Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!daver!bungi.com!news From: pc532@bungi.com (pc532@bungi.com) Newsgroups: comp.sys.nsc.32k Subject: Can't Find MailCenter! Message-ID: <9009181117.AA28915@uunet.uu.net> Date: 18 Sep 90 03:24:19 GMT Sender: news@daver.bungi.com Lines: 41 Approved: news@daver.bungi.com GatorMail-Q Running without an FPU I've had to struggle a bit, but I've managed to get MINIX up on my pc532 without an FPU. Some of the problems I encountered are: * The ROM needed a fix to get RUN and STEP to work. * MINIX saves FPU registers on a task switch * _begsig also saves FPU registers, causing any process which intercepts signals to dump core. * GCC uses floating point operations in global-alloc.c So far I've been able to fix these problems in an ad-hoc manner, but I'd like to co-ordinate efforts with other FPU-less pc532 owners (if there are any). I have several questions for the NS32K wizards out there: 1) Is there some way to reliably detect the physical presence or absence of an FPU? 2) Is there any way a user process can read the state of the F bit in the CFG register, given that SPRi CFG,Rn is a privileged instruction? 3) Are there any free (or nearly so) floating point emulation libraries for the NS32000 series? 4) Are there other traps I haven't stumbled into yet? -bert ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by mctgate.mct.anl.gov; 17 Sep 90 20:24:14 Received: from daver.UUCP by uunet.uu.net (5.61/1.14) with UUCP id AA20781; Mon, 17 Sep 90 21:16:24 -0400 Received: by daver.bungi.com (/\=-/\ Smail3.1.18.1 #18.16) id ; Mon, 17 Sep 90 18:06 PDT X-Path: Shiva.COM!bert From: Robert D. Vincent To: pc532@bungi.com Subject: Running without an FPU Date: Mon, 17 Sep 90 19:17:16 EST Message-Id: <9009180017.AA19520@Shiva.COM> Reply-To: pc532@bungi.com Precedence: bulk