upstream/0.3.2/RELEASE

Release notes for GXemul 0.3.2
==============================

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. Several
emulation modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors and
surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified
operating systems 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 (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                 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880
    NetBSD/cobalt 2.0                  Cobalt

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. 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.

The most important/visible changes from 0.3.1 to 0.3.2 are:

        x)  NetBSD/cobalt can run from a harddisk image. (Installation
            must be done using another OS though, for example NetBSD/pmax.)

        x)  Some minor fixes to make the binary translation system a bit
            more stable.

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 everyone 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	dpavlin	4	Release notes for GXemul 0.3.2
2	dpavlin	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. Several
9			emulation modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors and
10			surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified
11			operating systems run as if they were running on a real machine.
12
13			I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run
14			inside the emulator:
15
16			Guest operating system Emulated machine
17			---------------------- ----------------
18			NetBSD/pmax 2.0 (and 1.6.2) DECstation 5000/200
19			OpenBSD/pmax 2.8-BETA DECstation 5000/200
20			Ultrix 4.2-4.5 DECstation 5000/200
21			Sprite demo harddisk image DECstation 5000/200
22			Debian GNU/Linux for DECstation DECstation 5000/200
23			Redhat Linux 7.1 for mips DECstation 5000/200
24			NetBSD/arc 1.6.2 Acer PICA-61
25			OpenBSD/arc 2.3 Acer PICA-61
26			NetBSD/hpcmips 2.0 NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, 880
27	dpavlin	4	NetBSD/cobalt 2.0 Cobalt
28	dpavlin	2
29			A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost
30			working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are
31			just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation.
32
33			The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to
34			run entire guest operating systems. It is important to remember, though,
35			that GXemul does not simulate things smaller than an instruction; this
36			means that pipe-line stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses,
37			and other effects are not simulated.
38
39	dpavlin	4	The most important/visible changes from 0.3.1 to 0.3.2 are:
40	dpavlin	2
41	dpavlin	4	x) NetBSD/cobalt can run from a harddisk image. (Installation
42			must be done using another OS though, for example NetBSD/pmax.)
43	dpavlin	2
44	dpavlin	4	x) Some minor fixes to make the binary translation system a bit
45			more stable.
46	dpavlin	2
47			Files included in this release are:
48
49			BUGS A list of known bugs.
50			HISTORY Detailed revision history / changelog.
51			LICENSE Copyright message / license.
52			README Quick start instructions, for the impatient.
53			RELEASE This file.
54			TODO TODO notes.
55	dpavlin	4	configure, Makefile.skel sh and make scripts for building GXemul.
56	dpavlin	2	doc Documentation.
57			experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.)
58	dpavlin	4	src Source code.
59	dpavlin	2	tests Regression tests.
60
61			To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make.
62
63			Building the emulator should work on most Unix-like systems. (One system which
64			is specifically known to NOT work is Ultrix/RISC inside the emulator; Ultrix
65			chokes on the configure script and the default cc in Ultrix doesn't work.)
66
67	dpavlin	4	Regarding files in the src/include/ directory: only some of these are written
68			by me, the rest are from other sources (such as NetBSD). The license text says
69	dpavlin	2	that "All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software"
70			must display acknowledgements. Even though I do NOT feel I mention features or
71			use of the header files (the "software") in any advertising materials, I am
72			still very grateful for the fact that these people have made their files
73			available for re-use, so regardless of legal requirements, I guess thanking
74			them like this is in order:
75
76			This product includes software developed by the University of
77			California, Berkeley and its contributors.
78
79			This product includes software developed for the
80			NetBSD Project. See http://www.netbsd.org/ for
81			information about NetBSD.
82
83			This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone for
84			the NetBSD Project.
85
86			This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project
87			by Matthias Drochner.
88
89			This product includes software developed by the NetBSD
90			Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.
91
92			This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou.
93			[for the NetBSD Project.]
94
95			This product includes software developed by Adam Glass.
96
97			This product includes software developed by the PocketBSD project
98			and its contributors.
99
100			This product includes software developed by Peter Galbavy.
101
102			Carnegie Mellon University (multiple header files,
103			no specific advertisement text required)
104
105			This product includes software developed by Charles M. Hannum.
106
107			This product includes software developed under OpenBSD by Per Fogelström.
108
109			This product includes software developed by Per Fogelström.
110
111			This product includes software developed at Ludd, University of
112			Luleå, Sweden and its contributors.
113
114			This product includes software developed by Hellmuth Michaelis
115			and Joerg Wunsch
116
117			The font(s) in devices/fonts are Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, 1994
118			by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch. ("This product includes software
119			developed by Hellmuth Michaelis and Joerg Wunsch", well, the font
120			is maybe not software, but still...)
121
122			impactsr-bsd.h is Copyright (C) 2004 by Stanislaw Skowronek.
123
124			This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by
125			Wasabi Systems, Inc. [by Simon Burge]
126
127			arcbios_other.h is Copyright (c) 1996 M. Warner Losh.
128
129			This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz.
130
131			See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul
132			or reuse code.
133
134			Thanks to everyone who has provided me with feedback.
135
136			If you have found GXemul useful in some way, or feel like sending me comments
137			or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se.
138