April 2015 - Oberon - mailman3.inf.ethz.ch

Oberon / Linux Revival now with Gadgets
by Peter Matthias 15 May '15

15 May '15

Hi all, for information, Oberon / Linux Revival is now available with Gadgets and some apps at http://oberon.dyndnss.net/ Oberon / Linux Revival runs on Linux x86, MIPS and ARM. Gadgets runs on x86 and MIPS. Regards, Peter

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SRAM vs. BRAM
by greim 12 May '15

12 May '15

Hallo Bernhard, i have got some days ago the Pipistrello Spartan6 board + the Oberon "Wing"( SRAM, keyboard + Mouse connector, HDMI interface instead of VGA) See <http://saanlima.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1246&start=8> After some fiddling with the Linux dd command for writing a micro SD card it runs really out of the box! Magnus, the HW and Verilog designer did really a great job! All the design is OpenSource! In his forum he explained why a real HW SRAM is better then using the DRAM here: cite.. ... Yes. I totally agree and that's the approach I started with. However, while it's quite simple to add the code for the MCB block you definitely need a cache between the memory controller and the Risc5 cpu, and the size and complexity of that code is probably greater than all of the Oberon verilog code together depending on what performance level we target. I felt that this was a step in the wrong direction since what I really like about the Oberon system is that it's so simple and easy to understand how it works, and this would add a bunch of fairly complex code. However, it there is interest in this approach then I could put it back on the front burner. Magnus .... The only modifications he has done with the Verilog code, was an extension / replacement of the VGA output. So any volunteers to re-translate his (and Xilinxs..) Verilog code back to LOLA2 ? One critic or disadvantage is, that nearly all pins of the FPGA hase been eaten by the SRAM interface. But i guess we have some address space left for interfacing some I/Os like ADCs etc. The Oberon wing is quite simple, the EAGLE files are available, so this should be no real problem. The Pipistrello board can also run Linux or Pacman or a Propeller processor etc. and the loading time for the configuration is impressing fast. And there is no special JTAG cable or similar required. The price for the Pipistrello and the Oberon wing is about 200$. Thats, compared with the Raspberry PI quite expensive, but we aren't talk about 5 Mio. pcs. here. So the "hardware problem" is solved i think. Time for some hard- and software extension to awake our prince.. Regards Markus Greim

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contemporary instructions for installing NO
by peter＠easthope.ca 01 May '15

01 May '15

http://www.ocp.inf.ethz.ch/wiki/Documentation/Installation#toc23 now includes a link to find an installer image having support for Compact Flash. I've tried to make the instructions useable for a novice to Oberon. If an error or difficulty is detected, please correct it or notify me. Thanks, ... Peter E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +13606390202 http://easthope.ca/peter.html Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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FPGA
by Hürlimann Bruno 30 Apr '15

30 Apr '15

Hello I am working with Oberon and I am interessted about FPGA. Where can I receve basic-information about working with oberon/A2/Aos and FPGA? Yoursfully Bruno Hürlimann Asylstr. 119 CH-8032 Zürich hurlimann(a)medixa.com hurlimann(a)hin.ch 0041 44 383 97 79 Tel 0041 86 044 383 97 79 Fax-Box Swisscom 0041 79 762 46 01 Mobile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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FPGA - SRAM vs. BRAM
by Treutwein Bernhard 24 Apr '15

24 Apr '15

I found the following documentation about generating BRAM in Spartan-6 devices http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/ip_documentation/blk_mem_gen/v7… which appears to be an alternative to using SRAM. What about using it for PO-2013?

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Where are </lib/Gadgets> hidden?
by eas lab 22 Apr '15

22 Apr '15

ETHO is staggering! [ LEO = ETHO for Linux x86 ] It's much more than the language. Probably the clean/simplicity of the language allowed the development of the magic features of ETHO. Task: Create OwnVersionBook of out-of-print-book "The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages" while learning the contents. http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/slpj-book-1987/index.htm gives a tree of *htm & 445 *.jpg: 1 per each book page. Unfortunately my OpticalCharRecognition is too poor for these *.jpg, OTOH being forced to paraphrase, ensures understanding of what's read. One klik of ETHO opens eg. /mnt/hd/FunctPrgBook/IMAGES/431.JPG on the same screen as this mail & the OwnVersionBook & other files.... Importantly: nonAscii formulae & diagrams can be pasted from the *.jpg/s effortlessly to OwnVersionBook in ETHO format. The ability to add color & special-fonts adds a whole extra dimension. Unfortunately the *.jpg/s overflow LEO's screen, so the bottom-half is hidden. So I investigated Rembrandt; then I discovered that the jpg-gadget can easily be moved in its frame. More ETHO magic!? ----- So the [not final, but living] product is an ETHOfile:<book>, with your own colored-notes and diagrams and nonAscii math-formulae pasted in. But!! When I edit the file/book with LNO [currently without gadgets], the gadgets become no longer visible when later viewed with LEO. I've previously read that the gadgets reside in library/s. Examining the book/file shows that the pastedInGadgets are represented by *ONE* byte [starting at %00, for the first gadget]. Which implies that the library/S-holding-the-gadgets is identified in the file header. Where are these libraries? Why does LNO mess the gadgets inserted by LEO? == Chris Glur.

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Re (2): Error in access to CF or to filesystem after installing A2.
by peter＠easthope.ca 03 Apr '15

03 Apr '15

From: eas lab <lab.eas(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 23:56:55 +0200 > Know the sequence of steps ... Originally the CF was formatted in Linux. Then the A2 installer set the type and formatted the part to AosFS. When A2 was reinstalled, those steps weren't necessary. Will format to ext2 again. Then maybe reproduce the earlier success. Thanks, ... Peter E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://carnot.yi.org/ Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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Re: [Oberon] Error in access to CF or to filesystem after installing A2.
by peter＠easthope.ca 01 Apr '15

01 Apr '15

... Also, if NO is installed in IDE0#1 and A2 in IDE0#2, NO boots and A2 gives the black screen. While NO is running, FileSystem.Mount CF AosFS IDE0#2 ~ yields CF: OFSAosFiles: Bad volume size Nothing I've thought of has changed since the installation which gave a working A2. Ideas? ... Peter E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +1 360 639 0202 http://carnot.yi.org/ Bcc: peter at easthope. ca

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