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Hardware / Re: Building an OS/2 system from the ground up, what would it look like?
« on: March 29, 2020, 05:53:22 am »Code: [Select]So, I thought if we can't at this moment make the OS fit the hardware, why not make the hardware fit the OS? Anyone tried running it on the 486FPGA?
Running an OS needs more than a CPU. If the 486FPGA emulates a real 486 CPU well enough then it probably will run. But I see no benefit in using a FPGA instead the real chip. What Southbridge do you want to wire to such FPGA? Another FPGA? And which Northbridge? And which .... Do you know all the components which makes up a standard PC and will you pack all of them into one or more FPGAs? If yes, the first question would be, which 'standard' PC. The 486 systems from IBM, with our without Microchannel? Or the ones from Compaq, or?
If you want to put something into an FPGA why not emulate an ATI X300 but with two working DVI outputs as we have a multihead driver for this chip.
I think as Sergey points out, FPGAs can emulate an entire system-Bios, CPU, soundcard, video card, the works, depending on how complex it is.
P.S. Thanks Dave for taking the time to explain PSD to me.
I'm not trying to knock the software efforts toward improving OS/2. Maybe I am. I don't know. I used OS/2 in the '90's to 00's because it was lean (compared to Win'95), multitasked like a champ, and allowed me to use some of the DOS molecular modeling programs I needed at the time (not to mention many DOS games and Programs). I felt very cutting edge. A lot of those advantages have disappeared with time, but I'd still like to see it shine as a cool Retro experience while the community decides where it going to go. That's what prompts my interest in finding a hardware set-up that will offer the full functionality of the OS as it is today. Maybe its a pipe dream.