> > The 3912 has no FPU, but if you're running on any contemporary > > MIPS/Linux kernel and library system, you neither need nor want > > soft-float. The kernel does FP instruction emulation. Running soft-float > > would make for faster, if larger, code, but requires that the whole > > system, particularly glibc, be built for soft-float, which is rarely done > > (and the last time I tried it, didin't quite work with the standard > > glibc sources out-of-the-box). > > > Correct. I use the FP emulator in Linux for my TX3917/PR31700 stuff. I > have had no problems. Current glibc has assembly code that assumes hardware > floating point which is why building for soft-float does not work out of > the box. There are probably some patches out there to rectify that. It's been several years, but the last time I dealt with it, it wasn't all that hard to fix if you knew what you were doing, but it was a couple of days' work just the same. > Also, I have some documents for the 3912 on my FTP site: > > ftp://ftp.realitydiluted.com/docs/Toshiba > ftp://ftp.realitydiluted.com/docs/Philips > > It should be noted that the Toshiba TX3912 and the Philips PR31700 are > identical cores. There was definitely some cross-licensing going on there. > Perhaps Kevin or Dominic would know this in more detail, but it is not > really that important. I'm not sure whether any NDAs which may or may not exist would have expired by now, so I'll stick to a "no comment". ;o)
