--- trunk/RELEASE 2007/10/08 16:19:11 18 +++ trunk/RELEASE 2007/10/08 16:19:23 20 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.3.6.2 -================================================================== +Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.3.7 +================================================================ Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. @@ -9,15 +9,23 @@ hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine. -The processor architecture best emulated by GXemul is MIPS, but other -architectures are also partially emulated. +MIPS processors are emulated using either a simple binary translation +layer ("recompilation"), which is used on Alpha and i386 hosts, or by +traditional interpretation (very very slow, but works on any host platform). + +ARM and PowerPC processors are emulated using a newer dynamic translation +system. Performance is somewhere between traditional interpretation and +dynamic recompilation; however, the dynamic translation system used in +GXemul does NOT require platform-specific back-end code. In plain English, +this means that the dyntrans system works on any host platform. I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run inside -the emulator: +the emulator. Instructions on how to install and run these can be found in +the documentation. Guest operating system Emulated machine ---------------------- ---------------- - NetBSD/pmax 2.0.2 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200 + NetBSD/pmax 2.1 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200 OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200 Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200 Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200 @@ -25,39 +33,51 @@ Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200 NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61 OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61 - NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0.2 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880 - NetBSD/cobalt 2.0.2 Cobalt - NetBSD/evbmips 2.0.2 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board - NetBSD/sgimips 2.0.2 SGI O2 ("IP32") - NetBSD/cats 2.0.2 CATS (ARM) - OpenBSD/cats 3.7 CATS (ARM) - -(Most of these are MIPS-based machines, except the CATS, which is an -ARM-based machine.) + NetBSD/hpcmips 2.1 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880 + NetBSD/cobalt 2.1 Cobalt + NetBSD/evbmips 2.1 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board + NetBSD/sgimips 2.1 SGI O2 ("IP32") + NetBSD/cats 2.1 CATS (ARM) + OpenBSD/cats 3.8 CATS (ARM) + NetBSD/prep 2.1 PReP (PowerPC Reference Platform) Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than -others. The best supported mode is the DECstation 5000/200 emulation mode, -with NetBSD/pmax as the guest operating system. - -A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost -working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are -just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation. +others. The best supported guest operating systems are probably NetBSD/pmax, +NetBSD/cats and OpenBSD/cats. The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to run -entire guest operating systems. (However, GXemul does not simulate things -smaller than an instruction. What this means is that pipe-line stalls, -penalties caused by branch-prediction misses or cache misses, and other -micro-architectural effects are not simulated.) - -The most imporant user-visible change between release 0.3.5 and 0.3.6 is: +entire guest operating systems. However, as GXemul is an instruction-level +emulator, it does not simulate things smaller than an instruction. What this +means is that pipe-line stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses +or cache misses, and other micro-architectural effects are not simulated. + +User-visible change between release 0.3.6.2 and 0.3.7 include: + + o) The experimental PowerPC emulation mode is now working well enough + to allow NetBSD/prep 2.1 to be installed and run inside the emulator. + It is not 100% stable, and it is not optimized for performance yet, + but hopefully enough for simple experiments. + + o) I finally took the time to implement a DEC 21143 NIC; this brings + network connectivity to NetBSD/cats. (The userland "NAT"-like + networking layer is still a bit buggy, and does not work with + everything. However, NetBSD/cats can now be installed via ftp.) + + o) CD-ROM images can now in some cases be detected as ATAPI CD-ROMs + instead of IDE harddisks. It works for at least NetBSD, OpenBSD, + and Linux on CATS, and NetBSD on hpcmips. + +Internal (code related) changes include: + + o) Cleanup of the PCI and ISA bus frameworks; in practice this means + that more code can be shared between different emulated machine + models than before, and that adding new machine types will become + easier. - x) The experimental ARM emulation mode is now working well enough - to install NetBSD/cats and OpenBSD/cats onto harddisk images. + o) Dyntrans updates; 32-bit PowerPC mostly, but also many performance + related updates for ARM. -There have also been lots of other small changes, too small to mention here. - -The 0.3.6.1 and 0.3.6.2 releases contain bugfixes and some performance -hacks. +There have also been lots of other changes, too many and small to mention here. Files included in this release are: @@ -147,6 +167,10 @@ This product includes software developed by Mark Brinicombe for the NetBSD Project. + This product includes software developed by TooLs GmbH. + + This product includes software developed by Manuel Bouyer. + Also, src/include/alpha_rpb.h requires the following: Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Carnegie-Mellon University.