Re: duplicate ops (Re: updated assembler)


"cr88192" wrote:

[HW-drivers][SMC][...]

theoretically MS could do it for their own OS and drivers,
but they don't even do this much.
I'm afraid M$-OS doesn't have the slightest clue of how and why...

they don't need to know how the driver works. that is what the kernel
stub would be for, ie, to allow it to interact at the level of the API
(WDM,NDIS, ...).

Yes, a 'simple' rewrite of the NTOS64kernel could manage all this. :)


I think it works similar already, all exception and IRQ-handling
have to run in ring0, so there will occure a task-switch anyway.

was thinking all this would run in the same task as the main kernel, and
also ring-0. this option avoids needing a seperate task.

Right but application code is usually active and may be interrupted often,
and this causes all the back and forward CPL transitions.


[code converters...]
this would be much faster, if albeit much more complicated than a
simpler interpreter-based emulator.

I have to think about this idea in more detail ...
at the moment I cannot imagine this to be faster.

well, though not exactly the same, I have had some level of experience
writing both interpreters and compilers.
though it may seem dubious (all these extra indirections and funky
operations), one needs to remember just how much slower an interpreter is
(where each individual opcode is decoded, dispatched, and simulated).

Perhaps we talk about several things at the same time ? :)

One step would be to convert existing drivers to become 64-bit code,
(for the fastest performing solution).
Then we could emulate an 32-bit OS while in long mode for IRQs and HW,
(here I got my doubts about timing needs and messaging).
Finally we could just patch the 64-bit OS to perform all HW-related
stuff as 32-bit tasks.
(not the fastest and again the messaging problem)

[about SMC]
I think a converter should keep all funtionality including SMC.
An emulation of SMC will be possible (AFAIU as you desribed),
but may cost too much time for fast acting hardware.

[side talk..]
I think I need a newer motherboard.
my computer has generally poor stability when in long mode...
linux works, but it still freezes sometimes.

Sounds like a intermittance bug, have you tried to reassemble
(unplug/reconnect everything)? Sometimes just one never recogised
tiny hair may spoil all the game.

but then, I would need all these newer parts (newer memory, a PCI-E video
card vs. the current AGP one, ...).

I still haven't got my desired 200MHz AGP board, perhaps next X-mas..? :)

__
wolfgang




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