Linux on Next186 (running!)

Caution: Non registered users only see threads and messages in the currently selected language, which is determined by their browser. Please create an account and log in to see all content by default. This is a limitation of the forum software.


Also users that are not logged in can not create new threads. This is a, unfortunately needed, counter measure against spam. Please create an account and log in to start new threads.

Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • As told before, Linux is not bootable on such old Processors.

    BUT:

    I've found ELKS, the Embeddeable Linux Kernel Subset

    which runs on 8086 upwards.

    I've tested the Version provided on https://github.com/jbruchon/elks/releases .

    It boots properly on the TC64 and it even mounts the Harddrive (=SDcard) \0/


    Howto: I've chosen the fd1440.bin Image. You need to rename it to nextboot.img and place it in the root of your sd card.

    its a single user mode linuxish system, logis is "root", no passwd needed. Mount the HD with


    cd /mnt

    mkdir hdd

    mount -t fat /dev/hda1 hdd


    voila

    https://youtu.be/AaYurNswT0g


    yours

    masterhit

  • Hmmm... bounty? I'll throw in 100,- EUR for the one who will do such an IRQ-less driver (note that the CS8900 is in 8-bit mode on the RR-Net, which does not support IRQs).

  • Hmm.. I believe that Alastair has not done any x86 programming so far. He's the guy who made the Minimig-AGA core, but this one is about the Next186 core, which implements a PC with sound cards and more. It lets you play DOS games, maybe use one of the classic Turbo Pascal compilers and other retro stuff like that.


    Turbo Pascal is about the only retro-experience I have with old DOS PCs. Well, maybe flight simulator II, but I was too young to understand what I'm doing. Never made a descent landing :-)

  • Hmm.. I believe that Alastair has not done any x86 programming so far.

    That's right - the only experience I have with x86 assembly is from the adjustments I had to make to Next186's boot code to make it talk to a control CPU.


    Running a form of Linux on Next186 is *very* cool - but in the longer term I'd like to see Linux running on some kind of RISC-V SoC - I think there'd be room for something interesting on the Chameleon.

  • I think the original idea of taking a CS8900 driver and patching it is a good one. There have been ISA cards that used that chip, and FreeDOS also has some network-related functions (which I never explored, but was pointed to frequently). I believe I even wrote to someone who has a reference to a cs8900 driver on his web page back when we first discussed the Next186 core for the first time, but never got an answer.


    In detail, I wrote to crynwr.com who appear to be the go-to-address for writing packet drivers for use with mTCP. This won't help for Linux, though.


    The good news is that the cs8900 chip is very forgiving and largely NE2000-compatible. Porting an existing Linux driver should not be too much of a problem - much less than writing something for mTCP/DOS.

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.