upstream/0.3.4/RELEASE

Release notes for GXemul 0.3.4
==============================

Copyright (C) 2003-2005  Anders Gavare.


GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be
used to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines, regardless
of host platform. Several emulation modes are available. For some modes,
processors and surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to
let unmodified operating systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running
on a real machine.

I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run
inside the emulator:

    Guest operating system             Emulated machine
    ----------------------             ----------------
    NetBSD/pmax 2.0.2 (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
    Debian GNU/Linux for DECstation    DECstation 5000/200
    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")

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.

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.)

Summary of changes between release 0.3.3.2 and 0.3.4:

        x)  When emulating a network of multiple machines, the emulated
            machines can now be placed on different hosts.

        x)  NetBSD/evbmips can now be installed and run from a disk image.
            (There is no INSTALL kernel for NetBSD/evbmips, so you need to
            install using another OS, for example emulated NetBSD/pmax.)

        x)  NetBSD/sgimips can now be installed. Not onto a SCSI disk,
            but the files can be exported via nfs from another emulated
            machine. The sgimips machine can then netboot. (Read the
            documentation for details.)

There have also been various other minor updates and bugfixes.

Files included in this release are:

  BUGS                        A list of known bugs.
  HISTORY                     Detailed revision history / changelog.
  LICENSE                     Copyright message / license.
  README                      Quick start instructions, for the impatient.
  RELEASE                     This file.
  TODO                        TODO notes.
  configure, Makefile.skel    sh and make scripts for building GXemul.
  doc                         Documentation.
  experiments                 Experimental code. (Usually not needed.)
  src                         Source code.
  tests                       Regression tests.

To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make.

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.)

Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written
by me, the rest are from other sources (such as NetBSD). The license text says
that "All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software"
must display acknowledgements. Even though I do NOT feel I mention features or
use of the header files (the "software") in any advertising materials, I am
still very grateful for the fact that these people have made their files
available for re-use, so regardless of legal requirements, I guess thanking
them like this is in order:

    This product includes software developed by the University of
    California, Berkeley and its contributors.

    This product includes software developed for the
    NetBSD Project.  See http://www.netbsd.org/ for
    information about NetBSD.

    This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone for
    the NetBSD Project.

    This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project
    by Matthias Drochner.

    This product includes software developed by the NetBSD
    Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.

    This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou.
    [for the NetBSD Project.]

    This product includes software developed by Adam Glass.

    This product includes software developed by the PocketBSD project
    and its contributors.

    This product includes software developed by Peter Galbavy.

    Carnegie Mellon University   (multiple header files,
    no specific advertisement text required)

    This product includes software developed by Charles M. Hannum.

    This product includes software developed under OpenBSD by Per Fogelström.

    This product includes software developed by Per Fogelström.

    This product includes software developed at Ludd, University of
    Luleå, Sweden and its contributors.

    This product includes software developed by Hellmuth Michaelis
    and Joerg Wunsch

    The font(s) in devices/fonts are Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, 1994
    by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch.  ("This product includes software
    developed by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch", well, the font
    is maybe not software, but still...)

    impactsr-bsd.h is Copyright (C) 2004 by Stanislaw Skowronek.

    This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by
    Wasabi Systems, Inc.  [by Simon Burge]

    arcbios_other.h is Copyright (c) 1996 M. Warner Losh.

    This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz.

See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul
or reuse code.

Thanks to (in no specific order, that is, this is in alphabetic order :-)
Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan RP, Alec Voropay, Alexander Yurchenko,
and everyone else who has provided me with feedback.

If you have found GXemul useful in some way, or feel like sending me comments
or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se.

1	Release notes for GXemul 0.3.4
2	==============================
3
4	Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare.
5
6
7	GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be
8	used to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines, regardless
9	of host platform. Several emulation modes are available. For some modes,
10	processors and surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to
11	let unmodified operating systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running
12	on a real machine.
13
14	I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run
15	inside the emulator:
16
17	Guest operating system Emulated machine
18	---------------------- ----------------
19	NetBSD/pmax 2.0.2 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200
20	OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200
21	Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200
22	Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200
23	Debian GNU/Linux for DECstation DECstation 5000/200
24	Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200
25	NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61
26	OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61
27	NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0.2 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880
28	NetBSD/cobalt 2.0.2 Cobalt
29	NetBSD/evbmips 2.0.2 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board
30	NetBSD/sgimips 2.0.2 SGI O2 ("IP32")
31
32	Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than
33	others. The best supported mode is the DECstation 5000/200 emulation mode,
34	with NetBSD/pmax as the guest operating system.
35
36	A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost
37	working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are
38	just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation.
39
40	The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to
41	run entire guest operating systems. (However, GXemul does not simulate
42	things smaller than an instruction. What this means is that pipe-line
43	stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses or cache misses, and
44	other micro-architectural effects are not simulated.)
45
46	Summary of changes between release 0.3.3.2 and 0.3.4:
47
48	x) When emulating a network of multiple machines, the emulated
49	machines can now be placed on different hosts.
50
51	x) NetBSD/evbmips can now be installed and run from a disk image.
52	(There is no INSTALL kernel for NetBSD/evbmips, so you need to
53	install using another OS, for example emulated NetBSD/pmax.)
54
55	x) NetBSD/sgimips can now be installed. Not onto a SCSI disk,
56	but the files can be exported via nfs from another emulated
57	machine. The sgimips machine can then netboot. (Read the
58	documentation for details.)
59
60	There have also been various other minor updates and bugfixes.
61
62	Files included in this release are:
63
64	BUGS A list of known bugs.
65	HISTORY Detailed revision history / changelog.
66	LICENSE Copyright message / license.
67	README Quick start instructions, for the impatient.
68	RELEASE This file.
69	TODO TODO notes.
70	configure, Makefile.skel sh and make scripts for building GXemul.
71	doc Documentation.
72	experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.)
73	src Source code.
74	tests Regression tests.
75
76	To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make.
77
78	Building the emulator should work on most Unix-like systems. (One system which
79	is specifically known to NOT work is Ultrix/RISC inside the emulator; Ultrix
80	chokes on the configure script and the default cc in Ultrix doesn't work.)
81
82	Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written
83	by me, the rest are from other sources (such as NetBSD). The license text says
84	that "All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software"
85	must display acknowledgements. Even though I do NOT feel I mention features or
86	use of the header files (the "software") in any advertising materials, I am
87	still very grateful for the fact that these people have made their files
88	available for re-use, so regardless of legal requirements, I guess thanking
89	them like this is in order:
90
91	This product includes software developed by the University of
92	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
93
94	This product includes software developed for the
95	NetBSD Project. See http://www.netbsd.org/ for
96	information about NetBSD.
97
98	This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone for
99	the NetBSD Project.
100
101	This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project
102	by Matthias Drochner.
103
104	This product includes software developed by the NetBSD
105	Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.
106
107	This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou.
108	[for the NetBSD Project.]
109
110	This product includes software developed by Adam Glass.
111
112	This product includes software developed by the PocketBSD project
113	and its contributors.
114
115	This product includes software developed by Peter Galbavy.
116
117	Carnegie Mellon University (multiple header files,
118	no specific advertisement text required)
119
120	This product includes software developed by Charles M. Hannum.
121
122	This product includes software developed under OpenBSD by Per Fogelström.
123
124	This product includes software developed by Per Fogelström.
125
126	This product includes software developed at Ludd, University of
127	Luleå, Sweden and its contributors.
128
129	This product includes software developed by Hellmuth Michaelis
130	and Joerg Wunsch
131
132	The font(s) in devices/fonts are Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, 1994
133	by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch. ("This product includes software
134	developed by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch", well, the font
135	is maybe not software, but still...)
136
137	impactsr-bsd.h is Copyright (C) 2004 by Stanislaw Skowronek.
138
139	This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by
140	Wasabi Systems, Inc. [by Simon Burge]
141
142	arcbios_other.h is Copyright (c) 1996 M. Warner Losh.
143
144	This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz.
145
146	See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul
147	or reuse code.
148
149	Thanks to (in no specific order, that is, this is in alphabetic order :-)
150	Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan RP, Alec Voropay, Alexander Yurchenko,
151	and everyone else who has provided me with feedback.
152
153	If you have found GXemul useful in some way, or feel like sending me comments
154	or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se.
155