flat assembler
Message board for the users of flat assembler.

Index > OS Construction > IDE bootloader (no BIOS)

Goto page 1, 2  Next
Author
Thread Post new topic Reply to topic
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 20 Jun 2003, 01:39
IDE Bootloader for OS experiments v1.01
*This post is updated as soon as something new happen.*
*Look at post: IDE Bootloader take two* A.M. 27/04/2005
Last update: November 17, 2003

Underlying principle
The code takes advantage of the fact that most partioning
software partition at head bondaries, and that the first partition
must start at head 1 to keep the MBR intact. That gives you
most of the time 63 sectors to play with, unless some other
program use that space for copy protection or other stealth stuff.

WARNING!
Don't forget to keep the header valid if you want your
boot media (floppy, USB stick, etc) to be readable!
Just copy the 64 first bytes (FAT volume information)
into a file, patch the first two bytes to EB 3E (short jump
62 bytes ahead after the jump instruction, which is 2 bytes)
using your favorite Hex editor and and write at the beginning
of your code:
Code:
 
Beginning:                   ;calculations are based on this label
         file "filename"
    

or keep a unpatched backup and play with "file" start offset!

For the Windows user
For those running WinXP/2000, there's a program
at www.internalreality.com called
"Device Sector Viewer" that let you see those bytes.

There's also a Win200/XP dd program (raw sector read/write)
in the SPB Linux Distribution, along with c source, at:
http://www.8ung.at/spblinux/. (usbboot.zip)
Unfortunately, the distribution only boots from USB device
acting as an hard drive or Zip drive, so USB FDD sticks
won't work with it. Anyway, we're not in raw assembly
programming to lose time hacking linux ;o)

Thanks for your contributions,
Adam Marquis

References:
*Inspiration
*ATA/ATAPI-6 (Big file)

Code:
; IDE PC Bootloader for 386+
;Features:
;- Disable all interrupts (NMI too)
;- Enable the (fast) A20 gate
;- Go into flat 32 bit protected mode
;- Loads n sectors from IDE hard drive
;  following the MBR and jumps to it.
;- Can work from any bootable medium,
;  even network!
;- BIOS independent
;
;TODO list
;-Support for PACKET atapi interface
;-Raw, small and efficient ethernet access
;-Suggestions?

;Have Fun!
macro align value { times (value-1)-($+value-1) mod value nop}

use16
org 7C00h
Beginning:
    file "header.bak"       ;optional, for FAT12 filesystems
        jmp 0:$+5
        cli                 ;Disable interrupts
        cld                 ;Clear direction flag
        in AL,070h          ;Turn NMI off
        or AL,080h
        out 070h,AL

        mov al,0Ch          ;floppy motor off
        mov dx,03F2h        ;(optional)
        out dx,al
        out 0e1h,al

        in AL,092h          ;
        or AL,2             ; Enable the fast A20 gate
        out 80h, AL         ; 1ms Delay
        out 092h,AL         ;

        lgdt [CS:GDT]       ;Loads GDT
        mov EAX,CR0         ;
        or AX,1             ; Set protected mode bit
        mov CR0,EAX         ;
        jmp 8:Protected     ;Flush pipeline

        align 8             ;Faster, optional
GDT:                        ;Flat, minimal GDT Table
        dw (8*3)-1          ; No need for the blank descriptor,
        dd GDT              ; here it holds the special
        dw 0000h            ; six bytes GDT pointer.
        dw 0FFFFh,0000h,9A00h,00CFh ;code
        dw 0FFFFh,0000h,9200h,00CFh ;data

use32
Protected:                  ;Now in 32 bit protected mode
        mov EAX, 10h        ;Data descriptor pointer
        mov DS, EAX         ;
        mov ES, EAX         ; Initialize crucial descriptors
        mov SS, EAX         ;
        mov ESP, 7C00h      ;Initialize the Return Stack

        xor EDI, EDI
        mov EAX,3           ; Load N sectors after MBR (0=256 sectors)
        call HD_Read        ; at [EDI]

        xor EDX, EDX        ;Test display routine
        mov EDI, 0B8000h
@@:     mov EAX, dword [EDX*4]
        inc EDX
        call ShowDword
        cmp EDX, 128
        jnz @b
@@:     in al, 64h
        test al,1
        jz @b
@@:     in al,60h
kb:     in al,64h           ;make sure buffer is empty
        test al,1
        jnz @b
        test al,2
        jnz kb
        mov al,0FEh         ;before sending reboot
        out 64h,al
        jmp $

IDE_Idle:
        mov DX, 1F7h
        in al,dx            ;Read Status register
        test al,80h         ; Busy bit
        jnz IDE_Idle        ; must be zero
        test al, 8h         ; Wait until DRQ bit
        jz IDE_Idle         ; is ready
        sub EDX,7h          ;1F0h: data port
        ret

HD_Read:
        mov bl, al          ;BL: loop sector counter
        mov dx, 1f2h        ;Sector count register
        out dx,al
        mov eax,0E0000000h  ;28 bits LBA address
        inc edx             ;1F3h LBA Low (0:7)
        out dx,al
        shr EAX, 8
        inc EDX             ;1F4h LBA Mid (8:15)
        out dx, al
        shr EAX, 8
        inc EDX             ;1F5h LBA High (16:23)
        out dx, al
        shr EAX, 8
        inc EDX             ;1F6h LBA & DEV, LBA (24:27)
        out dx, al
        inc EDX             ;1F7h Command register
        mov al,20h          ;"READ SECTOR(S)" command
        out dx,al
IDE_PIO_In:
        call IDE_Idle
        mov ecx,256         ;512 bytes
        rep insw            ;16 bit wide bus
        dec bl
        jnz IDE_PIO_In
        ret

ShowDword:                  ;Display routine
        mov CL, 8           ;nibble count
NextNibble:
        rol EAX, 4          ;most significant nibble first
        push EAX
        and EAX, 0Fh
        cmp AL, 0Ah
        jl @f
        add EAX, 7          ;offset to letters
@@:     add EAX, 0F30h      ;white on black attribute
        stosw
        pop EAX
        dec CL
        jnz NextNibble
        ret

        SpaceLeft = 510-($-Beginning)

        times SpaceLeft db 0h
        dw 0AA55h           ;Boot sector magic number

;===================================================================
;Number to string conversion directives from FASM manual
; * Used to get free space, as the code will always compile to 512 bytes.
d1 = '0'+ SpaceLeft shr 8 and 0Fh
d2 = '0'+ SpaceLeft shr 4 and 0Fh
d3 = '0'+ SpaceLeft and 0Fh
if d1>'9'
d1 = d1 + 7
end if
if d2>'9'
d2 = d2 + 7
end if
if d3>'9'
d3 = d3 + 7
end if

display 'Space left in MBR image: ',d1,d2,d3,'h',13,10
;===================================================================  
    


Last edited by AdamMarquis on 27 Apr 2005, 17:27; edited 54 times in total
Post 20 Jun 2003, 01:39
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
comrade



Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 1150
Location: Russian Federation
comrade 20 Jun 2003, 01:49
Cool, thanks!

_________________
comrade (comrade64@live.com; http://comrade.ownz.com/)
Post 20 Jun 2003, 01:49
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number Reply with quote
bitRAKE



Joined: 21 Jul 2003
Posts: 4053
Location: vpcmpistri
bitRAKE 21 Jul 2003, 23:21
Code:
waitrdy: 
        in  al,dx           ;Read Status register 
        and al,8 
        jz waitrdy 
        mov cx, 256         ;\ 
        mov dx,1f0h         ; Sector fetch loop 
        rep insw            ; Respect 0 = 256 sectors 
        dec bl              ; 
        jnz waitrdy         ;/    
Does this work on multiple sectors? I can see how it'd work on one sector, but DX would not be vaild on second loop. I have not tried the code, but will in the future - thank you. Wink
Post 21 Jul 2003, 23:21
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 21 Jul 2003, 23:47
bitRAKE wrote:
Does this work on multiple sectors? I can see how it'd work on one sector, but DX would not be vaild on second loop. I have not tried the code, but will in the future - thank you. Wink

You're right! Someone finally saw it! ;o) Seriously I didn't
see that obvious bug, thanks! I tested it only for one sector
before posting, that wasn't the brightest thing to do.

Adam Marquis
Post 21 Jul 2003, 23:47
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
bitRAKE



Joined: 21 Jul 2003
Posts: 4053
Location: vpcmpistri
bitRAKE 23 Jul 2003, 15:32
I don't know if this is an error in FASM, or if both instructions are valid and different; but FASM adds a size override prefix byte to "mov ds, ax" and doesn't if the instruction is "mov ds, eax" - the latter should work and save some bytes.

Also, there is only one instruction using the ES: selector - should be able to use an override on that as well, but I haven't figured out the syntax. I don't know if assuming CS=0 on entry is a good idea.
Code:
use16

org 7C00h

Beginning:
        cli                            ; Disable interrupts
        cld                            ; Clear direction flag

        in      al, 070h               ; Turn NMI off
        or      al, 080h
        out     070h, al

        in      al, 092h               ;\
        or      al, 2                  ; Enable the A20 through FastA20
        out     080h, al               ; 1ms Delay
        out     092h, al               ;/

        lgdt    [CS:GDT]               ; Fetch GDT

        mov     eax, cr0               ;\
        inc     ax                     ; Set protected mode bit 0
        mov     cr0, eax               ;/

        mov     ax, 10h                ; Data descriptor

        mov     dx, 1F2h               ; sector count

        jmp     8:Protected            ; Flush pipeline

        align 8

GDT:    dw 8*3 - 1                     ; flat memory GDT
        dd GDT
        dw 0000h
        dw 0FFFFh,0000h,9A00h,00CFh    ; code
        dw 0FFFFh,0000h,9200h,00CFh    ; data

use32

Protected:      ; Now in 32 bit protected mode
;        mov     ds, eax                 ;\
        mov     es, eax                 ; Initialize crucial descriptors
;        mov     ss, eax                 ;/
;        mov     esp, 7C00h              ; Initialize the Return Stack

        mov     al, 1                   ; sectors to read
        xor     edi, edi                ; destination address

        ; Loads N sectors after MBR (0=256 sectors)

        mov     bl, al                  ; BL act as sector counter
        out     dx, al

        mov     eax, 0A0000002h         ; Base address in physical CHS format
        inc     edx
        out     dx, eax

        mov     dl, 0F7h                ;\Write to Command Register
        mov     al, 020h                ; Read and Retry
        out     dx, al                  ;/
waitrdy:
        in      al, dx                  ; Read Status register
        and     eax, 8
        jz      waitrdy

        imul    ecx, eax, 256/8         ;\
        mov     dl, 0F0h                ; Sector fetch loop
;CS: override, what syntax?
        rep insw                        ;/Respect 0 = 256 sectors

        mov     dl, 0F7h                ; Write to Command Register
        dec     bl
        jnz     waitrdy

        jmp     0                      ; Jump to it, in pmode with no interrupts

        SpaceLeft = 510-($-Beginning)

        times SpaceLeft db 0

        dw 0AA55h                      ; Boot sector magic number    
Untested yet - I've been 'sleeping' at my girlfriends house. Smile
Post 23 Jul 2003, 15:32
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 23 Jul 2003, 18:18
bitRAKE wrote:
I don't know if this is an error in FASM, or if both instructions are valid and different; but FASM adds a size override prefix byte to "mov ds, ax" and doesn't if the instruction is "mov ds, eax" - the latter should work and save some bytes.

Also, there is only one instruction using the ES: selector - should be able to use an override on that as well, but I haven't figured out the syntax. I don't know if assuming CS=0 on entry is a good idea.


Don't know why I used AX instead of EAX in pmode, every other piece of
code i have here use EAX.... anyway thanks for the hint!

The lgdt [CS:GDT] is the same size as my 3 instructions sequence.
I don't really know for sure which is faster; the former is truly more
elegant though.

I posted the code here in the first place because the first part up to
the descriptor setup is a great prefix to get code running in 32 bits.
I use it all the time in my experimentations. But interrupts should be
enabled, since the PC is interrupts driven (thinking of network and
sound cards especially). IMO, it's best to set the descriptors one
and for all and never touch them back after. I also like the feature
that one can reuse the 32 bit code to read the HD later on.

I'm in desperate need of PCI know-how. So if anyone can start
from here and get to talk to a network card, he/she could build a 1
sector bridge between 2 network cards! Go ahead, steal my idea =)
Just booting from raw ethernet would be great (SImplified Network
booting). Makes me think of the GROS project at: http://www.geocities.com/k_r3456/personal.html


I posted this small experiment in the first place to fill the hole
when one wants to learn about those things using Internet. Also,
I hope these code snippets will help in the battle against DMCA
type laws and my holy war ;o) against software bloat.

Thanks for your interest!
Adam
Post 23 Jul 2003, 18:18
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
bitRAKE



Joined: 21 Jul 2003
Posts: 4053
Location: vpcmpistri
bitRAKE 23 Jul 2003, 20:24
AdamMarquis wrote:
The lgdt [CS:GDT] is the same size as my 3 instructions sequence. I don't really know for sure which is faster; the former is truly more elegant though.
I have assume the CS: override is only one byte - whereas the two additional instructions must be alteast one byte each (they are two bytes, iirc). This is only important for putting other stuff in the boot sector -- really not needed with such simple code.

Quote:
IMO, it's best to set the descriptors one and for all and never touch them back after. I also like the feature that one can reuse the 32 bit code to read the HD later on.
This is okay for some testing, but I want to test some more complex memory models, task switching, paging, etc... - I'm just going to load a new GDT afterward.

I think that there are enough people interested in OS creation to really get something out of it in the long run. We just need to use a common language (FASM) and develop some solid routines for the standards followed by most hardware. Some hardware don't have standards (ie modern video cards).

I'm getting back to my machine today - can't wait...
Post 23 Jul 2003, 20:24
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 30 Jul 2003, 17:09
Code:
;Written in FASM 1.48
;Test: put bytes from keyboard on screen
;
;*Posted to write on HD's second sector
; to test the IDE bootloader
;
;PC Memory map at boot time (from OSD)
;000000-0003FF interrupt vector table
;000400-0004FF BIOS data area
;000500-007BFF FREE CONVENTIONAL MEMORY
;007C00-007DFF boot sector
;007E00-09FBFF FREE CONVENTIONAL MEMORY
;09FC00-09FFFF extended BDA (variable length)
;0A0000-0FFFFF video memory and BIOS ROMs
;100000-10FFEF high memory area (HMA)
;10FFF0-       FREE EXTENDED MEMORY

org 0
use32
Start:
        mov EDI, 0B8000h
Testing:
        cmp EDI, 0B8000h+(80*25*2)
        jge Start
        xor EAX, EAX
        call KBRead
        call ShowChar
        jmp Testing

KBRead:
        in AL, 64h
        test AL, 1
        jz KBRead
        in AL, 60h
        ret

ShowChar:
        push EAX
        shr EAX, 4
        call ShowHex
        pop EAX

ShowHex:
        and EAX, 0000000Fh
        cmp EAX, 0Ah
        jl @f
        add EAX, 07h   ;letter
@@:     add EAX, 0F30h ;number
        stosw
        ret 

    
Post 30 Jul 2003, 17:09
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
valy



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Posts: 14
Location: France
valy 01 Aug 2003, 09:17
Hi

I tried the similar PIO code above, in conjunction with RDTSC.
With a PIII 650 MHz, a 20 Gb HDD, a standard 40-pin cable, one read sector : about 105,000 cycles.
I tried with LONG mode (22h instead of 20h, reducing the loop twice, and "in eax,dx") : about...15,000,000 ???
Cannot be my HDD. Maybe needs an init ?! Or penalty with jz... or more probably my code. I'll investigate further on it.


THE AIM
I'd like to translate some BIG files from FAT32 partition to my OS's FAT (PM32&full 32-bit).
I think about that : creating a *contiguous* file under FAT32 : it will be the reserved space for my OS's FAT and disk space. My FAT won't manage gigs of memory at the beginning.
Basically if I can load my big files to flat memory and understand FAT32/ata it will be OK.

THE PROBLEMS
Now my question : I'm puzzled with the fact that FAT32 sees... 255 heads. I know my HDD is good but I cannot figure it has PHYSICALLY so many heads Confused ! So I won't even try to access head 254 with PIO programming. Does that mean that I must :

1/ convert it to LBA
2/ convert it to CHS again ?! and what about H parameter ?!

OK, I understand 255 heads is for LOGICAL ata... did anybody dare to access head 254 ?!
I feel I need more docs, still have to google. I like understanding what I program. I like BASIC tutorials with smooth progression (thx A. Frounze, for instance Very Happy )

Regards

_________________
Easier, faster
Post 01 Aug 2003, 09:17
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
JohnFound



Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 3499
Location: Bulgaria
JohnFound 01 Aug 2003, 10:08
If you can speak russian, here is one good site about writing protected mode fast ATA driver. Take a look, maybe at least sources will help you.

http://users.caucasus.net/oska/
Post 01 Aug 2003, 10:08
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website ICQ Number Reply with quote
valy



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Posts: 14
Location: France
valy 01 Aug 2003, 10:16
Da svidania !!!

It's about the least expression I remember of, from my travel in Russia in 1980 Wink
Don't know even what to download from his page Sad

Currently reading Bitrake's link : http://home.no.net/tkos/info/hd.html,
looks interesting

Thx anyway for care, JohnFound

_________________
Easier, faster
Post 01 Aug 2003, 10:16
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
JohnFound



Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 3499
Location: Bulgaria
JohnFound 01 Aug 2003, 10:55
OK here is the source. It's with english (maybe bad) comments. Smile Still there is an Int13.txt file with description on russian but you can find some translator, unfortunately I have no free time to translate it just now. Sad

Be careful with this sources. They work on very low level and you can easyly erase your hard disk.


Description: Protected mode ATA driver using UDMA. the author claims that it is extremely fast. It was written for autor's PM OS.
Download
Filename: int13.zip
Filesize: 35.21 KB
Downloaded: 982 Time(s)

Post 01 Aug 2003, 10:55
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website ICQ Number Reply with quote
valy



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Posts: 14
Location: France
valy 01 Aug 2003, 11:00
Surprised Thx ! I'll have a look. Bye

_________________
Easier, faster
Post 01 Aug 2003, 11:00
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
crc



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 637
Location: Penndel, PA [USA]
crc 01 Aug 2003, 19:09
> I tried the similar PIO code above, in conjunction with RDTSC.
> With a PIII 650 MHz, a 20 Gb HDD, a standard 40-pin cable, one read
> sector : about 105,000 cycles.
> I tried with LONG mode (22h instead of 20h, reducing the loop twice,
> and "in eax,dx") : about...15,000,000 ???
> Cannot be my HDD. Maybe needs an init ?! Or penalty with jz... or
> more probably my code. I'll investigate further on it.

PIO is slow. If you are concerned about speed, you'll need to delve into DMA and use a dedicated IRQ. The advantage to PIO is simplicity. It's a lot simpler to implement (and better supported in my experience), even if it is slow.

> Now my question : I'm puzzled with the fact that FAT32 sees... 255
> heads. I know my HDD is good but I cannot figure it has PHYSICALLY
> so many heads ! So I won't even try to access head 254 with PIO
> programming. Does that mean that I must :

> 1/ convert it to LBA
> 2/ convert it to CHS again ?! and what about H parameter ?!

> OK, I understand 255 heads is for LOGICAL ata... did anybody dare to > access head 254 ?!
> I feel I need more docs, still have to google. I like understanding what I > program. I like BASIC tutorials with smooth progression (thx A.
> Frounze, for instance )

The BIOS interface permits a maximum of 1024 cylinders, 255 heads and 63 sectors. This calculates out to 504 megabytes. There are ways around this (mainly LBA), but your system can have 255 heads.

I have written a raw harddrive driver (using CHS and/or LBA). It's a cross between Forth and Assembly though. It wouldn't be difficult to convert to pure assembly. I know for a fact that it works; I've tried it on five different computers without problems. The code is at my web site: http://retro.tunes.org
Post 01 Aug 2003, 19:09
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Reply with quote
Ralph



Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 86
Ralph 04 Oct 2003, 16:49
I just had two quick questions.
1. Why are you using PIO now instead of your original routine?
2. I was testing your original routine in bochs, and it complained about non-byte I/O write to 01f3. Is that just due to the bochs HD bios? If so, are there many bioses that don't support word read/writes?

I just want a simple loader for my OS, never thought I'd have to struggle so much with it. Isn't there some quick, straightward, mostly compadible way to just get a bunch of sectors into memory without using the BIOS?
Post 04 Oct 2003, 16:49
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 05 Oct 2003, 21:29
PIO was always used, the code snippet is a sample program
to test the bootloader, just put it in your second sector (1) and it's
supposed to output raw keyboard bytes.

It worked in VMWare, and on a usb drive on a desknote laptop.
IDE is 16 bits, but you can rewrite it to use byte transfers.


PIO is supposed to be the most compatible way to load a sector
in memory without a BIOS.
Post 05 Oct 2003, 21:29
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Ralph



Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 86
Ralph 06 Oct 2003, 19:32
Thank you for the reply, but it didn't really answer my question. I'll show you some code to elaborate. This is based on your original post some time ago:
Code:
_ReadSectors:
;-T
      MOV  EDI,10000h
      MOV  AL,1
      MOV  CL,2
;-T
      MOV  BL,AL             ;counter for loop
      MOV  EDX,RegSectorCnt
      OUT  DX,AL             ;set num of sectors to transfer

      MOV  AL,CL             ;LBA address, starting sector?
      INC  EDX               ;hard disk sector number
      OUT  DX,AL             ;is this right?

      MOV  DL,RegCmdStatus   ;write command register
      MOV  AL,ReadSectors
      OUT  DX,AL             ;read specified number of sectors

_Wait:
      IN   AL,DX             ;read status register
      AND  AL,00001000b      
      JZ   _Wait             ;seek complete?

      MOV  ECX,512/2
      MOV  EDX,RegData
      REP  INSW              ;this errors in bochs
      
      MOV  EDX,RegCmdStatus  ;read status register
      DEC  BL
      JNZ  _Wait
      RET
    


That code is supposed to load CL bytes starting from sector AL into the address pointed to by EDI.
If you look at the comments, there are two areas that I'm not too sure off. First the starting sector. I believe your post used EAX to transfer the LBA address to DX, but OUT DX, EAX errors out in bochs. Further down, REP INSW also errors out for the same reason. The second one is not a problem really since INSB works fine, but the entire routine simply fills 10000h with FFh, which is not the 2nd sector.
I don't like to ask people to debug my code for me, but I've googled around for too long and don't feel like spending the majority of my time trying to get the OS to load rather than actually work on the OS, so I would really appreciate it if you could help me out.
Post 06 Oct 2003, 19:32
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 07 Oct 2003, 01:44
Hi!

Just look at the first post's code,
try it, then try to change some stuff.
The new version still use insw but
write to the 1f2+ registers bytewise.
It works on everywhere I tried, and
should work in bochs.

The trick I learnt is to keep it simple
to be able to share easly.
I tried to be the clearest I could,
just try the new code and tell me
your impressions, if any, so I can
correct the available information.

I would especially like to hear
from your project.

I think there should be a model
and a codebase for an OS based
on the principle that there's 31.5k of
free space at the beginning of almost
every harddrive, right now I'm into
my compiler design (I won't use the
call instruction) and i try to finish it
in my spare time.

Adam
Post 07 Oct 2003, 01:44
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Ralph



Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 86
Ralph 07 Oct 2003, 19:19
Thanks, I figured it out. I was trying to shove all of EAX into DX at once. Works now. One change might be to allow more than 256 sectors to be loaded at once. That shouldn't be too hard to do though I'm sure, and I guess for loading a lot of data you should use something other than PIO anyway. I just haven't dared to wrestle with DMA yet, first comes the IDT mess.

What I'm working on is what I thought was the novel idea of making an OS based on Forth, but now that I've done more research I realize that a lot of similar ideas have already been implemented. Still, I believe my OS will have some unique features. I'm just fed up with all this disgusting bloatware floating around. Operating systems are still using 70s technology. Even Linux is pretty pathetic (except for maybe Gentoo and a few other distros). There's so much useless crap everywhere. Anyway, I'll spare you my rantings. I could keep going for hours :).
Post 07 Oct 2003, 19:19
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
AdamMarquis



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Location: La Sarre, Quebec, Canada
AdamMarquis 08 Oct 2003, 02:14
Hi!

I think we agree on many things about the state
of information technology.

I would like to add that forth clearly demonstrate
that current hardware is also full of crap. Forth reduce
the operand count at the assembler level, so that
caches and pipelines of more than 2 stages are
not worth the ressources spent: smaller opcodes result
in no need for cache, simpler instruction dispatching unit,
etc. A chip the size of a pentium4 using the same advanced
process technology could yield a couple supercomputers
on a single chip. I'm sure it's already done.

I try to implement a new kind of compiler inspired
from the colorforth/aha effort:
-Small number of simple functions tokens (colors)
-No call instructions (push push jmp)
-No search at compile time (instantaneous)
-definition implictly close previous definitions
(no ;, just a ... primitive needed for fallthrough, if any
I'll also use aligned primitives,
so I can do lookback optimization without
using a pointer (list in c.f.).

The only issue is with litteral handling.
I have a magenta word, with an argument 0 to 31,
presently it's used to copy n bytes from source directly
into compiled code, so I can easly define macros.
I previoulsy intended to use # as a litteral compiling
macro (much like "# 78563412"), but I'm not sure
at all. My project changed shapes many times!
For good conditional handling I might even change
it once more.

Anyway, I'm now at the stage of the IDT handling
myself before thinking of network or fast IDE I/O.
Menuet O/S is a great code base, clearer to read
than Linux code to me.

Adam
BTW screw the DMCA, I paid for the machine I want to use it.
Gladly I don't live in the US =)

http://www.dreamsongs.com/
Great material
Post 08 Oct 2003, 02:14
View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote
Display posts from previous:
Post new topic Reply to topic

Jump to:  
Goto page 1, 2  Next

< Last Thread | Next Thread >
Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Copyright © 1999-2024, Tomasz Grysztar. Also on GitHub, YouTube.

Website powered by rwasa.