Trouble adding additional CPU support

Trouble adding additional CPU support

[Steve Woloschek]

I have written a new processor description with cgen and I am trying to
update sid to incorporate the new processor.

I have perused the configure.* and Makefile.* files to understand what
changes I need to make in order have the new processor built.
Unfortunately I am not an expert in autoconf and automake and every time
I attempt to rebuild the configure/Makefiles I run into multiple issues.

1) I am not entirely sure which configure.* and Makefile.* need to be
updated to add a new processor.
2) Lack of understanding how to rebuild configure scripts and Makefiles 

When trying to rebuild configure scripts and Makefiles it appears there
is a restriction and/or assumption on the particular version of the
tools that required. I have linux box with the latest version of Ubuntu
that I am using as my build machine. I have the following versions of
utilities.

aclocal 1.10.1
autoconf 2.61
automake 1.10.1
libtool   1.5.26

If I remove the restriction of autoconf 2.59 things and try to
regenerate the files I run into several build issues.

It would be very nice if I could use the latest versions of these
utilities to build. U just need the recipe to regenerate the proper
files to build.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

Re: Trouble adding additional CPU support

[Dave Brolley]

Steve Woloschek wrote:
> I have written a new processor description with cgen and I am trying to
> update sid to incorporate the new processor.
>
> I have perused the configure.* and Makefile.* files to understand what
> changes I need to make in order have the new processor built.
> Unfortunately I am not an expert in autoconf and automake and every time
> I attempt to rebuild the configure/Makefiles I run into multiple issues.
>
> 1) I am not entirely sure which configure.* and Makefile.* need to be
> updated to add a new processor.
> 2) Lack of understanding how to rebuild configure scripts and Makefiles 
>   
When creating a new port, I generally pick an existing one that has 
similar capabilities and clone it. That is, I find every instance where 
it is mentioned in a file or a file name and copy the file/code while 
changing only the name of the port. You end up with a new port for your 
architecture which behaves like the port you cloned. I then rip out the 
guts of the cloned code and replace with the details of my new processor.
> When trying to rebuild configure scripts and Makefiles it appears there
> is a restriction and/or assumption on the particular version of the
> tools that required.
>   
I usually look at the head of the file I'm trying to re-generate to see 
which version of the tool was used. I'm generally able to find the 
version I need using a simple google search.

Note when cloning a port it can be very tedious to update generated 
files manually. The auto-tools are definitely your friend here (once you 
have the correct versions). I start at the root of the sid source tree 
and run aclocal/autoconf/automake and then look to see which 
subdirectories did not get updated. If there are any, I go there and 
repeat the process.
> It would be very nice if I could use the latest versions of these
> utilities to build. U just need the recipe to regenerate the proper
> files to build.
>   
I guess that would be up to higher powers than I to decide. If you are 
successful in using a later version of any tool, you should let us know 
what changes (if any) were needed.

I hope this helps,
Dave