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Author Topic: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??  (Read 1835 times)

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Offline DiskDoctorTopic starter

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Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« on: March 10, 2009, 01:48:10 PM »

Hi all,

After a routine web scanning under Amiga keyword, I found this: PearPC.

Is it ever possible to run AOS4 on some virtual layer PC?  I'm just curious because I would get it ASAP to try it out because I still gave myself a couple of months to wait for a MacMini PPC version.
Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
Planned soon: an OS4 system
Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2009, 01:54:59 PM »
Quote

DiskDoctor wrote:

Hi all,

After a routine web scanning under Amiga keyword, I found this: PearPC.

Is it ever possible to run AOS4 on some virtual layer PC?  I'm just curious because I would get it ASAP to try it out because I still gave myself a couple of months to wait for a MacMini PPC version.


One of Piru's friends has MOS running on QEMU... but honestly, if you are programming the PPC AmigaOS clones... then you have the source code... so you can just as easily recompile your code for x86 AROS if you wanted to... so other than for the geek value of running an Alternative OS, there is little point...

Offline DiskDoctorTopic starter

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Re: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2009, 02:02:48 PM »
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bloodline wrote:

One of Piru's friends has MOS running on QEMU... but honestly, if you are programming the PPC AmigaOS clones... then you have the source code... so you can just as easily recompile your code for x86 AROS if you wanted to... so other than for the geek value of running an Alternative OS, there is little point...


I don't I get it.  I'm sorry but as said elsewhere, my knowledge on emulation is just basic, let alone multiple platforms.
Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
Planned soon: an OS4 system
Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2009, 02:17:10 PM »
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DiskDoctor wrote:
Quote

bloodline wrote:

One of Piru's friends has MOS running on QEMU... but honestly, if you are programming the PPC AmigaOS clones... then you have the source code... so you can just as easily recompile your code for x86 AROS if you wanted to... so other than for the geek value of running an Alternative OS, there is little point...


I don't I get it.  I'm sorry but as said elsewhere, my knowledge on emulation is just basic, let alone multiple platforms.


Emulation of the Amiga is a technical challenge... The classic Amiga Hardware was complex and unusual... Emulating a modern system like the PPC based desktops is a simple task and only needed to run PPC software investments on a more modern/powerful CPU like the x86-64s... if you have the source code to the PPC software then it is simpler to recompile the software for the target CPU (given that AmigaOS/AOS4/MOS/AROS all have the same API, porting software between them is quite trivial).

Offline Piru

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Re: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2009, 02:58:04 PM »
@bloodline
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honestly, if you are programming the PPC AmigaOS clones then you have the source code. so you can just as easily recompile your code for x86 AROS if you wanted to.

Actually that is not the case. Typically any given (old) code is full of byte order dependecies. It's way easier to hack qemu than to get the thing build and work on x86.
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Does it make any sense to think of PPC emulation??
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2009, 03:37:14 PM »
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Piru wrote:
@bloodline
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honestly, if you are programming the PPC AmigaOS clones then you have the source code. so you can just as easily recompile your code for x86 AROS if you wanted to.

Actually that is not the case. Typically any given (old) code is full of byte order dependecies. It's way easier to hack qemu than to get the thing build and work on x86.


I am speaking of new code written for the PPC... which may have some endianess difficulties, but essentially is not being held to ransom by a CPU arch which has died.

I do agree with you that a big endian CPU is the only way to have a nice integrated 68k emu... but now, I'm not sure that degree of integration is required or even desirable... interesting discussion point though...