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Author Topic: Enter the Dragon or enter the vapor?  (Read 11286 times)

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Offline Zac67

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Re: Enter the Dragon or enter the vapor?
« on: May 17, 2007, 02:54:07 PM »
 :horse:
 

Offline Zac67

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Re: Enter the Dragon or enter the vapor?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2007, 05:27:30 PM »
The only way to get a Coldfire running 68k software is to compile a huge database that knows how to patch every little bit of software around (you can call it the Microsoft approach, that's 'Legacy Support' in Windows) - a gigantic effort and no one is going to do it.

If you consider using JIT: no point in using a Coldfire in the first place. A fast, basic x86 mainboard + CPU is available for little more than $100 (see Amithlon) - why spend more on a board that actually offers less? Because the x86 board is able to run Windoze? Come on...
 

Offline Zac67

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Re: Enter the Dragon or enter the vapor?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2007, 09:48:43 PM »
Flushing the pipeline is a problem when using a exception based approach (which isn't entirely possible) - you're talking about emulation. Plus, there are more efficient ways to emulate without huge lookup tables.

The only way you'd really get the most out of a CF would be to combine all these methods and let the task scheduler choose the appropriate one based on a database: all unknown tasks run through a JIT compiler (lowest speed), some known tasks are patched during load time and flagged as CF compatible (full speed).

This would add a tiny bit overhead to the scheduler, but permit 'clean' software to run full speed. You can even start out JITing everything and add patches later through updates.

After all, it's not impossible, but may not be worth the while.