[Oberon] hardware requirements

[muller at inf.ethz.ch]

"Peter Easthope" <peter_easthope at gulfnet.sd64.bc.ca> wrote:
> What are the advantages in excluding the 386?

A 386-based system normally doesn't have a floating-point 
coprocessor.  This is not a big problem, since Native Oberon
has an emulator that seems to work reasonably well.  The 
module just has to be linked with the boot file.  You could
try adding FPA after Kernel in the BootLinker.Link command
in Native.Tool and then link and install a new boot file. 

> Alternatively, what are the disadvantages of 
> allowing Oberon to continue to operate on a 386?

There is some ugliness required in the kernel to handle
floating point exceptions on the 386, but it is not too
serious.

> The analogous questions apply to BlueBottle.
> Is the requirement of a Pentium processor for a 
> specific technical requirement of the OS or is it 
> simply for a policy of encouraging use of current 
> hardware?

The current floating-point emulator is not re-entrant
and can not be used directly in Bluebottle.

All Pentiums have the floating-point instructions built in.

Otherwise, Bluebottle's kernel relies on the timing and
caching instructions available on a Pentium.  To see where,
search for "SYSTEM.Pentium" in *.Mod with Find.Panel .

It shouldn't be too difficult to adapt.

"Yuri M. Skripkah" <yurix at i.com.ua> wrote:
> I'm in deep sorrow what n-o (and bluebottle) not support wide range of hardware.
> But really I can't make drivers or donate this work. Because I'll be
> patient until  someone make sort of HAL which can accept windows(tm)
> drivers or I'll use hosted version.

Unfortunately this won't change until more programmers start contributing
to the project.

Lisias Toledo <lisias at unforgettable.com> wrote:
> Well, I still use a laptop with a 486dlc, VGA Monochrome and 4 megabytes
> of memory... 8-P

Native should work on this.  Bluebottle potentially could (without
the window manager), but the floating-point emulator would have to
be ported.  If anyone is interested in trying this, start with 
FPA.Mod from Native.  Some interaction with Bluebottle's AosActive.Mod
would be required, in the context switching code.

> I know things will be a bit slow, but frankly : can't be worst than
> Minix or even Linux 2.0 (Good Lord... 8-) I had tried before.

If you stick to the basic Oberon system (TextFrames), it should work
quite well.  Even TextGadgets should be useable.

-- Pieter

--
Pieter Muller, Computer Systems Institute, ETH Zurich / MCT Lab, Zurich
Native Oberon OS: http://www.oberon.ethz.ch/native/