[OpenPower-Firmware] Dropping Power8 in op-build

[Paul Menzel]

[Resend with subscribed email address]

Dear OpenPower folks,


Am 17.06.20 um 02:34 schrieb Klaus Heinrich Kiwi:

> On 1/3/2020 6:05 AM, Artem Senichev wrote:
>> On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 10:24 PM Stewart Smith <stewart at flamingspork.com> wrote:

>>      > On 1 Jan 2020, at 23:26, Joel Stanley <joel at jms.id.au> wrote:
>>      >
>>      > Hello openpower firmware list,
>>      >
>>      > I maintain the buildroot overlay used in op-build, which normally
>>      > follows upstream releases. Buildroot 2019.05 was the last release with
>>      > GCC 6 support and hostboot for Power8 does not build with newer
>>      > versions of GCC, so in order to keep Power8 in the tree we've not
>>      > moved forward for some time now.

>   I think it's time for us to move forward with this.
> 
>>     It’d probably be good to tag a final op-build before cutting p8 
>> off, as there are platforms still used and maintained (vesnin).
>>
>> I would suggest to create a P8 branch in op-build, like it has been 
>> done for OCC and hostboot.
>> Actually, we don't have any significant plans for P8, but as long as I 
>> have to support our VESNIN platform I can also maintain this branch by 
>> merging critical fixes from Skiboot, petitboot etc.
>>
>>     I have a PR up for cutting out p8 that’s sat idle for months.
> 
> I tried to collect the meaningful PRs below (in a somewhat reverse 
> chronological order), but it's looking like
> always converge towards not being able to keep Hostboot, OCC up-to-date 
> with newer compilers.
> 
> P8 build fixes for modern GCC - https://github.com/open-power/hostboot/pull/193
> P8 build fixes for modern GCC - https://github.com/open-power/occ/pull/28

Thank you for collecting the merge/pull requests.

It looks like they are held up due to failing in IBM internal build 
environment. Can that internal environment be integrated into the public 
CI infrastructure?

> Remove support for POWER8 - https://github.com/open-power/op-build/pull/3145
> Remove all P8 platform except palmetto and vesnin - https://github.com/open-power/op-build/pull/3018
> Configuration updates to compile with GCC 8 - https://github.com/open-power/op-build/pull/2803
> 
>>      > There is currently no one working on fixing hostboot. Without someone
>>      > stepping forward, we will have to drop support for building Power8
>>      > hostboot in op-build master.
>>      >
>>      > Meaningfully, this would mean removing the Power8 platforms. The
>>      > non-hostboot components (skiboot, the kernel, the rootfs) are
>>      > processor family agnostic, so the opal_defconfig could be used to
>>      > generate firmware for Power8 machines should there be a desire.
>>      >
>>      > The Hostboot codebase for Power8 is not changing. If you would like to
>>      > volunteer getting it building, once it builds the ongoing maintenance
>>      > would be minimal.
>>
>>     It’s pretty unfortunate that nobody is able to keep it going as p8 
>> machines are coming up relatively cheaply now on the secondhand market.
>>
>>     I am concerned that the same thing will happen to the p9 hostboot 
>> and friends as the next generation of chips come out.
>>
>>     P9 has seen Talos II and Blackbird as good developer systems for 
>> people to get into the POWER ecosystem, and it would be good to 
>> continue to have that community grow with a good set of affordable 
>> second hand systems.
>>
>>      > If no one steps up, I'll bump buildroot at the end of January
>>
>>     Sounds reasonable. Although would suggest bumping sooner and if 
>> someone steps up then reverting the commit is also okay.
>>
>>     Got a tree somewhere? I’m happy to try it out/build upon it.
> 
> My proposal here is to remove all Power8 support from master op-build, 
> and if someone is still interested in
> maintaining a Power8 branch, we have op-build-2.5.y or other older 
> branches available for that (patches welcome),
> or one could fork and maintain their own tree (I'd be happy to point to 
> it in our official documentation).

As patches are available, it’d be great to keep POWER8 in master. No 
idea, how to solve the issue with the internal build tools conflict.

> I want to start merging patches in that direction starting next week.


Kind regards,

Paul