WUAE:: custom rom to load a kickrom from HD?

[azvareth]

Hi!

I was wondering if it is possible (everything is) to code/write a custom rom that would for example load the "real" kick.rom from harddrive, remap the rom to there, and continue to boot as normal.

1. would it be easy ?
2. what tools must be used ? (to get the code onto such a rom)
3. has it ben done ?

why?
first it would be much more easier to modify a rom loaded from disk... second I have some ideas of changing the functions in the rom.

an example "recompile" aros for native Amiga and the step to a free AmigaOS would be closer.

note: this is an idea at this point, no plans.

Azvareth

[Piru]

Possible? Yes
1. No
2. Absolute linker
3. Yes it has. Some early A3000s had such ROM.

For generic solution the biggest problem is mapping the ROM to the memory. You typically either need MMU and some really complex code for that, or some HW that actually supports ROM mapping in hardware. The minimum you need to reboot to actually start using the new ROM, the ROM cannot be swapped on the fly.

The obvious problem is the hard drive controller drivers, too. You'd need to take those from the original ROM, and to be able to use it you'd need pretty much the whole low level OS itself. If you want to load files from a filesystem you need the FFS filesystem from the ROM, too. You'll end up large chunks of the original ROM anyway.

In short, better forget it. It's much easier to actually move the mapping to a separate program that is executed inside the startup-sequence. The functionality is almost identical anyway, plus you don't need to rip apart the OS or rewrite it from scratch.

I'd suggest checking out BlizKick.

And anyway, if you're doing this under WinUAE, why not set up the system so that you can automagically upload the new kickstart rom image thru ftp or samba and then just restart the emulation? Even the restart can be automated.

[azvareth]

Thank you for your answer, perhaps it is better to remap it from s-seq then.

I was only playing with the idea to have an OS loading from disk, for example a (soft)rom containing only the basic to launch the system and then load everything else during startup, libs: intuition, wb, ... devices, handlers and ....

I was even thinking of tech from virtual machines (UAE) to somehow "map" the hardware thru software and as such I thought it would be "remapable" to some point during startup (for example the rom adress).

But then again only ideas at this point, and now checking if it is posible (I might [or might not] try anyhow, but not with a fullblown OS).

Azvareth