wheels@mks.UUCP (09/02/87)
In article <1468@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM>, bryan@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM (Bryan Ivey) writes: > I agree! Bring on the documentation and something closer to the Unix / > Xenix / OS9 type operating system, Atari! OS9 in ROM (drool, drool)! > > Bryan Ivey I mentioned the same thing to one of the people at Microware, but his response was that it was much easier to update, etc, if booted from disk. However, given the modularity of OS-9, and the way ROM'ed modules are found at boot time, I would think almost anyone could put most of OS-9 into a ROM cartridge and save some of the RAM for other things. Even if some of the modules in ROM become outdated, all you have to do is boot a replacement with a higher revision number. (At least, that was the case in my very old copy of OS-9 for the 6809 -- is it still true?) -- ll // // ,'/~~\' Gerry Wheeler {decvax,ihnp4,seismo}!watmath!mks!wheels /ll/// //l' `\\\ Mortice Kern Systems Inc. (519) 884-2251 / l //_// ll\___/ 43 Bridgeport Rd. E., Waterloo, ON, Can. N2J 2J4 O_/
bryan@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM (Bryan Ivey) (09/04/87)
In article <295@mks.UUCP> wheels@mks.UUCP (Gerry Wheeler) writes: >In article <1468@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM>, bryan@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM (Bryan Ivey) writes: >I mentioned the same thing to one of the people at Microware, but his >response was that it was much easier to update, etc, if booted from >disk. However, given the modularity of OS-9, and the way ROM'ed modules >are found at boot time, I would think almost anyone could put most of >OS-9 into a ROM cartridge and save some of the RAM for other things. >Even if some of the modules in ROM become outdated, all you have to do >is boot a replacement with a higher revision number. (At least, that >was the case in my very old copy of OS-9 for the 6809 -- is it still >true?) I was not thinking quite clearly or quite deep enough! Seems to me that the boot up code checks to see if there is a cartridge present and jumps to the cartridge prior to doing anything else with the TOS ROM if the cartridge is of a certain type??? Correct?? If so, issue cartridges for OS9 systems. Then if any changes are made (fixes / enhancements), offer the user's a choice: 1. Buy a new ROM and install it yourself. 2. Buy a floppy with the updated ROM in binary format suitable for burning yourself. 3. Buy a floppy with the updated modules to be loaded into memory (Possibly by STARTUP???). 4. All of the above. Naturally, some of the above choices would not be suitable for everyone, but it would give everyone a chance at their preference. As far as I know, any module loaded in under OS9 replaces the previous module in memory IFF the version is higher. I would assume that the 68K version is the same. Bryan Ivey