Baslinux mailing list

[Neo Sze Wee <neoszewee AT gmx.net>]

On Sat, May 31, 2003 at 02:09:48PM -0400, keesan2 AT cyberspace.org wrote:
> 
> > In fact, some of the linux kernel I download from the net will complain
> > that I have not math and cpu coprocessor, if this is any help.
> 
> I think BL2 requires a math coprocessor but BL1 does not, am I correct?

No. In this case, you are talking about the kernel and the kernel can be
compiled to be support 386 machine. If I download the kernel from the
slackware mirror and use it to boot, it runs fine.

> 
> 
> 
> > > It then tells you speed, ROM date, memory, etc.  Do not trust the video
> > > memory number.   I just noticed this computer has a VESA 2.0 video card 
> > > so
> > > I can try Xvesa from JP.
> > 
> > I have used whatvga for dos and I see there is some sort of Vesa
> > support. I vaguely remember it is Vesa 0.7. I suppose if this is true I
> > will not be able to use Xvesa or miniX.
> 
> I don't think VESA 0.7 would be useful for anything.  The programs I use
> require VESA 1.2.  Even 1.1 does not work.  You would need to have the
> specific driver for your video chip, or else plain VGA 16.  You must have
> an unusual computer.
> 

Look at what I have:
####################################################################
           Advanced Personal Systems  SYSCHK Information Printout
              Saturday, May 31, 2003  Version: 2.45
                          -----------------------
                           * Unregistered Copy *
                          -----------------------
PROCESSOR----------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Model: AT clone
                           Processor: Intel i486DX or i487SX-25
                         Coprocessor: Internal
             Extended BIOS data area: No
                  DMA Channel 3 used: No
                  Slave 8259 Present: Yes
                     Real Time Clock: Yes
                        I/O Bus Type: ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
SYSTEM 
BIOS--------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Source: AMI   Version: Not Found 
                                Date: 12/12/91
               Plug and Play support: No
                     BIOS Extensions: Segment        Copyright
                                      C000-C7FF  WESTERN DIGITAL INC.
INPUT/OUTPUT-------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Keyboard: 101 Key Enhanced
              Mouse Driver Installed: Microsoft 2 Button (Serial)
                     Mouse Interrupt: IRQ4
                       Mouse Version: 6.26
                           Game Port: No, and NOT set in BIOS
                      Parallel Ports: 1
                                      Device   Base Addr.   Interrupt
                                      LPT1        378h        IRQ ?
                        Serial Ports: 2
                                      Device   Base Addr.   Interrupt    UART
                                      COM1/MOUSE  3F8h        IRQ 4     16450 
 
                                      COM2/MODEM  2F8h        IRQ 3     16450 
 
HARD DISK 
DRIVES---------------------------------------------------------------
    Disk #   Tracks  Heads  Sectors   Size    CMOS     Controller
    ------   ------  -----  ------- --------  ----   ---------------
    Disk 1     762      8     39    116.09 MB  33    Conner Peripherals 120MB 
-C
LOGICAL 
DRIVES-----------------------------------------------------------------
    Drive     Total          Used          Free       Volume Name
    -----   ----------    ----------    ----------    ------------
      C:      74.92 MB      63.29 MB      11.63 MB     MS-DOS_5
OTHER DISK 
INFO----------------------------------------------------------------
                       Floppy Disk 1: 1.44 MB 3«"
                       Floppy Disk 2: Unknown 99h
                          Disk Cache: Microsoft SMARTDrive Version 5.2
                          Cache Size: 1024 KB
                                Hits: 299 (67%)
                              Misses: 144
IDE DISK 
INFO------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Hard Drive: C:
                    Controller model: Conner Peripherals 1
                      Total capacity: 116 MB
                       Serial number: NBVGH5
                 Controller Revision: 2.77
                       Transfer Rate: > 10 MB/Sec
                         Buffer Size: 32 KB
                         Buffer Port: Dual Ported
                  Buffer Sector Read: Multiple Sector
                   Buffer Read Ahead: Yes
                 Number of ECC-bytes: 7
               Sectors per interrupt: 32832 sectors transfered
                Double word Transfer: No
              Data Strobe Offset Opt: No
                    Track Offset Opt: No
VIDEO--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Active Video: VESA VGA (Version 1.1)
                         BIOS Source: WESTERN DIGITAL INC.             
                         VESA OEM ID: Western Digital Inc
                         VGA ChipSet: Paradise WD90c31
                Max Video Resolution: 1280 x 1024 with 16 colors
                    Max Video Colors: 256 (1024 x 768)
                        Video Memory: 1024 KB
MEMORY-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Conventional Memory: 640 KB  (618 KB Free)
                     Extended Memory:  3328 KB  (2 KB Free)
                     Expanded Memory: 0 KB
RESIDENT 
PROGRAMS--------------------------------------------------------------
Lower Memory Block
                    Mem Segmt Size  Type         Owner Name 
                    --------- ---- ------- ----------------------
                    0253-048E 8K   Config  DOS 6.20 kernel
                    048F-0493 1K   Resrved DOS 6.20 kernel
                    0494-0496 1K   Sys Env COMMAND.COM
                    0497-053C 2K   Shell   COMMAND.COM
                    053D-0541 1K   Free    DOS 
                    0542-0552 1K   Sys Env COMMAND.COM
                    0553-0558 1K   Envnmnt SETVER.EXE
                    0559-0585 1K   TSR     SETVER.EXE
                    0586-058E 1K   Envnmnt SYSCHK.EXE
                    058F-9FFE 617K Free    DOS Available Memory

Upper Memory Block
                    Mem Segmt Size  Type         Owner Name 
                    --------- ---- ------- ----------------------
                    A000-B15B 69K  Resrved VGA and Excluded Area
                    B15C-B2EA 6K   TSR     CTMOUSE
                    B2EB-B7FD 20K  Free    DOS 
                    B7FF-C7FF 64K  Resrved SM
                    C801-CEBC 26K  TSR     SMARTDRV
                    CEBD-CFB2 3K   TSR     DOSKEY
                    CFB3-CFC2 1K   Free    DOS 
                    CFC3-EAE7 108K Free    DOS 
                   
ENVIRONMENT 
VARIABLES----------------------------------------------------------
                    Environment size: 256    Used: 97     Free: 159

                    CONFIG=dos
                    COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
                    PATH=C:\WORMDOS;C:\BATCH
                    PROMPT=$P$G
                    TEMP=C:\TEMP
                    TMP=C:\TEMP
INTERRUPTS---------------------------------------------------------------------
                    IRQ #    Active            Device Name          
                    -----    ------   ------------------------------
                    IRQ0      Yes     System Timer
                    IRQ1      Yes     Keyboard
                    IRQ2      Yes     Cascade->IRQ9
                    IRQ3      Yes     COM2 
                    IRQ4      Yes     Microsoft Mouse (COM1) 
                    IRQ5      No      Open
                    IRQ6      Yes     Floppy Disk Controller
                    IRQ7      No      Open
                    IRQ8      Yes     Real-Time Clock
                    IRQ9      Yes     IRQ2->Cascade
                    IRQ10     No      Open
                    IRQ11     No      Open
                    IRQ12     No      Open
                    IRQ13     No      Internal (Math Coprocessor)
                    IRQ14     Yes     Conner Peripherals 120MB -C 
                    IRQ15     No      Open
OPERATING 
SYSTEM---------------------------------------------------------------
                         DOS Version: IBM DOS 6.20 (Rev. A)
SPEED--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Video Speed: 16378 char/sec
                    Hard Disk 1 Seek: 19.21 ms Average Seek
                Hard Disk 1 Transfer: 2091.83 KB/Sec Transfer Rate
             System Throughput Speed: 69.96 MHz
                       SysChk Rating:  56.4 SysChks
                     CPU Clock Speed: 25 MHz
####################################################################
> > > Try pdftotext on a computer that you know has a math coprocessor.
> > 
> > Why does a computer need a math coprocessor?
> 
> 
> 
> A computer does not need a math coprocessor, but many programs are written
> to require one.  Some of them will let you emulate the math coprocessor
> instead, which makes them run slower.  Apparently pdftotext for DOS as
> provided by Arachne requires a math coprocessor.  There may be some way to
> compile it so it does not need a math coprocessor.  Doug compiled a
> version for me.  I will ask him if it needs a math coprocessor. If it does
> not, I can send you a copy of what I have.  I am not going to ask him to
> compile a new version with coprocessor emulation because it would probably
> not be of interest to anyone except you and maybe a few other people who
> like to use computers with 4M RAM and no coprocessor.

If something can be used I will use it.

> 
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