Subject: IIsi kernel success
To: None <macbsd-general@NetBSD.ORG>
From: John P. Wittkoski <jpw@daedalus.microserve.com>
List: macbsd-general
Date: 05/11/1995 21:24:01
Hello all!

I just finished testing Daniel's new IIsi kernel, and it
works GREAT! It's so nice not to have to use that old 8088 for a
terminal.

I saw someone else post that it did not work. However, I think that
is because you need to run video in _8-bit_ mode.

Yes, yes, I know that everyone says that you should be in 1-bit
mode, but the newer kernels (at least the console routines)
seem to figure out which mode you are in and adjust how they send
the data to the screen memory. Because 8-bit mode is _slower_ in
writing to the screen, I think it takes care of some timing issues
that have not yet been resolved with the adb initialization
routines.

Results:
1-bit           machine boots, but hangs with random errors
                such as MMU fault, panic, or illegal instruction
4-bit           works
8-bit           works

My machine is clock chipped to 25MHz, so that may affect things
a little as well.

The only problem is that dt doesn't run when not in 1-bit mode
(which I expected), so it's still a little hard to work with.
For the same reason, I X11 won't work.

Since Walter and Daniel are on vacation and concentrating on
classes, I may try to get a current kernel together with
their changes and put some additional delays in the ADB init
routines so that everything can run in 1-bit mode properly.

        --John
          jpw@insoft.com                  (work)
          jpw@daedalus.microserve.com     (home)