Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 23:22:00 -0800 From: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> To: der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA> Cc: port-alpha@netbsd.org, alpha@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Q: Compaq, *BSD and 'Linux-only' AlphaBIOS (fwd) Message-ID: <199912050722.XAA19932@lestat.nas.nasa.gov>
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On Sun, 5 Dec 1999 02:08:43 -0500 (EST) der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA> wrote: > The problem is with the implementation: when you can't *get* "their TLB > reloading code", you don't have enough info to write your own. :-( Okay, to nit-pick... :-) For the processor-specific bits, this is "easy"; all of the processor manuals are available. So, I could write my own TLB reloading code if I felt so inclined :-) The "hard" part is the model-specific bits. This means that I can't write my own interrupt routing code, etc. All the stuff that differs between models (even models with the same core logic). There's an amusing story related to this... basically, since interrupts were just about the *only* thing not specified in the architecture, apparently rivalry between groups within DEC (i.e. the groups working on the individual systems) resulted in the proliferation of different interrupt schemes we see today on the various systypes. I mean, really.. Look at the AlphaServer 1000 vs. 1000A. They differ by, like, the interrupt controller they use. How funny is that?! :-) -- Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-alpha" in the body of the message
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