L4Linux on L4Ka::Pistachio

[Volkmar Uhlig]

According to some people I talked to over here, Linux for PPC has pretty
much everything abstracted already.  So the job at hand is to fill the
architecture specific function table with the L4 specific implementation.
Linux on Power is more abstracted than x86 in order to accommodate the
various hardware platforms and chip versions (...and to run on IBM's
hypervisor).

- Volkmar


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christian, Martin, OPEE45
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 4:11 AM
> To: Adam Lackorzynski; l4-hackers at os.inf.tu-dresden.de
> Subject: AW: L4Linux on L4Ka::Pistachio
> 
> Hi Adam!
> 
> >> a) Is the L4Env required for running L4Linux?
> > Yes but that's no strict requirement.
> How much time would it probably take, to adjust L4Linux 
> without L4Env to the L4 Interface of Pistachio? Did anybody try this?
> 
> >> This is part of my "Diplomarbeit" at the University of Leipzig.
> > That isn't too far away from here.
> Well, actually I'm in Friedrichshafen with EADS to write my 
> thesis. But I'm studying at the University of Leipzig.
> 
> >> b) How much time would it take to port L4Env to L4Ka::Pistachio?
> > It would probably take me a month or two
> That's definitely more time, than I've got left. I also 
> assume you know L4Env much better than I do, so it would take 
> me even longer.
> 
> >> d) What about the Fiasco port to PowerPC from Mathias Lange?
> > This didn't come to an end.
> That's a pity! :-(
> 
> >> e) If Fiasco would be running on PowerPC, would it be 
> possible to run 
> >> L4Linux without changes?
> > If one wants to have binary compatibility then some PPC 
> code needs to 
> > be there. And then that would not be the way I'm currently doing 
> > things.
> As far as I understood Michael Hohmuths Diplomarbeit, all 
> Hardware access from Linux is replaced by sycalls to L4. Is 
> that still the case?
> And so far only the IA32 part of Linux is changed that way, 
> isn't it? So I would basically need to rewrite the PowerPC 
> architecture part of Linux, basically. Isn't it the way 
> things are supposed to be done?
> 
> > Yes, L4Linux-2.4 also runs in Pistachio, at least it did when we
> worked
> > on it. It's all in the l4ka CVS.
> I'll try it. :-)
> 
> > I suppose support on this is basically non-existent.
> L4Ka::Pistachio for PowerPC is also not really supported, so 
> I'm used to not getting support! :-(
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Martin.