From owner-freebsd-hackers Fri Oct 30 07:49:48 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id HAA22860 for freebsd-hackers-outgoing; Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:49:48 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from galea.com (Odie.Galea.Com [205.237.227.1]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id HAA22850 for ; Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:49:41 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from sepotvin@videotron.ca) Received: from gotlib.galea.com (Gotlib.Galea.Com [205.237.227.60]) by galea.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id LAA17290; Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:03:27 -0500 Received: from videotron.ca ([205.237.227.166]) by gotlib.galea.com (Lotus SMTP MTA SMTP v4.6 (462.2 9-3-1997)) with SMTP id 852566AD.0056C224; Fri, 30 Oct 1998 10:47:38 -0500 Message-ID: <3639DFC8.7C3AE9FB@videotron.ca> Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 10:48:24 -0500 From: "Stephane E. Potvin" Organization: Galea Network Security Inc. X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.06 [en] (X11; I; FreeBSD 3.0-CURRENT i386) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Doug Rabson CC: Mike Smith , Hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD arm port References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Doug Rabson wrote: > > On Thu, 29 Oct 1998, Mike Smith wrote: > > > > Also, some pointers as to what are the main steps for doing such a port > > > (FreeBSD port as a whole) would be greatly appreciated. > > > > Crucial to bringing up any new port is the ability to tighten the build/ > > debug cycle. If you have an emulator, that's excellent. If you can > > boot diskless, that's almost as good. Copying kernels onto floppies and > > lugging them back and forth gets old _really_ quick. > > The best debugging environment is definately a simulator (but only if it > has good hooks into gdb). Netbooting with serial-line debugging runs a > close second. > > I used the excellent SimOS simulator exclusively in the early stages of > the FreeBSD/alpha port and was able to get the thing to boot all the way > to single-user mode and run a few commands before I touched a real > machine. That really shortened the debug time for the real hardware. > > The SimOS simulator currently supports various mips and alpha cpus. > Future versions will have other cpus but the SimOS folks will be able to > give you an idea. > I've just checked with their home page but unfortunately they don't seems to have any support yet for ARM architectures. I guess netbooting with serial debugger will have to do for a start... > > > > You want to start with a skeleton of the new system-specific code, and > > flesh it out as you go. The first goal is to get enough infrastructure > > in place to build the kernel. The alpha port is probably a good place > > to look first, as it's only just starting to put on weight, and has a > > lot of new architectural stuff in it. > > I think that cloning the alpha port and hacking it is as good a way to > start as any. Make sure you have current source trees for the NetBSD and > Linux kernel too for cross reference. You have a steep learning curve > ahead - good luck! Thanks, I'm pretty sure I'll need all I can find :) Stephane E. Potvin Galea Network Security. --- La vie est trop courte pour etre prise au serieux. anonyme To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message