28 messages in org.freebsd.freebsd-alphaRe: alpha PC | From | Sent On | Attachments |
|---|---|---|
| Don | Feb 4, 1999 4:32 am | |
| Adauto Souza | Feb 4, 1999 4:39 am | |
| Andrew Gallatin | Feb 4, 1999 6:09 am | |
| Doug Rabson | Feb 4, 1999 6:22 am | |
| Joerg Czeranski | Feb 4, 1999 6:40 am | |
| Andrew Gallatin | Feb 4, 1999 6:53 am | |
| Scot Elliott | Feb 4, 1999 6:56 am | |
| Stuart Krivis | Feb 4, 1999 7:28 am | |
| Martin Heller | Feb 4, 1999 8:19 am | |
| Todd Vierling | Feb 4, 1999 8:26 am | |
| Ted Spradley | Feb 4, 1999 8:33 am | |
| Stuart Krivis | Feb 4, 1999 8:42 am | |
| Ted Spradley | Feb 4, 1999 8:47 am | |
| Matthew Jacob | Feb 4, 1999 9:41 am | |
| Don | Feb 4, 1999 7:26 pm | |
| Don | Feb 4, 1999 7:46 pm | |
| Peter Wemm | Feb 4, 1999 7:54 pm | |
| Terry Lambert | Feb 4, 1999 8:08 pm | |
| Jason Thorpe | Feb 4, 1999 8:42 pm | |
| Jason Thorpe | Feb 4, 1999 8:48 pm | |
| Peter Wemm | Feb 4, 1999 10:01 pm | |
| Christian Weisgerber | Feb 5, 1999 2:09 am | |
| Scot Elliott | Feb 5, 1999 2:51 am | |
| Christian Weisgerber | Feb 5, 1999 1:35 pm | |
| Don | Feb 5, 1999 1:45 pm | |
| John Birrell | Feb 5, 1999 1:56 pm | |
| Don | Feb 5, 1999 4:50 pm | |
| Doug Rabson | Feb 9, 1999 11:59 am |
| Subject: | Re: alpha PC | |
|---|---|---|
| From: | Jason Thorpe (thor...@nas.nasa.gov) | |
| Date: | Feb 4, 1999 8:48:04 pm | |
| List: | org.freebsd.freebsd-alpha | |
On Fri, 05 Feb 1999 11:54:24 +0800 Peter Wemm <pet...@netplex.com.au> wrote:
etc. In the console code is embedded a copy of "palcode". Palcode is both a blessing and a curse. It's the low level pseudo-microcode that provides a personality for the execution environment. It is meant to
Ah ah ah! It's not microcode! Remember, this is a RISC system! Thar be no microcode here!
What really sets PALcode apart is that it is written in the standard Alpha instruction set. It *does* use some facilities only avalable to PALcode, e.g. the hw_* instructions (which are different from Alpha processor model to model) and the IPRs (internal processor registers).
But, it's really just a program, much like a kernel, which runs at a higher privilege level (PAL mode).
The NT palcode basically tries to make the Alpha look as much like a PC as it can get away with.
Well, sort of a cross between PC and MIPS :-) NT, even on the i386, requres a "veneer" program which presents a sort of ARC-like console :-) NT is a lot less x86-centric than a lot of people think.
restore the 64 bit environment or something like that. It can then run Unix-like OS's that were intended to run under a SRM environment and real OSF palcode with a lot less pain than trying to run in a sanitized-to-avoid-confusing-NT environment.
err, OSF/1 PALcode environment. There's at least one commercial Alpha system which ships with a non-SRM console, but has OSF/1 PALcode.
-- Jason R. Thorpe <thor...@nas.nasa.gov>
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