Some quick followup thoughts.
I think if we can figure out a path to sharing IO emulation
between plex86/bochs, we should do that first. Reorg'ing code
is much easier than creating new PCI code, and we should do
it before implementing anything new.
Also, after spending some time thinking about it, I think
a logical step after an IO device interface change, would be
to clean things up and fill some gaps in plex86.
FWIW, the PCI idea is pretty cool. Though it was a real big mistake
to include interrupt lines (those A,B,C,D lines) as part of the
spec. What a mess. When I was reading a PCI book, I thought
hey this is a pretty cool architecture until I got to the part
where they talked about interrupt lines. WTF? Interrupt
handler chaining - did we learn nothing from the past? Then they
explain that a newer mechanism was added which doesn't require
these. But of course, then you have both mechanisms. This
is too familiar to me.
Just a dream of mine, but for once I'd like to see a spec
for some hardware that was built correctly from day 1. But then,
it would naturally support VM'ability, so ...
-Kevin
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Kevin Lawton [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MandrakeSoft, Inc. Plex86 developer
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/ http://www.plex86.org/
