The Wiki page I started about the Efika got a honorable mention award.

Over the last few months the Efika has been working fine inside the card box but I’m considering a new casing. Also the bin packages are a bit outdated. Must update that one of these days.

Efika System info Only stuff under /efika are actually hosted on the efika (mod_proxy is so nice).

There is now a PORTAGE_BINHOST for the EFIKA, just add:
PORTAGE_BINHOST=http://tinderbox.dev.gentoo.org/default-linux/ppc-efika/
to your /etc/make.conf and start using it. This repository will contain the system and some extra packages built with:
CFLAGS="-O2 -mcpu=603e -pipe"
CHOST="powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"

Remember that in order to use these packages you have to do emerge -g or emerge -G.

Do you want a stage 4 for your Efika? Then go to my Efika page and grab it. Please do not open bugs about it. Either mail me or try to find me on IRC.

Thanks to tnt_ for the driver.
To use this driver you need to already have the sources patched with the Efika extras (see the gentoo-wiki for info how how to get these), then you need to get tnt_’s patch and apply it. The sound driver is in Device Drivers —>Sound —>Advanced Linux Sound Architecture —>ALSA PPC devices —> Freescale MPC52xx AC97 interface support

Now rebuild and reboot. At the OF interface type these 3 commands:

cd /builtin/sound
" mpc5200b-psc-ac97" encode-string " compatible" property
2 encode-int 2 encode-int encode+ 0 encode-int encode+ " interrupts" property

and then boot the kernel. After that modprobe snd_mpc52xx_ac97 . Type dmesg. Do you see lots of messages? Good, as that means it is working. Use alsamixer to unmut the Master and PCM channels and try to play something using mpg321 or similar.

Now the bad news :
The driver needs work:

1. Those 3 commands must be run on every reboot. Either that or use nvedit but I still have not tried that.
2. If other processes use the interrupts for to long you will suffer under runs

If you can help drop by the #gentoo-efika IRC channel at FreeNode as there is always someone there.

The second Efika is here. It is already running and building stuff inside a very nice card box

We at Gentoo already have a wiki page with info, and the Freenode irc channel #gentoo-efika is always alive with 20+ persons. Even if you do not use Gentoo this is a nice place to stop.

As soon as I find my camera I’ll take some pictures.

It seems that I have received a dead Efika. But the “gang” at genesis are really nice and have offered to send me another one as well as returning the money I’ve paid to the Portuguese customs.

It is always refreshing to work with company’s with excellent support.

In any case when the next one arrives I already have the serial < -> usb adapter, the null modem cable, the video card and the usb keyboard just waiting for the little baby :).

Ok. So i started hacking the efika today, after paying the Portuguese customs 82€ for a gift!

But the board now sits on top the nice card board where it came with a nice PSU already attached, some switches for the power/reset and a power led that I ripped from an old system ( I’m using the HDD led for the power because the power led on the efika is two pins and the one on the box where the leds where taken was 3 pins with the middle one empty ).

When turned on the PSU fan starts spinning and the led turns on. If I turn I press the power button for a few seconds it will turn off.

So what do I need for further testing (this is a mental note to self):

1. USB Keyboard
2. Serial Console Cable
3. USB to Serial Converter for the PC
4. PCI or AGP (Low Profile) Video Card
5. 2.5″ Hard Drive (anything with more than a few Gbytes should do the trick.)

I’ll keep reporting on the progress. As soon as I have a running Gentoo you’ll be the first to know

I received a call from a FedEx representative in Portugal about a package from Genesis . It seems the Portuguese customs will release it tomorrow. So the Efika will be here really really soon.

I already searched some info and it seems simple to boot Linux there. All I’m missing right now is a 2.5″ hard drive, a USB keyboard and a serial console cable….

From what I have read about a Debian installation on the Efika the simplest Gentoo install will be to put a drive in a USB craddle and unpack a Gentoo PPC stage3 there. After that copy the pre-compiled kernel and modules to the disk and put it in the efika. After that it should be possible to power it and use the OpenFirmware to boot the kernel.

If all goes ok I’ll setup a page with more info.