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To: Chad Shackley <zoogy@cris.com>
Subject: Re: npx0 device
Cc: questions@freebsd.org
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At 06:48 PM 1/18/96 -0800, you wrote:
>You know...just being a newbie to unix, it seems to me that if the problem
with >removing the npx0 device happens this frequently, 
>The installation handbook mentions nothing about this being a mandatory
device, >neither do the GENERIC kernel notes,

        The primary reference for config is LINT, not GENERIC. If you read
the information on building a new kernel, it suggests you refer to LINT for
configuration options.

The LINT mentions not once, but twice, that npx is mandatory, as follows:

#####################################################################
# HARDWARE DEVICE CONFIGURATION
  ...
# Mandatory ISA devices: isa, sc or vt, npx

and

# This device is mandatory.
#
# The Numeric Processing eXtension is used to either enable the
# coprocessor or enable math emulation.  If your machine doesn't contain
# a math co-processor, you must *also* add the option "MATH_EMULATE".
# THIS IS NOT AN OPTIONAL ENTRY, DO NOT REMOVE IT
#
device          npx0    at isa? port "IO_NPX" irq 13 vector npxintr

        I hope that clears it up for you. If you take a few minutes to read
through LINT, the whole config process should be much clearer.

  James Robertson