Re: [New Thread] Potential for NetBSD on Palm Devices with DragonBall (M68K) Architecture

Jason Thorpe <[email protected]> Sat, 2 Nov 2024 07:06:20 -0700
Newsgroups gmane.os.netbsd.ports.m68k
Message-ID <[email protected]>

> On Nov 2, 2024, at 5:55 AM, Eric Hilgart <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Hey m68k community, 
> 
> Is there any known precedent or theoretical pathway within NetBSD for adapting the system to run on MMU-less m68k processors like the DragonBall? Any insights on kernel configurations, memory management workarounds, or community projects aimed at adapting NetBSD for similar hardware would be greatly appreciated.

There is a lot of work that would need to be done in the machine-independent parts of the NetBSD kernel in order to make it work on a system without an MMU.  I don’t think it could be hidden away in the current abstractions used between the MI and MD parts of the kernel.  I think the trickiest part would actually be memory allocation, although I’m probably mentally hand-waving some other big ticket items because I’ve been thinking about it in the context of a 68000-based homebrew system where I have control of the hardware.

-- thorpej