RISC OS on the Freescale MX515

[castlevarich]

Dear All

While doing some research on RISC OS use in Russia,
I have been contacted by somebody who asked me if
it is possible to get RISC OS and the RISC OS Open
development tools working on the Freescale MX515 ???

I know this is one of the new system on a chips and there
has been some talk of porting RISC OS to it, but that's
where my knowledge ends.

Does anybody know if there is a way to get RISC OS 5
working on the Freescale, or whether anybody is actively
working on it ?????

Jon Robinson (Leeds)

[Steffen Huber]

castlevarich wrote:
> Dear All
>
> While doing some research on RISC OS use in Russia,
> I have been contacted by somebody who asked me if
> it is possible to get RISC OS and the RISC OS Open
> development tools working on the Freescale MX515 ???

In principle: yes, very likely.

> I know this is one of the new system on a chips and there
> has been some talk of porting RISC OS to it, but that's
> where my knowledge ends.

Read the RISCOSOpen forums. Michael Grunditz started doing
the ground work, but I don't know the current state:
https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/529
https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/567
https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/9/topics/692
https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/9/topics/647

> Does anybody know if there is a way to get RISC OS 5
> working on the Freescale, or whether anybody is actively
> working on it ?????

There is a way: just do it! A joint effort with Michael
would be great.

Steffen

--
Steffen Huber - http://www.huber-net.de/
hubersn Software - http://www.hubersn-software.com/

[trevj]

Don't forget the Hercules eCafé too:
http://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/9/topics/749

[Rick Murray]

On 04/10/2011 12:43, Steffen Huber wrote:

>> development tools working on the Freescale MX515 ???
> In principle: yes, very likely.

I, myself, am interested in porting RISC OS to run on my PVR (just
because ;) ).

It is a Neuros OSD.

Basic specs: 16Mb Flash (wouldn't be used, would prefer softload so
as not to screw up existent Debian setup).
64Mb RAM
SD interface
CF interface
USB interface
DM9000-based Ethernet 10/100 interface
CPU core - ARM926

SoC - TMS320DM320

Thus video fixed at 640x480 TV res, numerous planes. The
hardware can do realtime video overlay, but the DSP is
mostly undocumented and with closed-source drivers.


The only real sticking points I can forsee are:

1. U-Boot - needs serial port control and a TFTP server. Not
insurmountable, but a real PITA. If anybody knows a way to
softload into ARM Debian (i.e. load the image into RAM, shut
down Linux, start executing image), please let me know!

2. There is no NVRAM - I think the current system uses a page in
FlashROM (/dev/mtd-something). This could be "faked" by reading
in data from a file perhaps?
The RTC is part of an MSP430 microcontroller. The MCU handles the
clock and the infra-red controller systems. Unfortunately, the
drivers are closed source, so working out how to extract the clock
info will not be straightforward. Mmmm...


Question - has anybody ported (or started porting) to the TMS320DM320 ?
No point reinventing the wheel.

Are there any gotchas I should be aware of? I assume I modify the HAL
accordingly, is *everything* in the HAL or are there other parts to keep
an eye on?


I think I'll need to save up for the most recent assembler/compiler suite...


Best wishes,

Rick.