/[gxemul]/trunk/RELEASE
This is repository of my old source code which isn't updated any more. Go to git.rot13.org for current projects!
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revision 10 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:18:27 2007 UTC revision 28 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:20:26 2007 UTC
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1  Release notes for GXemul 0.3.4  Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.4.1
2  ==============================  ================================================================
3    
4  Copyright (C) 2003-2005  Anders Gavare.  Copyright (C) 2003-2006  Anders Gavare.
5    
6    
7  GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be  GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several
8  used to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines, regardless  emulation modes are available. In some modes, processors and surrounding
9  of host platform. Several emulation modes are available. For some modes,  hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating
10  processors and surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to  systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine.
11  let unmodified operating systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running  
12  on a real machine.  The documentation lists the machines and guest operating systems that can
13    be regarded as "working" in GXemul. The best working guest operating
14  I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run  systems are probably NetBSD/pmax, NetBSD/cats, and OpenBSD/cats.
15  inside the emulator:  
16    
17      Guest operating system             Emulated machine  Changes between release 0.4.0.1 and 0.4.1 include, among other things:
18      ----------------------             ----------------  
19      NetBSD/pmax 2.0.2 (and 1.6.2)      DECstation 5000/200      o)  Some bugs in the dynamic translation core have been fixed, making
20      OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA              DECstation 5000/200          all emulation modes (especially the MIPS mode) more stable.
21      Ultrix 4.2-4.5                     DECstation 5000/200  
22      Sprite demo harddisk image         DECstation 5000/200      o)  In the refactoring effort between 0.4.0 and 0.4.0.1, single-stepping
23      Debian GNU/Linux for DECstation    DECstation 5000/200          (and instruction tracing) of 64-bit programs was accidentally broken.
24      Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips          DECstation 5000/200          Single-stepping in 64-bit mode could result in strange exceptions.
25      NetBSD/arc 1.6.2                   Acer PICA-61          This has been fixed in 0.4.1.
26      OpenBSD/arc 2.3                    Acer PICA-61  
27      NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0.2               NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880      o)  MIPS emulation performance has been improved somewhat:
28      NetBSD/cobalt 2.0.2                Cobalt  
29      NetBSD/evbmips 2.0.2               Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board          R3000: After removing some buggy code (hints for physical page
30      NetBSD/sgimips 2.0.2               SGI O2 ("IP32")          translations), it was possible to remove the workaround for R3000
31            caches which was needed in 0.4.0.1 to make Linux and Ultrix run.
32  Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than          This gives an overall speedup for R2000/R3000.
33  others. The best supported mode is the DECstation 5000/200 emulation mode,  
34  with NetBSD/pmax as the guest operating system.          For non-R3000, there have been some speedups as well. After fixing
35            reference count bugs for 64-bit addressing in the dyntrans system,
36  A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost          workarounds/hacks in the tlbwr/tlbwi instructions and in the ASID
37  working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are          change helper function could be removed.
38  just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation.  
39        o)  A new -s command line option is now available, for dumping
40  The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to          raw runtime data/statistics on every instruction to a file.
41  run entire guest operating systems. (However, GXemul does not simulate  
42  things smaller than an instruction. What this means is that pipe-line          Currently, the following kinds of data can be dumped:
43  stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses or cache misses, and  
44  other micro-architectural effects are not simulated.)          1. the program counter (virtual address)
45            2. the physical address representation of the program counter
46  Summary of changes between release 0.3.3.2 and 0.3.4:          3. the internal dyntrans instruction call pointer, useful when
47               developing/optimizing the emulator
48          x)  When emulating a network of multiple machines, the emulated  
49              machines can now be placed on different hosts.          This data can then be analyzed by external tools.
50    
51          x)  NetBSD/evbmips can now be installed and run from a disk image.          (There was a -s command line option in previous releases of
52              (There is no INSTALL kernel for NetBSD/evbmips, so you need to          the emulator, but it did not work as intended, and was not
53              install using another OS, for example emulated NetBSD/pmax.)          usable from dyntrans emulation modes.)
54    
55          x)  NetBSD/sgimips can now be installed. Not onto a SCSI disk,  Please read the HISTORY files for more details.
             but the files can be exported via nfs from another emulated  
             machine. The sgimips machine can then netboot. (Read the  
             documentation for details.)  
56    
 There have also been various other minor updates and bugfixes.  
57    
58  Files included in this release are:  Files included in this release are:
59    
   BUGS                        A list of known bugs.  
60    HISTORY                     Detailed revision history / changelog.    HISTORY                     Detailed revision history / changelog.
61    LICENSE                     Copyright message / license.    LICENSE                     Copyright message / license.
62    README                      Quick start instructions, for the impatient.    README                      Quick start instructions, for the impatient.
63    RELEASE                     This file.    RELEASE                     This file.
64    TODO                        TODO notes.    TODO                        TODO notes.
65    configure, Makefile.skel    sh and make scripts for building GXemul.    configure, Makefile.skel    sh and make scripts for building GXemul.
66      demos                       Tutorial-like demos of testmachine functionality.
67    doc                         Documentation.    doc                         Documentation.
68    experiments                 Experimental code. (Usually not needed.)    experiments                 Experimental code. (Usually not needed.)
69    src                         Source code.    src                         Source code.
   tests                       Regression tests.  
70    
71  To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make.  To build the emulator, run the configure script, and then run make. This
72    should work on most Unix-like systems.
73    
 Building the emulator should work on most Unix-like systems. (One system which  
 is specifically known to NOT work is Ultrix/RISC inside the emulator; Ultrix  
 chokes on the configure script and the default cc in Ultrix doesn't work.)  
74    
75  Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written  Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written
76  by me, the rest are from other sources (such as NetBSD). The license text says  by me, the rest are from other sources (such as NetBSD). The license text says
# Line 143  them like this is in order: Line 136  them like this is in order:
136    
137      This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz.      This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz.
138    
139        This product includes software developed by Brini.
140    
141        This product includes software developed by Mark Brinicombe
142        for the NetBSD Project.
143    
144        This product includes software developed by TooLs GmbH.
145    
146        This product includes software developed by Manuel Bouyer.
147    
148        This product includes software developed by the Alice Group.
149    
150        This product includes software developed by Ichiro FUKUHARA.
151    
152    Also, src/include/alpha_rpb.h requires the following:
153    
154        Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Carnegie-Mellon University.
155        All rights reserved.
156    
157        Author: Keith Bostic, Chris G. Demetriou
158    
159        Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and
160        its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright
161        notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the
162        software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions
163        thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation.
164    
165  See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul  See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul
166  or reuse code.  or reuse code.
167    
168  Thanks to (in no specific order, that is, this is in alphabetic order :-)  
169  Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan RP, Alec Voropay, Alexander Yurchenko,  Thanks to (in no specific order) Joachim Buss, Olivier Houchard, Juli Mallett,
170  and everyone else who has provided me with feedback.  Juan Romero Pardines, Alec Voropay, Göran Weinholt, Alexander Yurchenko, and
171    everyone else who has provided me with feedback.
172    
173  If you have found GXemul useful in some way, or feel like sending me comments  If you have found GXemul useful in some way, or feel like sending me comments
174  or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se.  or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se.

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