DEC Alpha systems solved this problem by using an x86 emulator during system boot to run the initialization code, thus allowing for standard PC cards to be used

DEC Alpha systems solved this problem by using an x86 emulator during system boot to run the initialization code, thus allowing for standard PC cards to be used on a non x86 processor. (Reference to this in some early RedHat documentation, which is about as authoritative of a source I could find in 2-3 mins of Googling: https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/redhat-4.0/axp/azstarnet/docs/FAQ-10.html https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/red...)