On 2017-03-19 2:02 AM, Derek Johansen wrote:
1) Why the restriction to ~640K of memory for running ELKS
The Intel 8086 can address 1024K of memory. On all IBM PCs and
compatibles, the upper 384K is reserved for I/O and ROM. ELKS primarily
targets 8086-based IBM-compatible PCs. Yes, it is possible to use more
than 640K of RAM, but that also requires the use of protected mode and
BIOS support for hardware isn't available in protected mode. We would
have to have device drivers that can access the hardware directly
instead. This would also require that we have kernel support for both
real and protected mode. I am aware of "unreal" mode but it also has its
fair share of quirks and requires at least a 386.
2) Does ELKS support USB devices? Will it ever? Is it even possible?
ELKS does not target platforms with USB. Technically it is possible to
add USB support, but a lot more would be needed than just support for
USB itself.
At some point "can we add support for this 386+ feature?" becomes "can
we just morph ELKS into something like an older Linux distribution?"
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