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Subject: FAQ: 6 - White (Intel) Hardware
6 WHITE (INTEL) HARDWARE
6.1 What about support for NeXT Computer specific hardware features such as the
DSP?
support, specific DSP, support support, DSP NeXT computers offer
additional hardware support not commonly available for Intel systems.
This includes the DSP. The DSP in a NeXT Computer is used for a
variety of functions including ISDN support and real-time audio
compression/de-compression. ISDN support for NEXTSTEP/Intel will be
provided via an add-on PC card and ISDN adapter.
Although the DSP programming feature is missing for NS3.3 on Intel, it
is not necessary. The important SoundKit functions are rewritten to
emulate an DSP on Intel, but this costs a lot of CPU time.
6.2 Do Multi-Architecture Binaries take a lot of extra disk space?
MAB, disk space multi application binary, MAB
The concept of NEXTSTEP binaries is different to other platforms. On
NEXTSTEP only the real program is compiled and linked in a hardware
specific manner. E.g. the GUI and the multilanguage support are usable
on any platform running NEXTSTEP and will do so
under OPENSTEP. Therefore the real binary part is sometimes really
small.
Anyway it might be a good choice to thin such a fat binary. NeXT ships
tools for this purpose. Look at the manpages for lipo.
If an application wasn't installed using the standard NeXT tool
Installer, it might also be a good choice to look into the application
drawer and delete other languages supported but not used by the
application. This additional data is found in the
different *.lproj subdirectories in the application's folder. To get
there, activate the application's icon and select Open as directory
from the Workspace's File menu item.
6.3 How difficult is it to recompile existing NeXT applications over to
NEXTSTEP/Intel?
compile, re
Very easy. Most programs will simply recompile and run, or require few
changes. We believe that any application that uses the standard
development environment and Object kits provided by NeXT should simply
compile and run. Only applications that use architecture specific
features or data formats, will require additional time to port.
Several developers have already ported applications to NEXTSTEP/Intel.
Appsoft Draw simply recompiled and ran, Lighthouse Concurrence took 3
hours, other programs took 1/2 a day to 2 days, and this was all on a
very early release of NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.1!
Some applications just will refuse to compile, because they are still
based on the old 2.0 headers etc. These applications are really rare
now and may get ported very easily too, by changing the include path
in your developer package.
Other applications require additional header files and libraries to
properly compile and link. These applications are mostly based on the
MiscKit or MusicKit and other PD-Kits. You need to install these Kits
first to compile these programs.
With the shipping of OpenStep this might change, because it will be
possible to produce shared libraries with the NeXT Developer package.
This will enable you to not install the complete Kit, but only the
shared library and will also reduce your binary no
ticeable.
6.4 When developing programs, are there any portability issues I should be
aware of?
portability Yes. As stated above, any applications that use the
standard tools provided by the NEXTSTEP development environment,
should just recompile and work. To make sure developers are aware of
portability issues, NeXT is producing a guide to address source code
portability between different architectures running NEXTSTEP. This
guide is available in the online documentation to the NeXT Developer
package.
6.5 What is the difference between the NEXTSTEP/Intel User Environment and
Developer Environment?
user vs. developer developer vs. user The NEXTSTEP/Intel User
Environment consists of the entire NEXTSTEP 3.3 environment, minus the
developer tools. The Developer Environment includes the developer
tools such Interface builder, Project Builder, C compilers, Object
Kits, example source code and developer documentation.
Although it is possible to just get the latest GNU C compiler as a
binary, you can not use it! This is because you won't get the standard
libraries needed to produce NeXT applications neither the header
files. Also it there is currently no third party com
piler shipping. If you want to compile, you are forced to use the NeXT
Developer package.
The status of compiling a standard UNIX utility without NeXT's headers
and just based on the supplied shared libraries is unknown.
6.6 If a specific I/O card is not supported by NeXT, can 3rd parties write
drivers for NEXTSTEP/Intel?
I/O driver Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses a newly developed object-oriented
driver architecture that brings the benefits of object-orientation all
the way down to the I/O card driver level.
6.7 How is NEXTSTEP/Intel installed?
installation, Intel
NEXTSTEP/Intel will come with a boot floppy and a CDROM. To install
NEXTSTEP/Intel, the system boots from the floppy, and then installs
the minimum NEXTSTEP environment from the CDROM (SCSI CDROM drive).
The user may then chose from several optional packages depending on
the available disk space and user requirements.
6.8 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on 386 machines?
368 Intel 368 No. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses several 486 specific features
that enhance the performance of NEXTSTEP. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support
any 468 with Coprocessor and up.
6.9 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the Cyrix 486SLC?
468SLC, Cyrix Cyrix, 468SLC
NeXT states: No. The Cyrix chip not a true 486.
several other users state: Yes. Slow performance, though.
6.10 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the future Intel Microprocessors in the x86
family?
x68 Intel, x68 Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will not only support them, but
will take advantage of any performance enhancements available with
future Intel CPU's, just as NeXT has taken advantage of the 486.
6.11 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on portable computers?
portable computers
Yes. Many portables and notebooks with 486 CPU's and sufficient system
resources (>=8MB RAM and >=120MB hard disk space) are available. Since
NEXTSTEP/Intel will support 640x480 VGA displays in grayscale,
NEXTSTEP 486 can run on these systems. Do be aware that NEXTSTEP's
user interface and applications were not designed for low-resolution
screens, and consequently will impose limitations on the use of some
applications.
6.12 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel be able to run MS-DOS and Windows programs?
MS-DOS Windows MS-Windows
Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support a DOS and Windows compatibility
package. This software will allow DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 programs to
run within a NEXTSTEP window. Support will include DOS "Protected"
mode and Windows 3.1.
This package is called SoftPC and comes with every NEXTSTEP system.
The software is not free with NEXTSTEP, you have to pay extra. Anyway
you are not limited in a 30 day test phase when installing it.
Windows 95 and Windows NT are not supported by the emulation software.
6.13 How will my DOS and Windows applications perform under NEXTSTEP/Intel?
MS-DOS, performance Windows, performance MS-Windows, performance
Very well. The DOS/Windows compatibility package for NEXTSTEP/Intel
takes full advantage of the 486 microprocessor. Depending on system
hardware configuration and type of DOS/Windows application,
performance should vary between 386 and 486 native DOS/Windows
performance on Pentium systems. In addition, to enhance the
performance of Windows applications, a MS Windows specific Graphics
Device Interface (GDI) driver which maps Microsoft Windows calls
directly to the NEXTSTEP window server is part of the system.
6.14 Is the window I use to run Microsoft Windows applications resizable?
Windows, size MS-Windwos, size
Yes. You can set the Windows session to any size you wish up to the
maximum screen size available to the NEXTSTEP/Intel system you are
using.
6.15 Will this DOS/Windows compatibility system allow me to run several DOS
programs at once?
MS-DOS, multitasking
Yes. Since NEXTSTEP/Intel is a multi-tasking, virtual memory operating
environment, several DOS/Windows sessions can be run at once.
Hey, did I say Windows? Yes you can do real Windows multitasking with
SoftPC.
6.16 Can I cut and paste between DOS/Windows sessions and NEXTSTEP
applications?
cut&paste, Windows cut&paste, MS-DOS cut&paste, MS-Windows
Yes. You can cut and paste text and graphics between DOS/Windows and
NEXTSTEP applications.
6.17 Can I use both DOS and NEXTSTEP/Intel partitions on the same hard disk?
partitions, NeXT and DOS multi OS setup OS, more than one
Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support multiple operating systems on the
same local hard disk. When the system boots, the user can chose to
boot another operating system (such as DOS) or NEXTSTEP. If the local
partition contains DOS, NEXTSTEP/Intel will be able to access the
local DOS partition and read/write files to it.
Executive Summary: It is possible to install DOS, Windows NT with
NTFS, and NEXTSTEP/Intel on the same disk, and select which partition
is booted at boot time.
I spent some time experimenting with a 200MB SCSI disk. I wanted to
see if the following configuration would be possible:
Partition 1 Primary DOS
Partition 2 Extended DOS
Partition 3 Windows NT NTFS
Partition 4 NS/Intel 3.2
Since Windows NT requires at least 70MB for installation, and NS/Intel
requires at least 120MB, there wasn't much room for DOS! Ultimately, I
only tested a three partition system (DOS, NTFS, NS/Intel), but I have
no reason to believe that the extended DOS wouldn't also work.
The recipe is as follows:
* Preparation. You need a bootable DOS floppy that has FORMAT.COM on
it. You need another (blank) floppy for installing NT.
* Start with the NS/Intel installation. When it asks you how you
want to configure your disk, it gives you three choices, which are
basically
1. erase the whole disk and use it all for NS/Intel,
2. save some room for DOS,
3. advanced. Choose the advanced option, which places you in
NS/Intel fdisk (not to be confused with DOS FDISK.EXE).
* Create three partitions in this order:
1. Primary DOS (if more than 32MB desired, use the "large" FAT
option)
2. HPFS (this is a placeholder for NT, and can be any non-DOS
format)
3. NEXTSTEP
* Proceed with the rest of the NEXTSTEP installation.
* When NEXTSTEP is safely installed and tested out, boot DOS from
your bootable DOS floppy.
* FORMAT the DOS partition (which should be Drive C if you made it
the first partition). You want to FORMAT C:/S, to install the boot
code to make the DOS partition bootable.
* Once DOS is safely formatted and tested out, insert the NT
installation floppy and reboot.
* Proceed with the NT installation. Tell Setup to install NT in the
second partition (which shows up as "Unformatted"). You can select
NTFS for FAT format.
* Insert the blank floppy when asked. Don't bother to format it, NT
unconditionally formats it.
* If you select NTFS, there is a scary part of the installation that
makes it seem like NT can't reboot. In fact, it is converting the
installed files from FAT to NTFS in place. Just let it keep
rebooting until it finishes, don't interrupt it like I did.
* Finish setting up NT and test it out. It should be able to see the
DOS partition in FileManager.
* Likewise, there should be a DOS filesystem in / on NS/Intel. If
you configured NT for FAT instead of NTFS, there should be two DOS
filesystems in /.
That's it. When you boot, you see the familiar NS/Intel boot manager.
If you select DOS, it boots NT, which in turn offers you a chance to
boot DOS or NT (not NS/Intel, of course). Kind of weird that you have
this two tiered boot, but it's probably because the bootsector has
been modified by NT. I haven't tried setting the active partition to
DOS -- that might avoid the two tiers.
6.18 Can NEXTSTEP/Intel read, write, and format DOS and Mac floppies?
MacIntosh, r/w floppy MS-DOS, r/w floppy Yes.
6.19 NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.1, DOS, Linux/NT multi-boot system?
multi OS boot Linux MS-DOS OS/2 boot manager dual boot
The OS/2 boot manager does this nicely.
NOTES ON INSTALLING DOS, OS/2 AND NEXTSTEP FOR DUAL BOOT
* Boot OS/2 from diskette and press Escape to get to the [A:]
command prompt
* Run the OS/2 FDISK program and create the following partitions:
+ 1 MB Boot Manager
+ 20MB DOS Primary partition (drive C:)
+ 64MB OS/2 Extended partition (logical drive D:)
+ 120MB Data Extended partition (logical drive E:) (or 200MB or
whatever size)
NOTE: LEAVE THE REMAINING 460+MB FREE SPACE UNFORMATTED DO NOT CREATE
A PARTITION FOR THE REMAINING SPACE
* Re-boot the machine and boot DOS from diskette.
* Format drive C: and install DOS on drive C: with the following
command: format c: /s /u
* Now Re-boot the machine with the OS/2 Installation diskette.
* Install OS/2 on Drive D: (the 64 MB logical partition) You will be
prompted to install OS/2 on the default drive C: You will need to
select the option to change the drive which will throw you into
FDISK. Just make drive D: installable and proceed.
* After OS/2 has been installed shutdown the system. Do a cold power
off boot.
* Cold boot the machine with the NEXTSTEP boot diskette.
* Proceed with normal NEXTSTEP install and you should get the
following disk installation option screen:
Type 1 to erase the entire disk and use all 667 MB ...
Type 2 to set aside some space for DOS and use the rest ...
Type 3 to keep existing partitions and use the 462 MB free space ...
Type 4 to use the 184 MB DOS extended partition for NEXTSTEP.
Type 5 for advanced options (in English only).
--->
Choose option number 3 and proceed with the NEXTSTEP install
* After NEXTSTEP has been installed, re-boot the machine and select
'd' from the NEXTSTEP boot manager menu to boot DOS.
* When DOS has booted, run the FDISK program to set the active
partition to the first partition, the BOOT Manager partition. Then
exit fdisk.
* Now run the DOS FDISK program again but with the following
parameter: fdisk /mbr This command removes the NEXTSTEP boot
manager from the DOS partition.
* Now re-boot the machine and the boot manager should come up.
Select OS/2
* Once OS/2 has booted, run the OS/2 FDISK program and name the
NEXTSTEP partition and add it to the boot manager menu.
* You should now have a machine with DOS, NEXTSTEP, OS/2 listed in
the boot manager menu when the machine starts up. The boot manager
defaults to the OS that was last booted.
6.20 NeXTSTEP on INTEL, KEYBOARD-ERROR ...
keyboard error, Intel
We installed NeXTSTEP for Intel on a P5-Board using an Adaptec A1540
SCSI-Controller. The System boots correctly. After running the kernel
the keyboard is without any function. We can't use it anymore.
Rebooting doesn't eliminate the error (advise from I-Guide).
Well, it seems that the PS/2 Mouse driver interferes with the keyboard
driver when installing on some motherboards. You have to remove the
PS/2 mouse driver, then reboot, and it will work fine. I destroy the
driver on our machines, so that config=Default will work properly as
well. You should be able to remove the driver without reinstalling.
6.21 NS 3.2 Tseng ET4000 Video Driver doesn't work.
ET4000, NS3.2
TSENG Cards often have different DACs and BIOS-Versions. It is
important, that the graphics card do have the original BIOS from TSENG
Laps. Otherwise, it is not possible to run NS with the 1024 x 768
resolution.
6.22 Accessing ROM monitor on Intel-System, how?
ROM-Monitor, Intel On Intel you just type -s at the boot: prompt. Also
try CTRL-C at the point where it hangs it might continue. This gives
you single user mode. There simply is no ROM-Monitor on Intel as it is
on NeXT. You do have the choice to enter a simple ROM-Debugger by
choosing the appropriate option when the system hangs.
6.23 Adaptec 2940 Fast and Sync. SCSI explanation...
This message is to clear up the confusion on the issue of whether or
not the NEXTSTEP driver for the Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI Host Adapter
supports Fast SCSI (i.e., 10 MB/s data transfers).
The Adaptec 2940 SCSI Host Adapter Driver supports Synchronous Data
Transfer as well as Fast SCSI transfers. In order to enable
Synchronous Data Transfer, this feature must be enabled in both the
2940's AutoSCSI program and in the NEXTSTEP Configure application,
when configuring the Adaptec 2940 driver. In the AutoSCSI program,
this feature is enabled in the SCSI Device Configuration menu, via the
"Initiate Sync Negotiation" field. This can be enabled or disabled on
a per-target basis. In the Configure application, the "Synchronous"
button, if disabled, disables Synchronous Transfers for ALL targets.
If enabled, the values selected in the AutoSCSI program are used to
determine whether or not Synchronous Transfers occur on a per-target
basis.
The Synchronous Transfer data rate is determined in the 2940's
AutoSCSI program, via the "Maximum Sync Transfer Rate" field in the
SCSI Device Configuration menu. "Fast SCSI" Transfers are enabled by
selecting a value of 10 (i.e., 10 Megabytes/seconds) for this field.
Note that if Synchronous Transfers are disabled, the "Maximum Sync
Transfer Rate" field is meaningless. Also note that it is not
recommended to select a value higher than 5 for a device which is in
an external enclosure and connected to the 2940 via an external SCSI
cable.
6.24 Do EIDE-Drives work with NEXTSTEP?
EIDE
Yes, a driver is included in NEXTSTEP 3.3
6.25 Anyone have a driver yet that does 8 bit color on an ET4000/w32p card?
(Hercules Dynamite Pro VLB)
ET4000/w32p, 8 Bit color
Here's a trick that will work with 3.3 if the driver works with your
adapter. You need the latest driver though.
Simply select one of the 8-bit gray resolutions in Configure. Save the
configuration and quit Configure. Open Instance0.table inside the
driver bundle and search for BW:8 and replace it by RGB:256/8. Save
the file. Restart your machine and you've got 8-bit color!!!
6.26 Does a Glidepoint pointing device work with NEXTSTEP?
Glidepoint
It will work nicely under NS as you don't need any driver to make it
work and use the nice features that GlidePoint have, like 'double-tap'
to replace left-button click and 'double-tap and slide on the pad' to
replace the hold the button and move for dragging an object.
6.27 AppleTalk under NEXTSTEP/Intel?
AppleTalk, Intel IPT has a product called Partner, which works fine
under 3.3 and mounts AppleShare Volumes, supports AT printing etc.
6.28 Booting hangs with black screen
Triton Bootoptions
On some Triton based boards there seems to be a graphic problem while
booting. The solution is to switch off graphic display and always boot
with the '-v' option turned on (enter this at the 'boot:' prompt).
If you don't get a 'boot:' prompt, or if you just want to fix things
forever, you need to enter Default.table and Instance0.table in
/usr/Devices/System.config and set 'BootGraphics="No"'. This has the
same effect as typing '-v' at
the 'boot:' prompt every time.
6.29 Why are the features of my graphic card useless?
graphic card
For the purposes of this discussion, I will limit my response to the
manner in which DPS operates as part of the NEXTSTEP window server.
DPS sometimes draws directly to the screen and sometimes to offscreen
memory (buffered windows). The latter is the most common case. The
former occurs only in nonretained windows and visible portions of
retained windows.
DPS is split into two sections: a device independent kernel and a
device dependent driver layer. The driver layer is free to use
graphics hardware to do its job; however there are complications.
First, most graphics cards only allow you to use the hardware to draw
into the framebuffer, not into system memory. This renders the
hardware unusable for buffered windows. Second, the hardware must draw
the same pixels that the software would draw. Often this is hard to
achieve with satisfactory performance results. The DPS device
primitives rely on precise pixel layout that often cannot be
guaranteed using the hardware in the most straightforward manner.
So, while it is theoretically possible to use graphics hardware with
DPS in NEXTSTEP, it is not very practical. This should not lead you to
the conclusion that all graphics cards are the same when it comes to
NEXTSTEP. The speed of the system bus (ISA, EISA, PCI, VLB) is a big
determinant of performance, but the internal architecture of the card
itself also has a huge impact on the framebuffer memory bandwidth. I
won't go into details, but some of the determinants include DRAM vs.
VRAM, memory interleaving, and burst access.
Other factors also influence the quality of a display card. These
include the speed and stability of the RAMDAC and the supported
display modes to name jsut two.
6.30 How to use MIDI without the MusicKit?
MIDI MusicKit
* Be sure you have an MPU-401 compatible MIDI card for the PC.
* Get the Music Kit and install it. It's on the ftp servers.
* Install the MIDI driver by double clicking on
/LocalLibrary/Devices/Mididriver, which will add it to the system.
Set the IRQ and IO port in the Configure.app. Then reboot.
* If your program does not use the -ObjC flag on its link line, link
against /usr/local/lib/libmusickit.a. However, if your program
does use the -ObjC flag, extract the following files from
libmusickit.a and link against them
explicitly:
mididriver\_replyServer.o
mididriverUser.o
mididriver\_nonMig.o
* Add this line as the first line in the C file that accesses the
MIDI driver:
#import <musickit/midi\_driver\_compatability.h>
Be sure that you do not explicitly import . This file is
(conditionally) imported by .
The reason for needing a separate API for Intel is that there's a
structure size disparity between the 68k and Intel versions of
NeXT's libsys_s. So we defined a new set of MIDI functions for the
Intel driver. The header file above defines the old
names to be the new names.
* Change the mididriver port name from mididriver to Mididriver.
Example:
#if i386
#define MIDIDRIVER\_NAME "Mididriver"
#else
#define MIDIDRIVER\_NAME "mididriver"
#endif
r = netname\_look\_up(name\_server\_port, "",MIDIDRIVER\_NAME,
&driverPort);
This is another change to prevent conflict with the NeXT hardware
driver.
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* (weiter mit 7 Storage)
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This document was converted from LaTeX using Karl Ewald's latex2html.