1 |
Release notes for GXemul 0.3.3.1 |
Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.3.7 |
2 |
================================ |
================================================================ |
3 |
|
|
4 |
Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. |
Copyright (C) 2003-2005 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. Several |
emulation modes are available. In some modes, processors and surrounding |
9 |
emulation modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors and |
hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating |
10 |
surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified |
systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine. |
11 |
operating systems run as if they were running on a real machine. |
|
12 |
|
MIPS processors are emulated using either a simple binary translation |
13 |
I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run |
layer ("recompilation"), which is used on Alpha and i386 hosts, or by |
14 |
inside the emulator: |
traditional interpretation (very very slow, but works on any host platform). |
15 |
|
|
16 |
|
ARM and PowerPC processors are emulated using a newer dynamic translation |
17 |
|
system. Performance is somewhere between traditional interpretation and |
18 |
|
dynamic recompilation; however, the dynamic translation system used in |
19 |
|
GXemul does NOT require platform-specific back-end code. In plain English, |
20 |
|
this means that the dyntrans system works on any host platform. |
21 |
|
|
22 |
|
I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run inside |
23 |
|
the emulator. Instructions on how to install and run these can be found in |
24 |
|
the documentation. |
25 |
|
|
26 |
Guest operating system Emulated machine |
Guest operating system Emulated machine |
27 |
---------------------- ---------------- |
---------------------- ---------------- |
28 |
NetBSD/pmax 2.0 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200 |
NetBSD/pmax 2.1 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200 |
29 |
OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200 |
OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200 |
30 |
Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200 |
Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200 |
31 |
Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200 |
Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200 |
33 |
Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200 |
Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200 |
34 |
NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61 |
NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61 |
35 |
OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61 |
OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61 |
36 |
NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880 |
NetBSD/hpcmips 2.1 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880 |
37 |
NetBSD/cobalt 2.0 Cobalt |
NetBSD/cobalt 2.1 Cobalt |
38 |
|
NetBSD/evbmips 2.1 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board |
39 |
|
NetBSD/sgimips 2.1 SGI O2 ("IP32") |
40 |
|
NetBSD/cats 2.1 CATS (ARM) |
41 |
|
OpenBSD/cats 3.8 CATS (ARM) |
42 |
|
NetBSD/prep 2.1 PReP (PowerPC Reference Platform) |
43 |
|
|
44 |
|
Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than |
45 |
|
others. The best supported guest operating systems are probably NetBSD/pmax, |
46 |
|
NetBSD/cats and OpenBSD/cats. |
47 |
|
|
48 |
|
The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to run |
49 |
|
entire guest operating systems. However, as GXemul is an instruction-level |
50 |
|
emulator, it does not simulate things smaller than an instruction. What this |
51 |
|
means is that pipe-line stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses |
52 |
|
or cache misses, and other micro-architectural effects are not simulated. |
53 |
|
|
54 |
|
User-visible change between release 0.3.6.2 and 0.3.7 include: |
55 |
|
|
56 |
|
o) The experimental PowerPC emulation mode is now working well enough |
57 |
|
to allow NetBSD/prep 2.1 to be installed and run inside the emulator. |
58 |
|
It is not 100% stable, and it is not optimized for performance yet, |
59 |
|
but hopefully enough for simple experiments. |
60 |
|
|
61 |
|
o) I finally took the time to implement a DEC 21143 NIC; this brings |
62 |
|
network connectivity to NetBSD/cats. (The userland "NAT"-like |
63 |
|
networking layer is still a bit buggy, and does not work with |
64 |
|
everything. However, NetBSD/cats can now be installed via ftp.) |
65 |
|
|
66 |
|
o) CD-ROM images can now in some cases be detected as ATAPI CD-ROMs |
67 |
|
instead of IDE harddisks. It works for at least NetBSD, OpenBSD, |
68 |
|
and Linux on CATS, and NetBSD on hpcmips. |
69 |
|
|
70 |
|
Internal (code related) changes include: |
71 |
|
|
72 |
|
o) Cleanup of the PCI and ISA bus frameworks; in practice this means |
73 |
|
that more code can be shared between different emulated machine |
74 |
|
models than before, and that adding new machine types will become |
75 |
|
easier. |
76 |
|
|
77 |
A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost |
o) Dyntrans updates; 32-bit PowerPC mostly, but also many performance |
78 |
working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are |
related updates for ARM. |
|
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. It is important to remember, though, |
|
|
that GXemul does not simulate things smaller than an instruction; this |
|
|
means that pipe-line stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses, |
|
|
and other effects are not simulated. |
|
|
|
|
|
Summary of changes between release 0.3.2 and 0.3.3.1: |
|
|
|
|
|
x) When booting from an ISO9660 (CDROM) filesystem image, the kernel |
|
|
can now in some cases be read directly from the image, so there is |
|
|
no need any longer to supply an external kernel. (It is a quick, |
|
|
buggy, and very ugly hack, but it sometimes works.) |
|
|
|
|
|
x) Mixing more than one disk image type (SCSI, IDE, PC-style floppy) |
|
|
within one emulated machine is now possible. (There is however no |
|
|
stable emulation mode yet that uses this.) |
|
79 |
|
|
80 |
x) Many minor updates and bugfixes. |
There have also been lots of other changes, too many and small to mention here. |
81 |
|
|
82 |
Files included in this release are: |
Files included in this release are: |
83 |
|
|
91 |
doc Documentation. |
doc Documentation. |
92 |
experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
93 |
src Source code. |
src Source code. |
|
tests Regression tests. |
|
94 |
|
|
95 |
To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make. |
To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make. |
96 |
|
|
162 |
|
|
163 |
This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
164 |
|
|
165 |
|
This product includes software developed by Brini. |
166 |
|
|
167 |
|
This product includes software developed by Mark Brinicombe |
168 |
|
for the NetBSD Project. |
169 |
|
|
170 |
|
This product includes software developed by TooLs GmbH. |
171 |
|
|
172 |
|
This product includes software developed by Manuel Bouyer. |
173 |
|
|
174 |
|
Also, src/include/alpha_rpb.h requires the following: |
175 |
|
|
176 |
|
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Carnegie-Mellon University. |
177 |
|
All rights reserved. |
178 |
|
|
179 |
|
Author: Keith Bostic, Chris G. Demetriou |
180 |
|
|
181 |
|
Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and |
182 |
|
its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright |
183 |
|
notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the |
184 |
|
software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions |
185 |
|
thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation. |
186 |
|
|
187 |
See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
188 |
or reuse code. |
or reuse code. |
189 |
|
|
190 |
Thanks to everyone who has provided me with feedback. |
Thanks to (in no specific order) Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan Romero |
191 |
|
Pardines, Alec Voropay, Göran Weinholt, Alexander Yurchenko, and everyone |
192 |
|
else who has provided me with feedback. |
193 |
|
|
194 |
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 |
195 |
or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se. |
or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se. |