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Release notes for GXemul 0.3.4 |
Release notes for Gavare's eXperimental Emulator (GXemul), 0.3.5 |
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Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. |
Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. |
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GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be |
GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be used to |
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used to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines, regardless |
run binary code for MIPS-based machines, regardless of host platform. Several |
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of host platform. Several emulation modes are available. For some modes, |
emulation modes are available. For some modes, processors and surrounding |
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processors and surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to |
hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating |
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let unmodified operating systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running |
systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine. |
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on a real machine. |
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(Non-MIPS emulation modes are also under development, but so far none of those |
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modes has reached the completeness required to run unmodified operating |
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systems.) |
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I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run |
I have verified that the following "guest" operating systems can run inside |
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inside the emulator: |
the emulator: |
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Guest operating system Emulated machine |
Guest operating system Emulated machine |
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NetBSD/evbmips 2.0.2 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board |
NetBSD/evbmips 2.0.2 Malta 5Kc/4Kc evaluation board |
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NetBSD/sgimips 2.0.2 SGI O2 ("IP32") |
NetBSD/sgimips 2.0.2 SGI O2 ("IP32") |
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Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than |
Some of these guest operating systems are easier to install and run than |
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others. The best supported mode is the DECstation 5000/200 emulation mode, |
others. The best supported mode is the DECstation 5000/200 emulation mode, with |
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with NetBSD/pmax as the guest operating system. |
NetBSD/pmax as the guest operating system. |
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A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost |
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working well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are |
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just skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation. |
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The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to |
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run entire guest operating systems. (However, GXemul does not simulate |
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things smaller than an instruction. What this means is that pipe-line |
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stalls, penalties caused by branch-prediction misses or cache misses, and |
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other micro-architectural effects are not simulated.) |
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Summary of changes between release 0.3.3.2 and 0.3.4: |
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x) When emulating a network of multiple machines, the emulated |
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machines can now be placed on different hosts. |
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x) NetBSD/evbmips can now be installed and run from a disk image. |
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(There is no INSTALL kernel for NetBSD/evbmips, so you need to |
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install using another OS, for example emulated NetBSD/pmax.) |
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x) NetBSD/sgimips can now be installed. Not onto a SCSI disk, |
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but the files can be exported via nfs from another emulated |
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machine. The sgimips machine can then netboot. (Read the |
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documentation for details.) |
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There have also been various other minor updates and bugfixes. |
A couple of other emulation modes exist. Some of these modes are almost working |
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well enough to run complete guest operating systems, but most are just |
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skeletons. The modes that work are listed in the documentation. |
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The emulator can also be used in other experiments; it does not have to run |
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entire guest operating systems. (However, GXemul does not simulate things |
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smaller than an instruction. What this means is that pipe-line stalls, |
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penalties caused by branch-prediction misses or cache misses, and other |
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micro-architectural effects are not simulated.) |
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The user-visible changes between release 0.3.4 and 0.3.5 are minor, and |
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can be summarized as follows: |
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o) Updates to the (old) binary translation subsystem, resulting |
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in minor speed improvements. |
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o) 64-bit MIPS dmult/dmultu has been fixed. |
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o) slt* instructions for 64-bit MIPS were incorrectly implemented |
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in the i386 backend. This has been fixed. |
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There have been many other bug fixes and updates, most of which are not |
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visible. |
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Files included in this release are: |
Files included in this release are: |
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doc Documentation. |
doc Documentation. |
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experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
experiments Experimental code. (Usually not needed.) |
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src Source code. |
src Source code. |
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tests Regression tests. |
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To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make. |
To build the emulator, run the ./configure script, and then run make. |
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This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
This product includes software developed by Marc Horowitz. |
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Also, src/include/alpha_rpb.h requires the following: |
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Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Carnegie-Mellon University. |
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All rights reserved. |
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Author: Keith Bostic, Chris G. Demetriou |
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Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and |
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its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright |
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notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the |
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software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions |
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thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation. |
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See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
See individual files for license details, if you plan to redistribute GXemul |
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or reuse code. |
or reuse code. |
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Thanks to (in no specific order, that is, this is in alphabetic order :-) |
Thanks to (in no specific order) Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan RP, Alec |
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Joachim Buss, Juli Mallett, Juan RP, Alec Voropay, Alexander Yurchenko, |
Voropay, Göran Weinholt, Alexander Yurchenko, and everyone else who has |
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and everyone else who has provided me with feedback. |
provided me with feedback. |
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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 |
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or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se. |
or feedback in general, then mail me at anders(at)gavare.se. |