Re: Recommendations for Power PC VME cards

[Andrew Johnson <anj@aps.anl.gov>]

Hi Dennis,

Dennis Armstrong wrote:

> We are considering an upgrade to our systems to use the Power PC range
> of VME CPU cards .  So the  question is  which VME CPU cards do EPICS
> users  use?

APS have experience with the MVME2700 and MVME2100 boards, and we're in 
the process of getting the MVME5100 for some applications.  The latter 
family appears to be where Motorola are concentrating their development 
efforts, although the other lines aren't likely to be closed out anytime 
soon.  To use the 5100 series you'll need Tornado 2.1 or 2.2, whereas the 
older boards can be used with earlier versions even back to T1.0.1 (not 
that I'd recommend that though).

You should look at your I/O requirements for the CPU board - if you don't 
need more serial ports and other I/O then don't pay extra for stuff you 
don't need.  The MVME2100 is a low-cost board which is slightly slower 
than the 2300/2400/2600/2700 devices but works fine for most purposes.

> Which are most compatible with the EPICS software?

In general EPICS compatibility isn't likely to be a problem for almost any 
PowerPC CPU.  There may be some changes you might want/need to make to the 
BSP to get some drivers going, but most devices Just Work™ (as long as 
you're using EPICS R3.13.6 or later).

- Andrew
--
"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon