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From: KENC@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (Ken Corey, CSCI Major...)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: MacMINIX, interrupts, and ACK register saving conventions
Message-ID: <54891@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 29 May 91 04:39:02 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 37

>I've been reading through the source code for MacMINIX and I noticed that
>interrupt handlers for I/O completion don't do anything like a "save" to
>save the process context.  This makes sense to me only if certain registers
>are not modified by the interrupt handler and if the same process that
>was running when the interrupt occured runs after the interrupt has been
>handled.  The second condition seems to be true but I would like to be
>more convinced that the first condition is met.

I wonder if this is why most of the people who run MacMinix can't get uucp to
work properly for them?

>On another note: I will be slowly working to modify MINIX to remove its
>dependence on the Mac OS.  If anybody would like to talk about how this
>might be done please contact me.  So far I have been experimenting with
>booting from a floppy before the Mac OS takes full control. I am working
>on a mac II so I think most of the resources that I need are in ROM so there
>should be no need to have a System File.

Are you talking about a MacMinix that runs on the basic hardware, and not the
OS?  Cool! That would definitely increase system speed.  

I've got a couple of questions about that though...I've got an accelerator, and
it must be started up with an init.  If I can't run that, I'd have no
interest in non-MacOS MacMinix. (8Mhz would drive me batty...;)

Another point, I'm looking into the idea of converting the MINI-X suite of
functions into something that works off Mac graphics primitives, and that
requires the system to be resident, no?

How about instead of trying to handle all the interupts within Minix, to
handling the worst of the time-dependant ones with an init or two?  The serial
port, for sure, and possibly the printer port!

Let me know what you think about this....
                                         
\  Ken Corey, VAX/Unix Programmer/Operator  (And GOD am I confused...;)  /
 \          kenc@vaxb.acs.unt.edu  ken@isect.lonestar.org               /