Re: Re^2: NetBSD-Mach?

[Monroe Williams <monroe%pobox.com@localhost>]

At 10:02 AM -0800 12/11/96, Jason Thorpe wrote:
>       (b) The Mach kernel they're using is unlike any Mach kernel
>           I've ever seen.  (I couldn't find the pmap, for example.)

I'm not too familiar with the details of mach, but from discussion on the
mklinux mailing lists, I gather that it is based on something called/
"OSF MK7.2", which has diverged (I know not how far) from CMU Mach 3 or 4.
One of the core mklinux engineers posted the following recently:

[the discussion related to bringing up the HURD using mklinux]
->As I understand it, Michael Bushnell was referring to the fact that
->the functionality of the MACH_NOTIFY_NO_SENDERS notification has
->not been included in the reimplementation of Mach in C++ that has been
->done here at the OSF in order to provide a secure (B3) operating
->system environment. For some info on that project, see:
->
->http://www.osf.org/RI/PubProjPgs/MKV2.htm
->
->This is NOT the microkernel that is distributed with MkLinux, the
->microkernel we ported to the powermac and that we distribute is currently
->based on the technology used in the MK7.2 release:
->
->http://www.osf.org/RI/PubProjPgs/MK72.htm


>Though, I really could be missing something... from my study of the
>sources, there seemed to be _lots_ of pieces missing (low-level,
>essential stuff).  Can someone here post the canonical location of
>_all_ of the pieces needed to run mklinux on a NuBus Powermac?

Are you looking for binaries or source?  AFAIK, everything is available
through <http://www.mklinux.apple.com/>.  

The installation kit at
<ftp://ftp.mklinux.apple.com/pub/MkLinux_DR2/FullRelease/MkLinux_DR2.sit.bin>
contains the boot loader, mach kernel, linux server, pager, and everything
else to get you up and running.

Sources for the mach kernel and linux server are at:
<ftp://ftp.mklinux.apple.com/pub/MkLinux_DR2/FullRelease/
MkLinuxFiles/mklinux-1.0DR2/>  (line break inserted)

>From discussion on the monolithic PowerMac linux list, I gather that the 
source for the mklinux boot loader has not and _will_ not be released.  
Apple claims that it contains proprietary information, end of story.
(I'm certainly not an authoritative source, so you might want to check into
it before doing anything rash with this information.  ;)

FYI, the OpenFirmware implementation in the PCI powermacs is capable of
booting a coff-format kernel image from bootp/tftp or a file on a Mac-formatted
floppy (people running the monolithic linux port have used both), and looks 
like it should be able to read files from MacOS, ISO-9660 or FAT/MSDOS
filesystems on floppy or scsi devices.  (There may be bugs that prevent 
these from working easily, but the support packages in OF are present.)  
At least for PCI machines, the lack of boot loader source is not an
insurmountable problem.

-- monroe