Subject: Re: 68k to ppc port info query
To: Roger Brown <rogerhb@xtra.co.nz>
From: David A. Gatwood <dgatwood@deepspace.mklinux.org>
List: port-macppc
Date: 01/11/2000 18:28:52
On Wed, 12 Jan 2000, Roger Brown wrote:

> >> 2. Somehow create an OpenFirmware booter as a MacOS application that could
> >> start either linuxppc or NetBSD/macppc. (by that I mean have a MacOS
> >> application that adds a lump of code into memory that emulates the
> >> OpenFirmware ROMs).
> >
> >Kind of like BootX, you mean?  Just add NetBSD support to it.  No point in
> >writing a new booter....  ;-)
> 
> I have not come across BootX, what is the likely amount of work to...
> 
> 1. Make BootX work on the Peforma 6200

Unknown.  Probably very little.  There's something weird display-wise that
confuses it right now, I think.  Not positive, though.


> 2. Make BootX able to load and start NetBSD/macppc

Probably an engineer-afternoon, which means a couple of weeks for someone
doing it in spare time, assuming relative familiarity with the kernel. 
Admittedly, it is a little harder since NetBSD/macppc doesn't have a
booter of any kind.  MkLinux already had a booter, and thus it just
required some modifications to the existing code.  With NetBSD, you'd
probably have to add a kernel entry point for BootX similar to the one
used in NetBSD-mac68k, probably, then go from there.


Later,
David