[MAJOR UPDATE] gem5-Aladdin is now based upon gem5's development branch

[Sam Xi]

Hi all,

The main gem5 project has deprecated the gem5-stable branch. gem5-Aladdin was originally based upon the latest gem5-stable revision, but now that the stable branch has been retired for some months now, we have merged gem5-Aladdin with gem5's development branch! This means we will be able to continually bring in new features and bug fixes from gem5's mainline. Users can already expect major improvements to system call emulation, new instructions, improved CPU models, and more.

Instructions to migrate:

git clone -b devel https://github.com/harvard-acc/gem5-aladdin

Note: it is recommended that you start an entirely separate repository! This is because gem5-devel (the name of the development branch) is a completely separate repository with a completely separate history from gem5-stable. This means users currently on gem5-stable cannot expect to just pull updates from gem5-devel - a completely new branch has to be checked out. Similarly, current users of gem5-Aladdin who want to switch over must check out the new development branch independently. To make matters simpler, we recommend starting a new repository.

Going forward:

• The stable-old branch of gem5-Aladdin will point to the latest change on the gem5-stable branch, and this will not be deleted. Do not expect regular updates to the stable branch, if any at all. I will only update it in the case of major critical bugs.
• The master branch of gem5-Aladdin will for the time being remain on the stable branch. In time, this will switch over to the development branch.
• The devel branch of gem5-Aladdin will be the new branch on which development will take place.
  

As usual, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks,

Sam

[Lahiru Rasnayake]

Hey Sam,

Sorry to be ignorant, but where can I find something like a reference manual for Aladdin?

Kind Regards,
Lahiru Rasnayake

[Sam Xi]

We don't have a reference manual, unfortunately. There's a brief tutorial on how to get started with Aladdin in the Aladdin repository and a brief tutorial on how to get started with gem5-Aladdin in that repository as well. We have hosted a few tutorials at various conferences over the years and those slides are available here. 

[Lahiru Rasnayake]

aha I see. Thanks!