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A CHARON-AXP emulated CPU is configured with the "ace_mode" parameter .Two HP Alpha CPU implementations are available: the standard HP Alpha instruction decoder and the optional enabling the high performance Advanced CPU Emulation mode ("ACE"). The ACE option optimizes the HP Alpha instruction interpretation and significantly improves performance. It also requires approximately twice the amount of host memory to store the optimized code.
ACE optimization is performed dynamically during execution. It does not need to write optimized code back to disk, ACE provides its full capability instantly. The optimization does not compromise the HP Alpha instruction decoding; CHARON-AXP remains fully HP Alpha hardware compatible and completely transparent to the HP Alpha operating systems and applications.
Both CPU implementations passed the HP HP Alpha Architecture (AXE) tests, the standard qualification for HP Alpha instruction execution correctness.
The default HP Alpha CPU mode is determined by the specific CHARON-AXP product license.
Parameter | Type | Values |
|---|---|---|
ace_mode | Boolean | true or false. |
This statement enables the ACE mode if the CHARON-AXP license permits it. If this statement is omitted from the CHARON-AXP configuration file and the license permits it, "true" is the default, otherwise "false" is the default. For test purposes the ACE mechanism can be disabled with:
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The CHARON-AXP log file displays the status of the ACE option.
The ACE mode is disabled when the host system does not meet the minimum physical requirements for this operation. If the emulator appears to not run at its normal performance, check the log file for a change in the ACE mode and verify that sufficient host resources, especially memory, are available.
RAM
The CHARON-AXP memory subsystem is permanently loaded and has the logical name "ram".
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| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| size | Numeric | Size of the emulated memory in MB. |
Example:
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The amount of memory is capped at a maximum, this is defined in the CHARON license key. If the host system cannot allocate enough memory to map the requested emulated memory, CHARON-AXP generates an error message in the log file and reduces its effective memory size.
The following table lists the values of emulated RAM for various hardware models of virtual HP Alpha systems:
| Hardware Model | RAM size (in MB) | |||
| Min | Max | Default | Increment | PDP1193|
| AlphaServer 400 | 264 | 41024 | 2512 | 264 |
| AlphaServer 800 | 2256 | 48192 | 2512 | 2 |
| MicroHP Alpha_II | 1 | 16 | 16 | 1,8,16 |
| MicroHP Alpha_3600 | 16 | 64 | 16 | 16 |
| MicroHP Alpha_3900 | 16 | 64 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alphaserver_3600 | 16 | 64 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alphaserver_3900 | 16 | 64 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alphaserver_3600_128 | 32 | 128 | 32 | 32 |
| HP Alphaserver_3900_128 | 32 | 128 | 32 | 32 |
| MicroHP Alpha_3100_Model_96 | 16 | 128 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alphastation_4000_Model_90 | 16 | 128 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alpha_4000_Model_106 | 16 | 128 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alpha_6000_Model_310 | 32 | 512 | 32 | 32 |
| HP Alphaserver_3600_512 | 32 | 512 | 32 | 32 |
| HP Alphaserver_3900_512 | 32 | 512 | 32 | 32 |
| MicroHP Alpha_3100_Model_98 | 16 | 512 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alpha_4000_Model_108 | 16 | 512 | 16 | 16 |
| HP Alpha_4000_Model_700 | 64 | 512 | 64 | 64 |
| HP Alpha_4000_Model_705 | 64 | 512 | 64 | 64 |
| HP Alpha_6610 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| HP Alpha_6620 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| HP Alpha_6630 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| HP Alpha_6640 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| HP Alpha_6650 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| HP Alpha_6660 | 128 | 3584 | 128 | 128 |
| 256 | ||||
| AlphaServer 1000 | 256 | 1024 | 512 | 256 |
| AlphaServer 1000A | 256 | 1024 | 512 | 256 |
| AlphaServer 1200 | 256 | 32768 | 512 | 256 |
| AlphaServer 2000 | 64 | 2048 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer 2100 | 64 | 2048 | 512 | 64 |
AlphaServer 4000 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer 4100 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer DS10 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer DS15 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer DS20 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer DS25 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer ES40 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer ES45 | 64 | 32768 | 512 | 64 |
| AlphaServer GS80 | 256 | 65536 | 512 | 256 |
| AlphaServer GS160 | 512 | 131072 | 512 | 512 |
| AlphaServer GS320 | 1024 | 262144 | 1024 | 1024 |
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CHARON-AXP maintains its time and date using the "toy" (time-of-year) component. In order to preserve the time and date while a virtual system is not running, the TOY component uses a binary file on the host system to store the date and time relevant data. The name of the file is specified by the “container” option of the "toy" component.
| Parameter | Type | Description | ||||||||||||||||||
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| container | Text string | Specifies a name for the file in which CHARON-AXP preserves the time and date during its “offline” period. This file also keeps some console parameters (such as the default boot device). By default it is left unspecified.
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| sync_to_host | Text string | Specifies whether and how the guest OS time is synchronized with the CHARON host time. Syntax:
where:
Example:
To synchronize the guest OS with TOY, use the following commands:
The default value is "not specified" - it means that by default CHARON does not synchronize its guest OS time with the CHARON host time, but collects date and time from the file specified with "container" parameter.
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it is recommended to specify the full path to the TOY file.
Example:
set toy container="C:\Charon\my_virtual_system.dat" |
The CHARON-AXP time zone may be different from that of the host system. Correct CHARON time relies on the correctness of the host system time to calculate the duration of any CHARON “offline” periods. (i.e. while the virtual system is not running). Every time CHARON comes on line it calculates a Delta time (the system time is used if there is no TOY file). Therefore, if the host system time is changed while CHARON is not running, the CHARON time may be incorrect when CHARON is restarted and the CHARON time must be set manually.
KW11-L and KW11-P Timers (PDP-11)
The KW11-L timer is used in PDP-11 system emulation. It supports a 50Hz, 60Hz and 70Hz frequency.
A time correction mechanism handles any time slips between the emulated and the host system time. The KW11-L frequency can be set in the configuration file as follows:
set kw11 frequency=50 |
For PDP-11 configurations this device is loaded automatically.
The KW11-P is a programmable timer for PDP-11 systems. The hardware KW11-P timer runs on a 100KHz clock and can be programmed to interrupt at any frequency up to 100KHz.
The software KW11-P implementation is limited to 1KHz due to the host operating system limitations; it can be programmed to interrupt at any frequency up to 1KHz.
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The KW11-P is loaded automatically. It does not have any configuration file parameters because it is set by the PDP-11 software.
ROM
The System Flash ROM file conserves specific parameters between reboots.
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PDP-11 Boot ROM
PDP-11 Boot ROM has two parameters: ‘ext_rom’ and ‘ext_rom_address’. Specify the external ROM file and offset within the file to load the ROM from. This feature allows changing the used boot ROM to a custom one.
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ext_rom | Text string | Specifies a file containing external boot code |
ext_rom_address | Numeric | Specifies an offset to be used for the file specified by the ext_rom parameter |
Example:
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The ROM file must contain a binary dump.
EEPROM
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Example:
set eeprom container="vx6k610.rom" |
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Auto Boot
CHARON-AXP systems can be configured to boot the operating system automatically at start up.
MicroHP Alpha3100, HP Alphastation 4000, HP Alpha6310 and HP Alpha 4000
Those models boot automatically if the correct boot flags are set (and saved in the HP Alpha console files) using the following command:
| Console Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| halt | Determines whether the MicroHP Alpha3100, HP Alphastation 4000, HP Alpha6310 and HP Alpha 4000 boot automatically if the correct boot flags are set (and saved in the HP Alpha console files). The value is:
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| Warning |
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Please check that the "toy container" and "rom container" parameters are specified in the configuration file to store the boot flags. |
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The ROM of the MicroHP Alpha II, MicroHP Alpha 3600, MicroHP Alpha 3900, HP Alphaserver 3600 and HP Alphaserver 3900 servers does not allow the HP Alpha console to accept the command setting "auto-boot". Instead, an automatic boot on startup can be specified in the CHARON-AXP configuration file as follows:
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| auto_action restart | Determines whether CHARON-AXP boots automatically if the correct boot flags are set (and saved in the HP Alpha console files). |
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"auto"
Example:
set bdr boot=auto |
| Warning |
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| Check that the "toy container" and "rom container" parameters are specified in the configuration file to store the boot flags. |
PDP11/93 and PDP11/94
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Example:
set cpu_0 auto_boot = "DU0" |
| Warning |
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| Check that the "toy container" and "rom container" parameters are specified in the configuration file to store the boot flags. |
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Determines whether the CHARON HP Alpha66x0 startup procedure stops at the ">>>" prompt after self-tests.The values are:
"auto""manual"(default)
Example:set xmi boot = "auto" |
"auto" enables automatic boot from a default boot specification, previously configured in the HP Alpha console.The value "manual" disables the automatic boot once the self tests are passed....