Subject: FAQ: 6 - White (Intel) Hardware



                          6 WHITE (INTEL) HARDWARE

6.1 What about support for NeXT Computer specific hardware features such as the
DSP?

   support, specific DSP, support support, DSP NeXT computers offer
   additional hardware support not commonly available for Intel systems.
   This includes the DSP. The DSP in a NeXT Computer is used for a
   variety of functions including ISDN support and real-time audio
   compression/de-compression. ISDN support for NEXTSTEP/Intel will be
   provided via an add-on PC card and ISDN adapter.

   Although the DSP programming feature is missing for NS3.3 on Intel, it
   is not necessary. The important SoundKit functions are rewritten to
   emulate an DSP on Intel, but this costs a lot of CPU time.

6.2 Do Multi-Architecture Binaries take a lot of extra disk space?

   MAB, disk space multi application binary, MAB

   The concept of NEXTSTEP binaries is different to other platforms. On
   NEXTSTEP only the real program is compiled and linked in a hardware
   specific manner. E.g. the GUI and the multilanguage support are usable
   on any platform running NEXTSTEP and will do so

   under OPENSTEP. Therefore the real binary part is sometimes really
   small.

   Anyway it might be a good choice to thin such a fat binary. NeXT ships
   tools for this purpose. Look at the manpages for lipo.

   If an application wasn't installed using the standard NeXT tool
   Installer, it might also be a good choice to look into the application
   drawer and delete other languages supported but not used by the
   application. This additional data is found in the

   different *.lproj subdirectories in the application's folder. To get
   there, activate the application's icon and select Open as directory
   from the Workspace's File menu item.

6.3 How difficult is it to recompile existing NeXT applications over to
NEXTSTEP/Intel?

   compile, re

   Very easy. Most programs will simply recompile and run, or require few
   changes. We believe that any application that uses the standard
   development environment and Object kits provided by NeXT should simply
   compile and run. Only applications that use architecture specific
   features or data formats, will require additional time to port.
   Several developers have already ported applications to NEXTSTEP/Intel.
   Appsoft Draw simply recompiled and ran, Lighthouse Concurrence took 3
   hours, other programs took 1/2 a day to 2 days, and this was all on a
   very early release of NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.1!

   Some applications just will refuse to compile, because they are still
   based on the old 2.0 headers etc. These applications are really rare
   now and may get ported very easily too, by changing the include path
   in your developer package.

   Other applications require additional header files and libraries to
   properly compile and link. These applications are mostly based on the
   MiscKit or MusicKit and other PD-Kits. You need to install these Kits
   first to compile these programs.

   With the shipping of OpenStep this might change, because it will be
   possible to produce shared libraries with the NeXT Developer package.
   This will enable you to not install the complete Kit, but only the
   shared library and will also reduce your binary no

   ticeable.

6.4 When developing programs, are there any portability issues I should be
aware of?

   portability Yes. As stated above, any applications that use the
   standard tools provided by the NEXTSTEP development environment,
   should just recompile and work. To make sure developers are aware of
   portability issues, NeXT is producing a guide to address source code
   portability between different architectures running NEXTSTEP. This
   guide is available in the online documentation to the NeXT Developer
   package.

6.5 What is the difference between the NEXTSTEP/Intel User Environment and
Developer Environment?

   user vs. developer developer vs. user The NEXTSTEP/Intel User
   Environment consists of the entire NEXTSTEP 3.3 environment, minus the
   developer tools. The Developer Environment includes the developer
   tools such Interface builder, Project Builder, C compilers, Object
   Kits, example source code and developer documentation.

   Although it is possible to just get the latest GNU C compiler as a
   binary, you can not use it! This is because you won't get the standard
   libraries needed to produce NeXT applications neither the header
   files. Also it there is currently no third party com

   piler shipping. If you want to compile, you are forced to use the NeXT
   Developer package.

   The status of compiling a standard UNIX utility without NeXT's headers
   and just based on the supplied shared libraries is unknown.

6.6 If a specific I/O card is not supported by NeXT, can 3rd parties write
drivers for NEXTSTEP/Intel?

   I/O driver Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses a newly developed object-oriented
   driver architecture that brings the benefits of object-orientation all
   the way down to the I/O card driver level.

6.7 How is NEXTSTEP/Intel installed?

   installation, Intel

   NEXTSTEP/Intel will come with a boot floppy and a CDROM. To install
   NEXTSTEP/Intel, the system boots from the floppy, and then installs
   the minimum NEXTSTEP environment from the CDROM (SCSI CDROM drive).
   The user may then chose from several optional packages depending on
   the available disk space and user requirements.

6.8 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on 386 machines?

   368 Intel 368 No. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses several 486 specific features
   that enhance the performance of NEXTSTEP. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support
   any 468 with Coprocessor and up.

6.9 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the Cyrix 486SLC?

   468SLC, Cyrix Cyrix, 468SLC

   NeXT states: No. The Cyrix chip not a true 486.
   several other users state: Yes. Slow performance, though.

6.10 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the future Intel Microprocessors in the x86
family?

   x68 Intel, x68 Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will not only support them, but
   will take advantage of any performance enhancements available with
   future Intel CPU's, just as NeXT has taken advantage of the 486.

6.11 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on portable computers?

   portable computers

   Yes. Many portables and notebooks with 486 CPU's and sufficient system
   resources (>=8MB RAM and >=120MB hard disk space) are available. Since
   NEXTSTEP/Intel will support 640x480 VGA displays in grayscale,
   NEXTSTEP 486 can run on these systems. Do be aware that NEXTSTEP's
   user interface and applications were not designed for low-resolution
   screens, and consequently will impose limitations on the use of some
   applications.

6.12 Will NEXTSTEP/Intel be able to run MS-DOS and Windows programs?

   MS-DOS Windows MS-Windows

   Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support a DOS and Windows compatibility
   package. This software will allow DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 programs to
   run within a NEXTSTEP window. Support will include DOS "Protected"
   mode and Windows 3.1.

   This package is called SoftPC and comes with every NEXTSTEP system.
   The software is not free with NEXTSTEP, you have to pay extra. Anyway
   you are not limited in a 30 day test phase when installing it.

   Windows 95 and Windows NT are not supported by the emulation software.


6.13 How will my DOS and Windows applications perform under NEXTSTEP/Intel?

   MS-DOS, performance Windows, performance MS-Windows, performance

   Very well. The DOS/Windows compatibility package for NEXTSTEP/Intel
   takes full advantage of the 486 microprocessor. Depending on system
   hardware configuration and type of DOS/Windows application,
   performance should vary between 386 and 486 native DOS/Windows
   performance on Pentium systems. In addition, to enhance the
   performance of Windows applications, a MS Windows specific Graphics
   Device Interface (GDI) driver which maps Microsoft Windows calls
   directly to the NEXTSTEP window server is part of the system.

6.14 Is the window I use to run Microsoft Windows applications resizable?

   Windows, size MS-Windwos, size

   Yes. You can set the Windows session to any size you wish up to the
   maximum screen size available to the NEXTSTEP/Intel system you are
   using.

6.15 Will this DOS/Windows compatibility system allow me to run several DOS
programs at once?

   MS-DOS, multitasking

   Yes. Since NEXTSTEP/Intel is a multi-tasking, virtual memory operating
   environment, several DOS/Windows sessions can be run at once.

   Hey, did I say Windows? Yes you can do real Windows multitasking with
   SoftPC.

6.16 Can I cut and paste between DOS/Windows sessions and NEXTSTEP
applications?

   cut&paste, Windows cut&paste, MS-DOS cut&paste, MS-Windows

   Yes. You can cut and paste text and graphics between DOS/Windows and
   NEXTSTEP applications.

6.17 Can I use both DOS and NEXTSTEP/Intel partitions on the same hard disk?

   partitions, NeXT and DOS multi OS setup OS, more than one

   Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support multiple operating systems on the
   same local hard disk. When the system boots, the user can chose to
   boot another operating system (such as DOS) or NEXTSTEP. If the local
   partition contains DOS, NEXTSTEP/Intel will be able to access the
   local DOS partition and read/write files to it.

   Executive Summary: It is possible to install DOS, Windows NT with
   NTFS, and NEXTSTEP/Intel on the same disk, and select which partition
   is booted at boot time.

   I spent some time experimenting with a 200MB SCSI disk. I wanted to
   see if the following configuration would be possible:


        Partition 1     Primary DOS
        Partition 2     Extended DOS
        Partition 3     Windows NT NTFS
        Partition 4     NS/Intel 3.2


   Since Windows NT requires at least 70MB for installation, and NS/Intel
   requires at least 120MB, there wasn't much room for DOS! Ultimately, I
   only tested a three partition system (DOS, NTFS, NS/Intel), but I have
   no reason to believe that the extended DOS wouldn't also work.

   The recipe is as follows:

     * Preparation. You need a bootable DOS floppy that has FORMAT.COM on
       it. You need another (blank) floppy for installing NT.

     * Start with the NS/Intel installation. When it asks you how you
       want to configure your disk, it gives you three choices, which are
       basically
         1. erase the whole disk and use it all for NS/Intel,
         2. save some room for DOS,
         3. advanced. Choose the advanced option, which places you in
            NS/Intel fdisk (not to be confused with DOS FDISK.EXE).
     * Create three partitions in this order:
         1. Primary DOS (if more than 32MB desired, use the "large" FAT
            option)
         2. HPFS (this is a placeholder for NT, and can be any non-DOS
            format)
         3. NEXTSTEP
     * Proceed with the rest of the NEXTSTEP installation.

     * When NEXTSTEP is safely installed and tested out, boot DOS from
       your bootable DOS floppy.

     * FORMAT the DOS partition (which should be Drive C if you made it
       the first partition). You want to FORMAT C:/S, to install the boot
       code to make the DOS partition bootable.

     * Once DOS is safely formatted and tested out, insert the NT
       installation floppy and reboot.
     * Proceed with the NT installation. Tell Setup to install NT in the
       second partition (which shows up as "Unformatted"). You can select
       NTFS for FAT format.

     * Insert the blank floppy when asked. Don't bother to format it, NT
       unconditionally formats it.

     * If you select NTFS, there is a scary part of the installation that
       makes it seem like NT can't reboot. In fact, it is converting the
       installed files from FAT to NTFS in place. Just let it keep
       rebooting until it finishes, don't interrupt it like I did.

     * Finish setting up NT and test it out. It should be able to see the
       DOS partition in FileManager.

     * Likewise, there should be a DOS filesystem in / on NS/Intel. If
       you configured NT for FAT instead of NTFS, there should be two DOS
       filesystems in /.


   That's it. When you boot, you see the familiar NS/Intel boot manager.
   If you select DOS, it boots NT, which in turn offers you a chance to
   boot DOS or NT (not NS/Intel, of course). Kind of weird that you have
   this two tiered boot, but it's probably because the bootsector has
   been modified by NT. I haven't tried setting the active partition to
   DOS -- that might avoid the two tiers.

6.18 Can NEXTSTEP/Intel read, write, and format DOS and Mac floppies?

   MacIntosh, r/w floppy MS-DOS, r/w floppy Yes.

6.19 NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.1, DOS, Linux/NT multi-boot system?

   multi OS boot Linux MS-DOS OS/2 boot manager dual boot

   The OS/2 boot manager does this nicely.

   NOTES ON INSTALLING DOS, OS/2 AND NEXTSTEP FOR DUAL BOOT

     * Boot OS/2 from diskette and press Escape to get to the [A:]
       command prompt

     * Run the OS/2 FDISK program and create the following partitions:
          + 1 MB Boot Manager
          + 20MB DOS Primary partition (drive C:)
          + 64MB OS/2 Extended partition (logical drive D:)
          + 120MB Data Extended partition (logical drive E:) (or 200MB or
            whatever size)
   NOTE: LEAVE THE REMAINING 460+MB FREE SPACE UNFORMATTED DO NOT CREATE
       A PARTITION FOR THE REMAINING SPACE

     * Re-boot the machine and boot DOS from diskette.

     * Format drive C: and install DOS on drive C: with the following
       command: format c: /s /u

     * Now Re-boot the machine with the OS/2 Installation diskette.

     * Install OS/2 on Drive D: (the 64 MB logical partition) You will be
       prompted to install OS/2 on the default drive C: You will need to
       select the option to change the drive which will throw you into
       FDISK. Just make drive D: installable and proceed.

     * After OS/2 has been installed shutdown the system. Do a cold power
       off boot.

     * Cold boot the machine with the NEXTSTEP boot diskette.

     * Proceed with normal NEXTSTEP install and you should get the
       following disk installation option screen:


        Type 1 to erase the entire disk and use all 667 MB ...
        Type 2 to set aside some space for DOS and use the rest ...
        Type 3 to keep existing partitions and use the 462 MB free space ...
        Type 4 to use the 184 MB DOS extended partition for NEXTSTEP.
        Type 5 for advanced options (in English only).

        --->


       Choose option number 3 and proceed with the NEXTSTEP install

     * After NEXTSTEP has been installed, re-boot the machine and select
       'd' from the NEXTSTEP boot manager menu to boot DOS.

     * When DOS has booted, run the FDISK program to set the active
       partition to the first partition, the BOOT Manager partition. Then
       exit fdisk.

     * Now run the DOS FDISK program again but with the following
       parameter: fdisk /mbr This command removes the NEXTSTEP boot
       manager from the DOS partition.

     * Now re-boot the machine and the boot manager should come up.
       Select OS/2

     * Once OS/2 has booted, run the OS/2 FDISK program and name the
       NEXTSTEP partition and add it to the boot manager menu.

     * You should now have a machine with DOS, NEXTSTEP, OS/2 listed in
       the boot manager menu when the machine starts up. The boot manager
       defaults to the OS that was last booted.


6.20 NeXTSTEP on INTEL, KEYBOARD-ERROR ...

   keyboard error, Intel

   We installed NeXTSTEP for Intel on a P5-Board using an Adaptec A1540
   SCSI-Controller. The System boots correctly. After running the kernel
   the keyboard is without any function. We can't use it anymore.
   Rebooting doesn't eliminate the error (advise from I-Guide).

   Well, it seems that the PS/2 Mouse driver interferes with the keyboard
   driver when installing on some motherboards. You have to remove the
   PS/2 mouse driver, then reboot, and it will work fine. I destroy the
   driver on our machines, so that config=Default will work properly as
   well. You should be able to remove the driver without reinstalling.

6.21 NS 3.2 Tseng ET4000 Video Driver doesn't work.

   ET4000, NS3.2

   TSENG Cards often have different DACs and BIOS-Versions. It is
   important, that the graphics card do have the original BIOS from TSENG
   Laps. Otherwise, it is not possible to run NS with the 1024 x 768
   resolution.

6.22 Accessing ROM monitor on Intel-System, how?

   ROM-Monitor, Intel On Intel you just type -s at the boot: prompt. Also
   try CTRL-C at the point where it hangs it might continue. This gives
   you single user mode. There simply is no ROM-Monitor on Intel as it is
   on NeXT. You do have the choice to enter a simple ROM-Debugger by
   choosing the appropriate option when the system hangs.

6.23 Adaptec 2940 Fast and Sync. SCSI explanation...

    This message is to clear up the confusion on the issue of whether or
   not the NEXTSTEP driver for the Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI Host Adapter
   supports Fast SCSI (i.e., 10 MB/s data transfers).

   The Adaptec 2940 SCSI Host Adapter Driver supports Synchronous Data
   Transfer as well as Fast SCSI transfers. In order to enable
   Synchronous Data Transfer, this feature must be enabled in both the
   2940's AutoSCSI program and in the NEXTSTEP Configure application,
   when configuring the Adaptec 2940 driver. In the AutoSCSI program,
   this feature is enabled in the SCSI Device Configuration menu, via the
   "Initiate Sync Negotiation" field. This can be enabled or disabled on
   a per-target basis. In the Configure application, the "Synchronous"
   button, if disabled, disables Synchronous Transfers for ALL targets.
   If enabled, the values selected in the AutoSCSI program are used to
   determine whether or not Synchronous Transfers occur on a per-target
   basis.

   The Synchronous Transfer data rate is determined in the 2940's
   AutoSCSI program, via the "Maximum Sync Transfer Rate" field in the
   SCSI Device Configuration menu. "Fast SCSI" Transfers are enabled by
   selecting a value of 10 (i.e., 10 Megabytes/seconds) for this field.
   Note that if Synchronous Transfers are disabled, the "Maximum Sync
   Transfer Rate" field is meaningless. Also note that it is not
   recommended to select a value higher than 5 for a device which is in
   an external enclosure and connected to the 2940 via an external SCSI
   cable.

6.24 Do EIDE-Drives work with NEXTSTEP?

   EIDE

   Yes, a driver is included in NEXTSTEP 3.3

6.25 Anyone have a driver yet that does 8 bit color on an ET4000/w32p card?
(Hercules Dynamite Pro VLB)

   ET4000/w32p, 8 Bit color

   Here's a trick that will work with 3.3 if the driver works with your
   adapter. You need the latest driver though.

   Simply select one of the 8-bit gray resolutions in Configure. Save the
   configuration and quit Configure. Open Instance0.table inside the
   driver bundle and search for BW:8 and replace it by RGB:256/8. Save
   the file. Restart your machine and you've got 8-bit color!!!

6.26 Does a Glidepoint pointing device work with NEXTSTEP?

   Glidepoint

   It will work nicely under NS as you don't need any driver to make it
   work and use the nice features that GlidePoint have, like 'double-tap'
   to replace left-button click and 'double-tap and slide on the pad' to
   replace the hold the button and move for dragging an object.

6.27 AppleTalk under NEXTSTEP/Intel?

   AppleTalk, Intel IPT has a product called Partner, which works fine
   under 3.3 and mounts AppleShare Volumes, supports AT printing etc.

6.28 Booting hangs with black screen

   Triton Bootoptions

   On some Triton based boards there seems to be a graphic problem while
   booting. The solution is to switch off graphic display and always boot
   with the '-v' option turned on (enter this at the 'boot:' prompt).

   If you don't get a 'boot:' prompt, or if you just want to fix things
   forever, you need to enter Default.table and Instance0.table in
   /usr/Devices/System.config and set 'BootGraphics="No"'. This has the
   same effect as typing '-v' at

   the 'boot:' prompt every time.

6.29 Why are the features of my graphic card useless?

   graphic card

   For the purposes of this discussion, I will limit my response to the
   manner in which DPS operates as part of the NEXTSTEP window server.
   DPS sometimes draws directly to the screen and sometimes to offscreen
   memory (buffered windows). The latter is the most common case. The
   former occurs only in nonretained windows and visible portions of
   retained windows.

   DPS is split into two sections: a device independent kernel and a
   device dependent driver layer. The driver layer is free to use
   graphics hardware to do its job; however there are complications.
   First, most graphics cards only allow you to use the hardware to draw
   into the framebuffer, not into system memory. This renders the
   hardware unusable for buffered windows. Second, the hardware must draw
   the same pixels that the software would draw. Often this is hard to
   achieve with satisfactory performance results. The DPS device
   primitives rely on precise pixel layout that often cannot be
   guaranteed using the hardware in the most straightforward manner.

   So, while it is theoretically possible to use graphics hardware with
   DPS in NEXTSTEP, it is not very practical. This should not lead you to
   the conclusion that all graphics cards are the same when it comes to
   NEXTSTEP. The speed of the system bus (ISA, EISA, PCI, VLB) is a big
   determinant of performance, but the internal architecture of the card
   itself also has a huge impact on the framebuffer memory bandwidth. I
   won't go into details, but some of the determinants include DRAM vs.
   VRAM, memory interleaving, and burst access.

   Other factors also influence the quality of a display card. These
   include the speed and stability of the RAMDAC and the supported
   display modes to name jsut two.

6.30 How to use MIDI without the MusicKit?

   MIDI MusicKit

     * Be sure you have an MPU-401 compatible MIDI card for the PC.

     * Get the Music Kit and install it. It's on the ftp servers.

     * Install the MIDI driver by double clicking on
       /LocalLibrary/Devices/Mididriver, which will add it to the system.
       Set the IRQ and IO port in the Configure.app. Then reboot.

     * If your program does not use the -ObjC flag on its link line, link
       against /usr/local/lib/libmusickit.a. However, if your program
       does use the -ObjC flag, extract the following files from
       libmusickit.a and link against them

       explicitly:


        mididriver\_replyServer.o
        mididriverUser.o
        mididriver\_nonMig.o


     * Add this line as the first line in the C file that accesses the
       MIDI driver:


        #import <musickit/midi\_driver\_compatability.h>


       Be sure that you do not explicitly import . This file is
       (conditionally) imported by .

       The reason for needing a separate API for Intel is that there's a
       structure size disparity between the 68k and Intel versions of
       NeXT's libsys_s. So we defined a new set of MIDI functions for the
       Intel driver. The header file above defines the old

       names to be the new names.

     * Change the mididriver port name from mididriver to Mididriver.
       Example:


#if i386
#define MIDIDRIVER\_NAME "Mididriver"
#else
#define MIDIDRIVER\_NAME "mididriver"
#endif

    r = netname\_look\_up(name\_server\_port, "",MIDIDRIVER\_NAME,
                        &driverPort);


       This is another change to prevent conflict with the NeXT hardware
       driver.


     _________________________________________________________________

     * (weiter mit 7 Storage)


     _________________________________________________________________

   This document was converted from LaTeX using Karl Ewald's latex2html.