The SDS simulator and virtual device operation -- some necessary MAGIC

It was supposed to have been the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke who coined the phase

"The technology of any sufficiently advanced civilization
is indistinguishable from magic."

Finding out how to make the SDS simulators in the demo kit respond to "virtual hardware devices" took some considerable experimentation. If you want to know all the gory details, then read through these web pages.

For this laboratory it is sufficient to follow some simple instructions to get the SDS simulator to work with the virtual devices. If you examine the files you are downloading, the MAGIC will disappear.Getting the virtual devices to work is very obvious in hindsight.

  1. First step is to set up a working directory lab2 into which you will need to download various files.
  2. In order to get the SDS simulator to correctly respond to the "virtual device" it is necessary to change some of its "properties".
  3. Down load the file tempini.ini into your working directory.
  4. Down load the files cdemo68k.dbg (68K Laboratory 2) and cdemoppc.dbg (PowerPC laboratory 2) into your working directory lab2. (Files with extension .dbg is to the SDS simulator what .bat files are to DOS or executable text files (source-able) files are to UNIX.These .dbg files are a series of commands to configure the SDS environment.)
  5. You might also like to "configure" the SDS simulator Tool options "assembler" and "linker". Using these, together with the Tool "editor" option, means you can now modify, assemble and link, without leaving the simulator for MSDOS.
  6. If you have a version of the SDS toolset running, close and restart it.
  7. ** VERY IMPORTANT -- EFFECT ON LABORATORY 1 **

The final step

I went through quite a bit of experimentation necessary to get the virtual devices to work on all the machines I have in the laboratory. We have tested things out thoroughly, but every body's machine configuration might be different. For example, what will happen until Windows NT? There is a chance that nothing will work. Therefore, if you have the same sense of humour as I have,

the final step in the "MAGIC" is to wave your instruction sheet over the top of your computer and issue the magic chant

PLEASE WORK!


Note added in proof. Actually the Version 6.5 simulator does not work within Windows NT . Things look far more promising with the Version 7.0 simulator, which has, in the full version, some new, very useful, capabilities and a completely "new-look" graphics interface. Watch out for a new version of the Companion using Version 7.X near Christmmas after I've applied the WIDFI process to check out what does, and does not, work in the demo kit.



Last modified: July 16, 1996 11:06 PM by M. Smith.
Copyright -- M. R. Smith