Product Documentation and Knowledge Base - HomeDocumentation


Charon-VAXCharon-AXPCharon-PDPCharon-SSPCharon-PAR
Skip to end of metadata
Go to start of metadata

You are viewing an old version of this page. View the current version.

Compare with Current View Page History

« Previous Version 2 Next »

Table of Contents

Back to Table of Contents

CPU 

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 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:

set cpu ace_mode=false

"set cpu ace_mode=true" is ignored when the license does not permit ACE operation.

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.

Back to Table of Contents 

RAM  

The CHARON-AXP memory subsystem is permanently loaded and has the logical name "ram".

 

ParameterTypeDescription
sizeNumericSize of the emulated memory in MB.

Example:

set ram size = 512

 

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 ModelRAM size (in MB)
 MinMaxDefaultIncrement
PDP11932422
PDP11942422
MicroHP Alpha_II116161,8,16
MicroHP Alpha_360016641616
MicroHP Alpha_390016641616
HP Alphaserver_360016641616
HP Alphaserver_390016641616
HP Alphaserver_3600_128321283232
HP Alphaserver_3900_128321283232
MicroHP Alpha_3100_Model_96161281616
HP Alphastation_4000_Model_90161281616
HP Alpha_4000_Model_106161281616
HP Alpha_6000_Model_310325123232
HP Alphaserver_3600_512325123232
HP Alphaserver_3900_512325123232
MicroHP Alpha_3100_Model_98165121616
HP Alpha_4000_Model_108165121616
HP Alpha_4000_Model_700645126464
HP Alpha_4000_Model_705645126464
HP Alpha_66101283584128128
HP Alpha_66201283584128128
HP Alpha_66301283584128128
HP Alpha_66401283584128128
HP Alpha_66501283584128128
HP Alpha_66601283584128128


Back to Table of Contents 

TOY

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.

 

ParameterTypeDescription
containerText 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.

(info) 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.


Back to Table of Contents

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.

The current implementation does not contain a way to handle a time slip recovery from the host system time. This can lead to time skew between the emulated and host system time when the programmed frequencies are not divisors of 1000.

The KW11-P is loaded automatically. It does not have any configuration file parameters because it is set by the PDP-11 software.

 

Back to Table of Contents

ROM

The System Flash ROM file conserves specific parameters between reboots.

 

ParameterTypeDescription
containerText string

Specifies the name of a file in which CHARON-AXP stores an intermediate state of its Flash ROM. This state includes, for example, most of the console parameters.

By default it is left unspecified.

(info) it is recommended to specify the full path to this file

 

Back to Table of Contents

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.

ParameterTypeDescription
ext_romText stringSpecifies a file containing external boot code

ext_rom_address

NumericSpecifies an offset to be used for the file specified by the ext_rom parameter

Example:

set rom ext_rom=”custom_rom.bin”
set rom ext_rom_address=0

The ROM file must contain a binary dump.


Back to Table of Contents

EEPROM

Example: 

set eeprom container=”C:\Charon\my_virtual_system.rom”


Back to Table of Contents 

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 ParameterDescription
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:

  • "reboot"


 

Please check that the "toy container" and "rom container" parameters are specified in the configuration file to store the boot flags.


MicroHP Alpha II, MicroHP Alpha 3600/3900 and HP Alphaserver 3600/3900

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:

ParametersTypeValue
bdr bootText stringDetermines whether the MicroHP Alpha II, MicroHP Alpha 3600, MicroHP Alpha 3900, HP Alphaserver 3600 and  HP Alphaserver 3900 servers boot automatically if the correct boot flags are set (and saved in the HP Alpha console files).The value is:
  • "auto"

 

Example:
set bdr boot=auto



PDP11/93 and PDP11/94

The ROM of the PDP11/93 and PDP11/94 does not allow the PDP11 console to accept the command setting "auto-boot". Instead, automatic boot on startup can be specified in the CHARON-PDP configuration file as follows:

ParametersTypeValue
cpu_0 auto_bootText stringDetermines whether the PDP11/93 or PDP11/94 server boots automatically from the specified disk.The value is the disk drive to boot from.

 

Example:
set cpu_0 auto_boot = "DU0"

 

 

HP Alpha66x0

 

ParameterTypeValue
xmi bootText string

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"
 
The value "autoenables 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.


Back to Table of Contents

 

  • No labels