Related Resources

The resources provided below are useful references for those interested in learning more about the topics covered in the course.

UNIX®

• The UNIX® Time-Sharing System, Ritchie, Dennis M., and Ken L.Thompson. Bell System Technical Journal 57, no. 6, part 2 (July-August 1978): 1905-1930. You read this paper in 6.033.
• The Evolution of the Unix® Time-sharing System, Dennis M. Ritchie, 1979.
• Kernighan, Brian, and Dennis Ritchie. The C programming language. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988. ISBN: 0131103628.

x86 Emulation

• Bochs - An x86 platform and CPU emulator.
  • User Manual
  • Debugger Reference
• QEMU - A new, much faster but less mature PC emulator. Use in 6.828 at your own risk.

x86 Assembly Language

• PC Assembly Language, Paul A. Carter, July 2006.
• Intel® 80386 Programmer's Reference Manual, 1987 (HTML®).
  Much shorter than the full current Intel® Architecture manuals below, but describes all processor features used in 6.828.
• IA-32 Intel® Architecture Software Developer's Manuals, Intel®, 2004. Download the following manuals:
  • Volume I: Basic Architecture
  • Volume 2A: Instruction Set Reference, A-M
  • Volume 2B: Instruction Set Reference, N-Z
  • Volume 3: System Programming Guide
• Multiprocessor References:
  • MP specification
  • IO APIC
• AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual.
  Covers both the "classic" 32-bit x86 architecture and the new 64-bit extensions supported by the latest AMD and Intel® processors.
• Writing Inline Assembly Language with GCC:
  • Brennan's Guide to Inline Assembly, Brennan "Mr. Wacko" Underwood
  • Inline assembly for x86 in Linux®, Bharata B. Rao, IBM®
  • Loading x86 Executables in the ELF Format:
    • Tool Interface Standard (TIS) Executable and Linking Format (ELF).
      The definitive standard for the ELF format.

  PC Hardware Programming

  • General PC Architecture Information:
    • Phil Storrs PC Hardware book, Phil Storrs, December 1998.
    • Bochs technical hardware specifications directory.
  • General BIOS and PC Bootstrap:
    • BIOS Central
    • BIOS Services and Software Interrupts, Roger Morgan, 1997.
    • "El Torito" Bootable CD-ROM Format Specification, Phoenix/IBM®, January 1995.
  • VGA Display - kern/console.c
    • VESA BIOS Extension (VBE) 3.0 (PDF), Video Electronics Standards Association, September 1998.
    • VGADOC, Finn Thøgersen, 2000.
    • Free VGA Project, J.D. Neal, 1998.
  • Keyboard and Mouse - kern/console.c
    • Adam Chapweske's Resources
  • 8253/8254 Programmable Interval Timer (PIT) - inc/timerreg.h
    • 82C54 CHMOS Programmable Interval Timer, Intel®, October 1994.
    • Data Solutions 8253/8254 Tutorial, Data Solutions.
  • 8259/8259A Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC) - kern/picirq.*
    • 8259A Programmable Interrupt Controller , Intel®, December 1988.
  • Real-Time Clock (RTC) - kern/kclock.*
    • Phil Storrs PC Hardware book, Phil Storrs, December 1998. In particular:
      • Understanding the CMOS
      • A list of what is in the CMOS
    • CMOS Memory Map, Padgett Peterson, May 1996. (TXT)
    • M48T86 PC Real-Time Clock, ST Microelectronics, April 2004.
  • 16550 UART Serial Port - kern/console.c
    • PC16550D Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter with FIFOs, National Semiconductor, 1995.
    • Technical Data on 16550, Byterunner Technologies.
    • Interfacing the Serial / RS232 Port, Craig Peacock, August 2001.
  • IEEE 1284 Parallel Port - kern/console.c
    • Parallel Port Central, Jan Axelson.
    • Parallel Port Background, Warp Nine Engineering.
    • IEEE 1284 - Updating the PC Parallel Port, National Instruments.
    • Interfacing the Standard Parallel Port, Craig Peacock, August 2001.
  • IDE Hard Drive Controller - fs/ide.c
    • AT Attachment with Packet Interface - 6 (working draft), ANSI, December 2001.
    • Programming Interface for Bus Master IDE Controller (PDF), Brad Hosler, Intel®, May 1994.
    • The Guide to ATA/ATAPI documentation, Constantine Sapuntzakis, January 2002.
  • Sound Cards (not supported in 6.828 kernel, but you're welcome to do it as a challenge problem!)
    • Signal Processing using Sound Cards
    • Sound Blaster Series Hardware Programming Guide (PDF), Creative Technology, 1996.
    • 8237A High Performance Programmable DMA Controller, Intel®, September 1993.
    • Sound Blaster 16 Programming Document, Ethan Brodsky, June 1997.
    • Sound Programming, Inverse Reality.