October 2017 - Oberon - mailman3.inf.ethz.ch

FPGA - Screen.Mod
by Tomas Kral 26 Oct '18

26 Oct '18

Hi, EDIT (1) I am looking for `Screen.Mod' module (mainly its `Screen.Grub' command) hinted in PO2013 pictures. I have completed early version of `Bitmaps.Mod' supporting basic set of raster operations. I wish to share pictures and code. As we may not post attachments to the forum, I could expose to GitHub, there is also `WikiBook' run by Lyall E. Please advise. Many thanks. -- Tomas Kral <thomas.kral(a)email.cz>

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FPGA Oberon - Definition Module Tool
by thomas.kral＠email.cz 08 Oct '18

08 Oct '18

Hi, I am thinking of a simple tool that could extract definition info from *.Mod and produce respective *.Def file. Definition files can be quickly looked at, to remind a programmer of the interface *.Mod modules export. While on Linux one could use grep $ grep PROCEDURE\ * *.Mod.txt to obtain info at least about procedures, but how about exported types and variables? I am looking for a recommended way how to simply code such a tool, is it a good idea to use `ORP' parser somehow for the task? I prefer to code it simple, does not have to be perfect, but should carry the idea. Tomas

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Project Oberon inner core and disk image creation
by Andreas Pirklbauer 16 Jan '18

16 Jan '18

> On Thu Oct 12 19:09:15 CEST 2017 Peter Matthias wrote: > > Hello, > are static linker and tools to create the disk image > available for Project Oberon? > > Peter > A minimal version of the system "building tools" for Oberon 2013 is at: github.com/andreaspirklbauer/Oberon-building-tools It allows one to create a new inner core and load the generated image onto the boot area of the local disk.

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 26 Oct '17

26 Oct '17

> > --boot-from-serial is implemented now as well. > I noticed the following: If I boot over the serial line, the pre-linked binary Oberon.bin gets transferred to the target system correctly and initiated. One can also call Kernel.Init from the top module Oberon0, but when one executes the following instructions in Oberon0.. MODULE Oberon0; IMPORT SYSTEM, Kernel; VAR a, b: FileDir.DirPage; sec, dpg: INTEGER; BEGIN Kernel.Init; (*this works*) sec := 70; dpg := sec*29; a.mark := 99; Kernel.PutSector(dpg, a); Kernel.GetSector(dpg, b); ASSERT(a.mark = b.mark); (*should be the same, but isn't*) .. END Oberon0. the values of a.mark and b.mark are not the same :-( How to fix this? Is the boot loader code used in the emulator different from the one on the official webpage? -AP

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

> --boot-from-serial is implemented now as well. Thanks. it works! It was tested it with some small standalone test programs, but also with the Oberon build-up boot file (Oberon0.bin): 1) Linker.Link Oberon0 ~ # create the file 'Oberon.bin' 2) cp S3RISCinstall/RISC.img host.dsk 3) ./risc --serial-in pipe2 --serial-out pipe1 --boot-from-serial & 4) ./risc --serial-in pipe1 --serial-out pipe2 host.dsk & 5) ORC.Load Oberon0 ~ # run this on the instance started in 4) => Will load 'Oberon0.bin' from the Oberon instance started in step 4). i.e. the “host” machine running module ORC, over the “serial line” (i.e. the pipe) to the instance started in step 3) and start its execution. So just like the "build-up” boot process initiated over a “real” serial line. -AP

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

> mkfifo pipe1 pipe2 > risc --serial-in pipe1 --serial-out pipe2 ob1.dsk & > risc --serial-in pipe2 --serial-out pipe1 ob2.dsk & > > This works on Linux, I'm not sure how portable the code is. > It also works on macOS. Tested with module ‘Oberon0’ running on one Oberon instance, and module ‘ORC’ running on the other, while sending Oberon0 commands from ORC to Oberon0. Works. Now all we need is an additional option ‘—boot-from-serial’ in the ‘risc’ command (but there is a workaround..). -AP

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 24 Oct '17

24 Oct '17

> This is now possible with my emulator, https://github.com/pdewacht/oberon-risc-emu Oh! Great.. and it even has a fix for files whose size is a multiple of 255 bytes (that someone forgot..)

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 24 Oct '17

24 Oct '17

Does anyone know how one can link TWO emulated Oberon instances? The idea would be to start two Oberon instances with the Oberon emulator on a host system (e.g., Mac, Linux, Windows) and then “link” them with a mechanism that e.g. behaves like an RS-232 line: "Oberon instance A” <---> “Link that emulates an RS-232 link” <—--> “Oberon instance B” From the source code of the Oberon emulator at www.github.com/charlesap/io I see that the two file transfer commands “pcsend.sh" and “pcreceive.sh" are realized via a file interface (the files PCLink.REC and PCLink.SND are written by these two commands, and the emulator then reads from or writes to them if the program PCLink1 running inside the emulator reads from or writes to the memory addresses -56 and -52, i.e. the addresses which map the RS-232 line, see RS232.Mod). So it *should* be possible to extend this mechanism such that the two ends are permanently “connected" together. On Mac or Linux, the pipe mechanism might be used to accomplish this. -AP

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Emulating an RS-232 line with the Oberon emulator
by Andreas Pirklbauer 24 Oct '17

24 Oct '17

> But the emulator could check for e.g. the presence of a > named pipe and use that for RS232 I/O, set on the command > line for the first or both invocations, and falling back > to looking for the presence of those trigger files. > > Then you'd just extend PCLink1 to be able to initiate > the conversation. I was thinking pretty much along those lines (and wanted to know whether someone did it already.. but apparently not). I guess the easiest way is to do it via an additional command line argument (and not as a menu in the emulator as I had originally contemplated). Then one only has to add yet another command line option that “boots from the serial line” - and there is your test bed for testing Oberon0.Mod without having to carry your FPGA hardware with you.. > Don't forget to take into account the zero-length > final packet, some idiot forgot that ;-) Really? How can one possibly forget that? ;-) -AP

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FPGA - Boot over serial line
by Tomas Kral 23 Oct '17

23 Oct '17

Hi, After re-reading chapter 14.1. of PO2013 plus Andreas's git repo `building-tools', I wish to do an exercise of initial system boot over serial line. My understanding is that asterisked `BootLoad' module is placed in `prom.mem', wherefrom it is fetched by FPGA logic with Verilog module PROM, on power-cycle or reset. module PROM ... initial $readmemh("../prom.mem", mem); ... endmodule The above puts it in FPGA Flash ROM, correct? But what does `prom.mem' all consist of? Some h/w registers: 0 - A branch to start ... 24 - Limit of module area - BootLoad - Oberon0 - ORC ...? Can I send some commands over line to Oberon0 module, which is a simple interpreter as documented in PO2013? It would be interesting to recreate Oberon0.Mod from what we know it does accomplish, I am also thinking to enrich it with some test commands to aid implementing of 4-bit raster ops, if not too silly an idea? Many thanks -- Tomas Kral <thomas.kral(a)email.cz>

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