spring Festival.

The photo is taken from "SNAiL", a friend of mine on Lemote BBS, showing a contrast between Lemote Box and regular PC.

The Box possess Loongson 2E processor of 666MHz, laptop hard disc of 40G, laptop DDR memory of 256M, VGA Card of ATI RADEON 7000M and operating system of Debian GNU/Linux Etch.

Are Loongson Boxes cheap? I don't think so. Hardwares seem to be out of date. CNY 1599 may buy a x86 PC with (perhaps) better performance. However, Loongson Box is actually NOT a PC. It is really something else which will change your ways of thinking. Small and lovely, it consumes little power and saves a lot money every month. It is indeed cheap in a sense. And I bet things will get better in future.

Are all loongson first users experts on Linux? NO. Some users never used any distribution of Linux before. I am a newbie to Linux, too. I just gave up Windows half a year ago. Both regular users and experts will contribute to Loongson's growth.

Is Loongson "Chinese Pentium 4"? At present, the answer is NOT. Loongson 2E generally performs about as same as PentiumIII at same frequency but much faster in pure computing works because it is an RISC. Specially optimized L2E@1G does achieve what Pentium4 1.3G does in SPEC CPU2000 but ordinary L2E@666 doesn't. Loongson is now not as good as some media trumpet but is much better than some rumors said. That's the fact, but I believe that it will be Chinese Pentium 4 in near future.

Loongson@home!

After days of boring waiting, I've received my Loongson Box! No.41 of the first 1000. I'm trying to find any problems. Yes, there's one. The four USB ports are too close. I posted the problem on Lemote BBS and they promised to improve the design.

In general it works well. Better than I expected. Debian GNU/Linux (Etch) and most applications run fluently on Loongson. The lovely box satisfies all the basic needs for a regular user.

However, to be honest, Loongson somehow has a poor performance when running applications which have not been optimized for Loongson, e.g. OpenOffice2.0. I need more than a dozen seconds to open an odp file(something like M$ PowerPoint).

Nevertheless, Loongson Box does work and live up to its reputation and fans' trust. It beats up all rumors.

Users have received Loongson PC

About a score of Loongson users had received their ordered Lemote Box by Jan 4th. They are all cheering in Lemote BBS. Everyone is congratuating them and just cannot conceal envy.

I'm waiting for my Loongson. Jiangsu is too far from here.

A piece of news about purchase orders of Lemote Box

Original from:
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-loongson-pcs-receive-stunning-orders-/2006/12/11/2155723.htm

Loongson PCs Receive Stunning Orders

(SinoCast Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) BEIJING, Dec 11, 2006 (SinoCast via COMTEX) --Loongson PCs, with China's independently developed CPU, have received thousands of orders within one week after the developer started to accept purchase orders.

Jiangsu Lemote Technology Corporation Limited, a joint venture between Jaingsu Menglan Group Corporation and the Institute of Computing Technology under Chinese Academy of Sciences, takes charge of the research and production of Loongson PCs.

The computer is installed with Linux operating system. It can handle operations like Internet surfing and sending and receiving e-mails. However, programs like Ourgame and QQ game that are supported only by windows cannot be played.

Loongson PC is installed with 2E CPU. It is sold at CNY 1,599 per unit excluding the monitor, keyboard and mouse. The first 1,000 Loongson PCs were ordered as soon as it was launched.

From www.nbd.com.cn, Page 1, Friday, December 08, 2006
info@SinoCast.Com

Copyright (C) 2006 SinoCast, All rights reserved

Confirmed: Lemote boxes are going to be released on Jan 2, 2007

Official news:
http://www.lemote.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=1988&extra=page%3D1

Lemote is finishing assembling Loongson mini-PCs and They are going to deliver 200 Lemote Boxes to the most enthusiastic Loongson fans on Jan 2, 2007. The other 800 will be sent later.

According to the officials, every Lemote Boxes is assigned a unique serial numbers ranging from 00001 to 01000. Who will be the lucky user of 00001?

Debian GNU/Linux show on Lemote Box using Loongson 2E

This is a brief video clip. I'm sorry for the quality.

Debian GNU/Linux on Lemote Box

Loongson 2E: Facts on its performance

Actual performance of the China-made CPU, Loongson, is still in question. Many(maybe a majority of) Chinese themselves don't think Loongson can catch up or just somehow competitive with Intel or AMD one day in the future. Rationality is not flooded by patriotism in this case. "Too slow! Pentium III 667 came out many years ago!" A customer said when a reporter ask him if he would choose Loongson.

It is true that Loongson is currently not comparable to any mainstream Intel or AMD products. Their x86 CISC CPUs has a long and glorious history, a wide software support and, most important, innumerable users. It is always difficult for any user to change from a popular platform to a uncommon one. What is worse, Windows will never be running on the CPU! The new-born baby Loongson has so long a way to go before it becomes a giant.

Software is another issue. I'll only concentrate on hareware performance. Loongson 2E is designed for 1GHz frequency but failed to run stably under that condition for some technical problem. Normally, L2E can run at 600-800MHz with ease and is released as 660MHz in Lemote Box.

Loongson official declared that L2E@1GHz achieved a score of 500 under test of SPEC CPU2000. What does this mean?
###################################
CINT2000：
Advanced Micro Devices ASUS A7V Motherboard 1.2GHz Athlon processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 409 458
Advanced Micro Devices ASUS A7V Motherboard, 1.3GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 438 491
Advanced Micro Devices Asus A7M266-D Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) MP 2000+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 638 662
Advanced Micro Devices Asus A7M266-D Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) MP 2400+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 737 766
Advanced Micro Devices Epox 8KHA+ Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1700+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 633 656
Advanced Micro Devices Epox 8KHA+ Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1800+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 648 671
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard 1.2GHz Athlon processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 443 496
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, 1.33GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 482 539
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, 1.4GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 495 554
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1500+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 556 577
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1600+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 572 595
Advanced Micro Devices Tyan Thunder K7 Motherboard, 1.2GHz Athlon MP Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 495 522
Advanced Micro Devices Tyan Thunder K7 Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) MP 1500+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 534 554
Advanced Micro Devices Tyan Thunder K7 Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) MP 1600+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 550 571
Advanced Micro Devices Tyan Thunder K7 Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) MP 1800+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 587 609
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard (1.3 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 475 486
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard (1.4 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 498 512
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard (1.5 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 526 539
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0 GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 402 408
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0B GHz, Intel Pentium III proc 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 452 454
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0B GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 451 457
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.1 GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 421 427
Intel Corporation Intel D850EMV2 motherboard (1.5 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 560 562
Intel Corporation Intel D850EMV2 motherboard (1.6 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 584 588

CFP2000：
Advanced Micro Devices ASUS A7V Motherboard, 1.2GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 328 352
Advanced Micro Devices ASUS A7V Motherboard, 1.3GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 348 374
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, 1.2GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 387 417
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, 1.33GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 414 445
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, 1.4GHz Athlon Processor 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 426 458
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1500+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 494 536
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1600+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 504 547
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1700+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 535 580
Advanced Micro Devices Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1800+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 542 588
Advanced Micro Devices Epox 8KHA+ Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1700+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 561 604
Advanced Micro Devices Epox 8KHA+ Motherboard, AMD Athlon (TM) XP 1800+ 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 572 615
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0 GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 254 264
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0B GHz, Intel Pentium III proc 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 303 292
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.0B GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 297 310
Intel Corporation Intel D815EEA2 motherboard (1.1 GHz, Pentium III processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 258 268
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard(1.3 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 503 511
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard(1.4 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 529 538
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard(1.5 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 549 558
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard(1.6 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 578 587
Intel Corporation Intel D850GB motherboard(1.7 GHz, Pentium 4 processor) 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip 598 608

It seems that L2E@1G equals to P4@1.3G. But here are some problems:
1. If we produce Loongson 2E @1GHz, rate of spoiled products will be too high to accept.
2. L2E reaches 1GHz only when the core voltage is 1.4V, which is larger than normal 1.2V.
3. The compiler is not GCC or something also common, but a special one developed by China Academy of Sciences.
####################################

Some people also test L2E@660MHz using simple Unixbench.

************************************
BYTE UNIX Benchmarks (Version 4.1.0)
System -- Linux tony-debian 2.6.18.1ict #13 Mon Nov 20 21:58:01 CST 2006 mips GNU/Linux
Start Benchmark Run: Sat Dec 16 16:16:51 CST 2006
1 interactive users.
16:16:51 up 47 min, 1 user, load average: 0.14, 0.04, 0.01
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Dec 15 21:07 /bin/sh -> bash
/bin/sh: symbolic link to `bash'
/dev/hda3 7700700 6551524 757996 90% /
Dhrystone 2 using register variables 1953973.7 lps (10.0 secs, 10 samples)Double-Precision Whetstone 399.8 MWIPS (10.0 secs, 10 samples)
System Call Overhead 279138.8 lps (10.0 secs, 10 samples)
Pipe Throughput 210600.9 lps (10.0 secs, 10 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching 86021.1 lps (10.0 secs, 10 samples)
Process Creation 2235.3 lps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
Execl Throughput 727.9 lps (29.7 secs, 3 samples)
File Read 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks 236110.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Write 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks 116200.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks 67028.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Read 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 98410.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Write 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 44905.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 27958.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Write 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 44905.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 27958.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Read 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks 390039.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Write 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks 181774.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks 102845.0 KBps (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent) 826.6 lpm (60.0 secs, 3 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent) 116.0 lpm (60.0 secs, 3 samples)
Shell Scripts (16 concurrent) 58.7 lpm (60.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = short) 439655.8 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = int) 456636.0 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = long) 456637.3 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = float) 178354.9 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = double) 150313.9 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithoh 66258450.9 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)C Compiler Throughput 206.2 lpm (60.0 secs, 3 samples)
Dc: sqrt(2) to 99 decimal places 77466.7 lpm (30.0 secs, 3 samples)
Recursion Test--Tower of Hanoi 16793.9 lps (20.0 secs, 3 samples)
INDEX VALUES
TEST BASELINE RESULT INDEX

Dhrystone 2 using register variables 116700.0 1953973.7 167.4
Double-Precision Whetstone 55.0 399.8 72.7
Execl Throughput 43.0 727.9 169.3
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks 3960.0 67028.0 169.3
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks 1655.0 27958.0 168.9
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks 5800.0 102845.0 177.3
Pipe Throughput 12440.0 210600.9 169.3
Pipe-based Context Switching 4000.0 86021.1 215.1
Process Creation 126.0 2235.3 177.4
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent) 6.0 116.0 193.3
System Call Overhead 15000.0 279138.8 186.1
=========
FINAL SCORE 164.8

*******************************

This is about what PentiumIII at same frequency can get.

Here are still problem:
Arithmetic Test (type = short) 439655.8 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = int) 456636.0 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = long) 456637.3 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = float) 178354.9 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)
Arithmetic Test (type = double) 150313.9 lps (10.0 secs, 3 samples)

FP results are unbelievably low. Loongson official explains that L2E has 4 FP apparatus which give it ability to do 4 double FP or 8 FP computing in one clock period. But current compiler (gcc) can only use two of them.

In addition, I heard that external hardwares such as north bridge, south bridge, main memory, etc. also restrict Loongson in terms of compatibility.

All in all, we can just expect adequate much from Loongson2E. L2E is far from brilliant, yet the whole bluescript of Loongson is great. They have big potential. They are being improved. Given better hardware and software supports, Loongson 2F and Loongson3 should satisfy us more.

Real Audio/Video can now be played on Loongson PC

According to the Official BBS of Lemote, software developers finished transplantation of RV decoding on Loongson CPU on Dec 15, 2006. Now MPlayer can play video in RMVB format.

Loongson Manufacturer Calling for Software Supports

One of the Loongson manufacturer, Lemote, is now calling for software supports from all its first users.

Loongson CPU is not built on x86 but on an altered MIPS III 64-bit architecture, which is particularly named "Loongson Instruction Set". As a result, Windows and many other popular softwares based on Win platforms are impossible to run on it. Even most distributions of Linux and their softwares are still waiting for tranplantation.

Lemote officially now provides two OS for customers to choose. One is Debian Linux and the other is a new-born distribution of Linux called "OpenRays" beta version. They guarantee that the two OS will be run almost smooth and easy. They also admit that there might be some small problems. Softwares are still to be transplanted and optimized for Loongsons. There is a long way to go for Loongson, especially on softwares.

"We wish all users carry forward the spirit of opensource community and we will appreciate any help." said by Lemote official. They promised to pay a reasonable money for Loongson-based software developers. This is also one of the reasons why they choose 600 out of thousands customers by their techinal backgrounds. Another reason is the limited capacity of the production.

The following is what they would like Linuxers to do:
Origally posted here:

http://www.lemote.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=2216&extra=page%3D1

1. Operation System Transplantation
Famous Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Gentoo, Suse, Fedora, and so on.s
All kinds of liveCDs
Embedded systems: eCos, ucOS/II, vxworks, winCE(?!)
FreeBSD or NetBSD
Pure 64-bit OS
Prelink support

2. Specific Applications:
Vehicular PC:GPS, video monitor, multimedia
IPTV(maybe mythTV, GeeXbox) and Set-Top-Box
Network computers: E-library, E-classroom
Education informatization
Rural informatization
Others

3. Software improvement:
Bootloader
Linux kernel
Compilers optimized for Loongson Instruction Set
Better multimedia support
Java Virtual Machine
Openoffice
Firefox plugins
Eyecandy
initNG or other fast boot supports
Oprofile and other tools like it
Other software for Loongson achitecture

Some tasks (especially in part1 and part2) are virtually impossible for single person to finish. Besides Linuxers who interested in Loongson, Lemote official will also participate in the development. Any one who would like to help improving Loongson's performance should contact Lemote official to avoid repeated work. Lemote promise to encourage all fans who contribute considerably to Loongson, for example, a free Lemote box.

Lemote has allowed me a Loongson-based PC

On Dec 8, 2006, Lemote has decided who will be owners of the first 100 Fulong mini-PC. I am one of the lucky users.

Fulong Mini-PC is also generally called "Lemote Box" or Loongson Box. "Lemote", meaning "the dream of Loong", is the manufacturer and "Box" is refered to its size, 18 x 14 x 3.7cm.

The CPU of Lemote Box is China-made Loongson (originally called "Godson") 2E 666MHz. Although the frequency is low but it actually performs better than PentiumIII. The Loongson CPU is a 64-bit MIPS III RISC processor. Unlike x86 CPUs, it works under only 5-7W power(4.07W in recent test), a small fraction of AMD or Intel products which generally need several dozens of Watts.

Main memory and HDD for Lemote Box are those formerly designed for laptops, so the total power consumption is very small. Lemote Boxes may be the best choice for citizens who would like to protect environment of our Earth.

The first batch released includes 1000 Lemote Boxes in all, 400 of which for co-operative enterprises and 600 for Loongson fans. All of them are used mainly for a testing purpose. Lemote said that they hope every user who get a Lemote box help in developing Loongson products.

Lemote declared that they had started to accept purchase orders for the 1000 miniPC at Nov. 26. Total number of orders runs over several thousands in one week. Lemote is then forced to choose some users from all.

Since Loongson is not a x86 CPU, in no way can it support M$ Windows. Software becomes the highest barrier for Loongson's road.