Hi tim,
It's just a cut and paste of the FAQfrom the ELKS site...
May this help you...
Cheers;
Pat
---
ELKS FAQ
This a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions about ELKS, also known as
Linux-8086.
This FAQ is maintained by Alistair Riddoch, based on the origonal by Brian
Candler; please send all updates to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] The latest version of this document is available at
http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/. Note
that ELKS is in the very early stages of development and this information is
likely to become out of date rapidly.
Additional information can be found at the ELKS home page at
http://www.uk.linux.org/ELKS-Home.
There is a mailing list. To subscribe, send a message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the words
subscribe linux-8086 in the body. As far as I am aware there is not currently a
working archive of the list, though
in the past archives were available from http://epocha.pd.mcs.net/Linux8086/ and
http://www.cyberpass.net/~dummy/robert/archives/linux-8086/.
Note that ELKS is not Linux, and the mailing list is not a suitable place for
posting questions about Linux (despite
its name). These would be better sent to one of the Linux-specific newsgroups
such as comp.os.linux.misc
Section 1 - General
Q1.1. What is ELKS?
Q1.2. How does ELKS compare with standard Linux?
Q1.3. Are there any ready-to-run distributions of ELKS?
Q1.4. Can ELKS run on an 8088?
Section 2 - Compiling and installing
Q2.1. Where can I find the source?
Q2.2. How do I make an ELKS kernel?
Q2.3. I get an error saying that /usr/include/linux/vm86.h does not exist
Q2.4. How do I make an 'init' for ELKS?
Q2.5. How do I make a root filesystem disk?
Q2.6. What if I have an XT with a 360K disk drive?
Q2.7. How do a change root device of boot images?
Q2.8. How do I install to a harddisk?
Q2.9. I get errors building Dev86 on recent Linux systems
Q2.10. I get errors building elkscmd.
Q2.11. I get warnings building elkscmd.
Section 3 - Using ELKS
Q3.1. Can I run bcc binaries under Linux?
Q3.2. Can I boot ELKS under DOSEMU?
Section 4 - Contributing to ELKS
Q4.1. Can I contribute to the ELKS project?
Q4.2. What needs to be done?
Q4.3. What is CVS?
Q4.4. How do I use CVS without an account?
Appendix A - Unanswered questions
This document may be freely distributed as long as this copyright notice is kept
intact and any changes or additions
are marked with your name
Copyright © 1997-1999
Maintained by Al Riddoch based on pages by Steffen Gabel
[INTRO] [FAQ] [DOWNLOAD] [HOME]
ELKS FAQ - Section 1 - General
Q1.1. What is ELKS?
ELKS is the Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset, a project to build a small kernel
subset Linux (which will
provide more or less UNIX V7 functionality within the kernel) that can run on
machines with limited processor
and memory resources. The initial proposed targets are the Intel 8086 and
eventually the 286's 16-bit protected
mode. A kernel that can run on this kind of hardware is useful for embedded
systems projects, for third world
deployment where 80x86 x0 machines are not easily available, and for use on
various palmtops.
More information on the background, goals and current status of the project can
be found at the ELKS home
page.
Q1.2. How does ELKS compare with standard Linux?
ELKS is intended as a subset of true Linux, and ought to be small enough to be
understood by one person, so it
should be invaluable as a learning tool. It is in the very early stages of
development, and big chunks are missing,
such as swapping, shared libraries, and networking. Having said that, it is
already able to boot, provide virtual
consoles, mount a root minix filesystems floppy, provide basic serial and
parallel I/O, and start various small
programs.
Q1.3. Are there any ready-to-run distributions of ELKS?
Not yet. You need to use a standard Linux machine, download the sources, and
cross-compile to generate the
8086 target code. Boot and root disk images are provided with the current
version of ELKS, but all they do is
act as a platform for testing the system, very little can be done with them.
Michael Strates has volunteered to put
together a distribution, which he is currently working on.
Q1.4. Can ELKS run on an 8088?
The 8088 is identical to the 8086, except it has an 8-bit external data bus
instead of 16-bit (and thus is slower).
So yes, ELKS will run on it.
This document may be freely distributed as long as this copyright notice is kept
intact and any changes or additions
are marked with your name
Copyright © 1997-1999
Maintained by Al Riddoch based on pages by Steffen Gabel
[INTRO] [FAQ] [DOWNLOAD] [HOME]
ELKS FAQ - Section 2 - Compiling and Installing
Q2.1. Where can I find the source?
The primary site ftp://linux.mit.edu/pub/ELKS is now back up.
The primary site for Dev86 is http://www.cix.co.uk/~mayday/ which is the best
