Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!pepper!cmcmanis From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: OS Development on the Amiga (XINU) Message-ID: <50049@sun.uucp> Date: 19 Apr 88 19:24:20 GMT References: <347@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> <455@sas.UUCP> <49209@sun.UUCP> <348@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> <49671@sun.uucp> <360@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> Sender: news@sun.uucp Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.tech Distribution: na Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View Lines: 56 Keywords: device driver cross development XINU Summary: Ok, we know what we are talking about now. Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!pepper!cmcmanis From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: OS Development on the Amiga (XINU) Message-ID: <50049@sun.uucp> Date: 19 Apr 88 19:24:20 GMT References: <347@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> <455@sas.UUCP> <49209@sun.UUCP> <348@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> <49671@sun.uucp> <360@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> Sender: news@sun.uucp Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.tech Distribution: na Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View Lines: 56 Keywords: device driver cross development XINU In article <360@midway.ece.scarolina.EDU> (Stuart Anderson) writes: > I don't intend on burning XINU into ROMs. I want to be able to load it > like any other program, except that the initialization function takes over > the machine. Ok, good. Using the existing ROMs, there is a perfectly good floppy disk driver routine in their, that can be used much like one would use a 'smart' disk controller. Realizing that you don't want to "layer" XINU on the exec library/device kernel you can indeed do it yourself. AmigaDOS is layered on this and if you could come up with a replacement for the AmigaDOS layer you might have a marketable product. But opportunity aside, the Developers Conference Notes are available from CATS for $20, (CBM, 1200 Wilson Dr, Westchester CA, 19380) and describe the way the trackdisk device talks to the floppies. >I can. I am still just investigating the possiblilty of such a project. >If many of the pieces can be found, then the amount of work is reduced. If >anybody else is interested, then the project can be divided up and the work >for any one person reduced even further. Well there are things that XINU expects (being UN*X like, like fork()) that you will have problems with (like the MINIX people). But in general OS development is pretty straight forward. Which parts of the OS are you interested in ? (A lot of people equate Systems Programming == Kernel Hacking, when in fact 80% of the 'systems' code is not in the kernel at all.) I usually break an OS in to process control, resource control, i/o subsystems, and user interface. It is simplest to pick each section and build it, and replace the Amiga equivalent. When after they are all done you have a new OS. >I have the RKM & Hardware Manual set. It is not always clear (or even correct). >I was looking for sample code from someone that has already figured it out. >I don't want to do this all by myself. I am a little wary here Stuart, learning is best accomplished by doing not by looking. I strongly encourage you to _do_ this rather than take someone elses code. You will learn just about everything you need to know about floppies in the process. >Back to XINU: I am all for re-use. I would like to use as much as possible. >I would like to implement XINU as close to it's original intentions instead of >being layered on top of something else for performance reasons. I think at this stage it is to early to guess at the performance of a layered system. From what I read in the XINU book I would guess that the Amiga's Exec is a faster and more efficient task scheduling system. >PS: If this seems like it should be in .tech, then let's migrate to there. Now it is in .tech. Maybe I can make up for following up on a Jet question here :-) --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.