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Release notes for GXemul 0.3.1 |
Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.4.4 |
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Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. |
Copyright (C) 2003-2007 Anders Gavare. |
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GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be |
GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several |
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used to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines. Several |
emulation modes are available. In some modes, processors and surrounding |
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emulation modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors and |
hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating |
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surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified |
systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine. |
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operating systems run as if they were running on a real machine. |
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I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run |
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inside the emulator: |
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Guest operating system Emulated machine |
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NetBSD/pmax 2.0 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200 |
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OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200 |
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Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200 |
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Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200 |
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Debian GNU/Linux for DECstation DECstation 5000/200 |
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Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200 |
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NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61 |
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OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61 |
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NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880 |
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A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost |
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working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are |
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just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation. |
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The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to |
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run entire guest operating systems. It is important to remember, though, |
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that GXemul does not simulate things smaller than an instruction; this |
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means that pipe-line stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses, |
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and other effects are not simulated. |
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The two most visible changes from version 0.3 to 0.3.1 are: |
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x) Name change (from mips64emul to GXemul). |
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x) NetBSD/hpcmips can now be installed and run from a harddisk |
Processors (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SuperH) are emulated using dynamic |
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image on an emulated NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, or 880. |
translation. Unlike some other dynamically translating emulators, GXemul |
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does not need to generate native code, only a "runnable intermediate |
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representation", and will thus run on any host architecture. |
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There have also been many other updates and bugfixes, as usual. |
The documentation lists the machines and guest operating systems that can |
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be regarded as "working" in GXemul. The best working guest operating |
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systems are probably NetBSD/pmax and NetBSD/cats. |
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Changes between release 0.4.3 and 0.4.4 include, among other things: |
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o) The interrupt subsystem has been redesigned. This means two things: |
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x) Internal code cleanup, which makes the whole emulator more |
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maintainable. Instead of using magically encoded integers |
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for interrupts, strings are now used. These strings are in |
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the form of "paths", so that devices and busses can more |
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easily be connected to other busses, devices, or CPUs. |
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x) Some machine types which happened to work in release 0.4.3, |
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but were not listed in the documentation as working, may |
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have stopped working now. As always, the documentation should |
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indicate the combinations of machine modes and guest OSes that |
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are supposed to work. |
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o) SuperH (SH4) emulation is now somewhat more stable, enough to let a |
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NetBSD/dreamcast Live CD be usable. |
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o) PowerPC "G4" emulation is now stable enough to let NetBSD/macppc |
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run from a disk image. (Installing actually worked before, but the |
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NetBSD/macppc GENERIC kernel uses AltiVec instructions which were |
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not implemented correctly.) |
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o) The PICA-61 (arc) and i80321 (evbarm) emulation modes now have their |
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timers fixed at 100 Hz. A hardcoded speed like this is very ugly, but |
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it is at least better than before (when the timer wasn't really |
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running at any specific speed at all). |
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Please read the HISTORY files for more details. |
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This release has a number of known bugs, listed in the BUGS file, but feel |
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free to drop me an email regarding other bugs. |
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Files included in this release are: |
Files included in this release are: |
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BUGS A list of known bugs. |
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HISTORY Detailed revision history / changelog. |
HISTORY Detailed revision history / changelog. |
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LICENSE Copyright message / license. |
LICENSE Copyright message / license. |
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README Quick start instructions, for the impatient. |
README Quick start instructions, for the impatient. |
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RELEASE This file. |
RELEASE This file. |
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TODO TODO notes. |
TODO TODO notes. |
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configure, Makefile.skel sh and make scripts for building GXemul |
configure, Makefile.skel sh and make scripts for building GXemul. |
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demos Tutorial-like demos of testmachine functionality. |
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doc Documentation. |
doc Documentation. |
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experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
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src, devices, and include Source code. |
src Source code. |
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tests Regression tests. |
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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 |
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should work on most Unix-like systems. |
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Building the emulator should work on most Unix-like systems. (One system which |
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is specifically known to NOT work is Ultrix/RISC inside the emulator; Ultrix |
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chokes on the configure script and the default cc in Ultrix doesn't work.) |
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Regarding files in the include/ directory: only some of these are written by |
Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written |
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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 |
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that "All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software" |
that "All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software" |
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must display acknowledgements. Even though I do NOT feel I mention features or |
must display acknowledgements. Even though I do NOT feel I mention features or |
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use of the header files (the "software") in any advertising materials, I am |
use of the header files (the "software") in any advertising materials, I am |
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This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
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This product includes software developed by Brini. |
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This product includes software developed by Mark Brinicombe |
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for the NetBSD Project. |
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This product includes software developed by TooLs GmbH. |
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This product includes software developed by Manuel Bouyer. |
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This product includes software developed by the Alice Group. |
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This product includes software developed by Ichiro FUKUHARA. |
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This product includes software developed by Marcus Comstedt. |
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Also, src/include/alpha_rpb.h requires the following: |
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Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Carnegie-Mellon University. |
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All rights reserved. |
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Author: Keith Bostic, Chris G. Demetriou |
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Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and |
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its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright |
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notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the |
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software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions |
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thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation. |
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See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
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or reuse code. |
or reuse code. |
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Thanks to everyone who has provided me with feedback. |
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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 |
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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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