Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ncar!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!usceast!midway!anderson
From: anderson@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU (Stuart Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Disk Device Driver & Cross Development System
Message-ID: <348@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU>
Date: 13 Apr 88 22:27:38 GMT
References: <347@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> <455@sas.UUCP> <49209@sun.UUCP>
Reply-To: anderson@midway.UUCP (Stuart Anderson)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of South Carolina Engineering
Lines: 62
Keywords: device driver cross development

In article <455@sas.UUCP> walker@sas.UUCP (Doug Walker) writes:
>I assume you want something below the level of trackdisk.device?  If not,

Correct, I would like to have to be able to implement my own device driver
and not use trackdisk.device. I not only want to "take over the machine",
but I would like to expell everything that is there. If this does turn
out to be too much of a problem, I will look into letting the 
trackdisk.device stay around and use it as long as it doesn't depend too
heavily on other parts of the 'ROM' which may not be there anymore (especially
interupt service routines). Can anyone say XINU??

>>2.	Since there is a public domain C compiler and a PD assembler 
>>both of which run on other machines, all we would need is a PD linker
>Well, it's not PD, but it is freely redistributable - BLINK versions up
>to 7.0 are available on just about any BBS, from Fred Fish, and hundreds
>of other sources for free.

But will it run on an NCR Tower? Let me clarify my idea some.

I have the SOURCE for the pdc and the assembler and compiled them under UN*X.
What I was thinking was to find the source to a linker that could compile
under UN*X (or dos or whatever). This would provide a PD cross developement
system that can run on (almost) any machine. In <49209@sun.UUCP> the problem
was brought up about the standard library. One solution (depending on
legalities ) would be to use the one that came with the C compiler you
normally use (assuming you have one) since it has been stated that the
amiga.lib would work so would lc.lib. Another solution would be to 
develope a PD library. I have seem a couple of PD libraries (tiny.lib, etc.)
but don't remember there contents. ARP is PD so maybe we could start with it.

>>This would be nice for those larger programs that require to much memory
>>or disk space to be developed natively.
>
>Any program that is too big to be developed on a 512k Amiga with two floppy
>drives is not going to be developed on a PD C compiler.  I'm sorry, but I
>cannot believe that a PD compiler has had all the work put into it that is
>necessary to do really significant projects.  Also remember that the 
I agree, but recently there was some talk about doing some more work on the
one that is availible, and bringing it up to acceptible functionality. A
system like this could provide the encouragement needed to do the additional
work needed.

>Distillery wrote BLINK and ported both HACK and LARN to the Amiga with 512K
>two-drive A1000's.  LARN is so large that it will not run if workbench is

I know that it can be done, but I have become acustomed to having lots of 
disk space and not having to swap disk ( This becomes tiresome with 141Mb
mounted inside the computer :-) ). I was just thinking of alternate ways
of developing programs for the Amiga. Some people may have more resources
(time being one of them) availible to them at work/school than they have
at home. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Stuart Anderson, University of South Carolina ECE Dept.
                    anderson@ece.scarolina.edu

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