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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!vrdxhq!bms-at!stuart
From: stuart@bms-at.UUCP (Stuart D. Gathman)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Using BIOS/MSDOS drivers under Minix
Message-ID: <379@bms-at.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Apr-87 17:52:55 EST
Article-I.D.: bms-at.379
Posted: Sun Apr 19 17:52:55 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Apr-87 22:45:57 EST
References: <288@grebyn.COM> <1267@drivax.UUCP> <1997@hoptoad.uucp>
Organization: Business Management Systems, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Lines: 18
Summary: This has been done before

In article <1997@hoptoad.uucp>, gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) writes:

> have it work.  It doesn't have to do context switches while waiting for
> disk I/O, or any other fancy stuff, but it should run and let you
> recompile the kernel, slowly.  This could be done with a set of stub
> drivers which just call the BIOS and restrict the system from context
> switching (make it busy-wait for I/O completion) while BIOS I/O is in
> progress.

We have a Motorola 6350 unix box that uses this approach. It  has
a  diskette  drive  which  is  basically  used  only for software
loading.  Any access to the drive during normal operations  shuts
off  interrupts  while  reading  a  diskette  sector.  This makes
terminal I/O, disk I/O, proceed very slowly.  (The  system  comes
to  a  screeching  halt.)   The diskette does work, however, with
what appears to be a minimum of software effort.
-- 
Stuart D. Gathman	<..!seismo!dgis!bms-at don'-eup