Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!hoser.berkeley.edu!bryce From: bryce@hoser.berkeley.edu (Bryce Nesbitt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Minix and the Amiga2000 Keywords: Can it be ported Message-ID: <22153@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Date: 13 Dec 87 11:05:06 GMT References: <387@hvrunix.UUCP> Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 37 In article <387@hvrunix.UUCP> ahinds@hvrunix.UUCP (Alexander Hinds) writes: > > Next semester I would like to get involved in porting a unix >compatable operating system to my 2000. (MINIX, written by Tannenbaum) >However, I'm not sure if it can be done since Kickstart is in ROM, and >the computer wants a Workbench disk upon powerup. Is there a way to kick >the operating system out from control of the machine and install mine? >How? Please help! No problem! There are lots of good ways of doing this. If you are runing a floppy based system you could use a custom boot block. This will let you get code running *AFTER* extra memory is configured, but before the OS really mucks things up. If you want a hardware solution, you can get control by using the "ROM Diagnostic cartridge vector". You'll get run before anything significant happens. (It also means autoconfiguration of RAM will not have happended). Hard disk systems can also be hijacked. For an example of the boot-block method, see Fish disk #87. Or you can just take the system after it is up. Switch to supervisor mode with the supplied exec calls, and steal the system. You might even be able to attach to the Amiga's devices for your disk interface needs. This requires some more knowlege of Amiga internals, such as how to figure out where your physical memory might be (It could be anywhere). Lots of possibilities. >BITNET: A_HINDS@HVRFORD |\ /| . Ack! (NAK, SOH, EOT) {o O} . bryce@hoser.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!hoser!bryce (") U WARNING: hoser's spool directory eats a *lot* of mail. :-(