Re: [Q] Looking for an emulation for CMOV* instructions.

Ronald Wahl (Ronald.Wahl@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de)
11 Jan 2002 01:08:39 +0100


On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 23:28:48 +0000 (GMT), Alan Cox wrote:

>> is it possible to include an emulation for the CMOV* (and possible other
>> i686 instructions) for processors that dont have these (k6, pentium
>> etc.)? I think this should work like the fpu emulation. Even if its slow

> The kernel isnt there to fix up the fact authors can't read. Its also very
> hard to get emulations right. I grant that this wasn't helped by the fact
> the gcc x86 folks also couldnt read the pentium pro manual correctly.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What do you mean with this? Explain, please!

> If you have a static linked program install the right version. RPMv4
> even knows about cmov and i686 rpms.

The problem I had is the following: I make all of my linux binaries
myself but I have also some older machines here that have a k6 or a
pentium. For mistake I installed the wrong rpm and had a non working
system. An emulation for such cases would be a _real_ feature at least
more than a pinguin boot logo (if one uses the framebuffer console).
I think a stable and possible self correcting [1] system should be the aim
of a modern OS. Maybe I will have a look on implementing the emulation
but I thought I'll find someone here who has done this already (or is
willing to do so).

ron

[1] This means catching most or all errors and correct them as good as
possible. Only a running system is a good system. ;-)

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