I need advise on what path to take

no_one · Post by **no_one** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:09 am

Hi, I want to get started in OS development. I have some exprience with C. I have an Intel iMac, which has the NASM assembler. I don't know any assembly but I would like to. I don't know how operating systems work and I don't have an understanding of the inside of a computer. What book do you recommend that will get me started in OS development based on my knowledge?

Thanks in advanced

een · Post by **een** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:15 am

There are quite a few books recommeneded in this thread. Also, you should give this a look. I'm new to this myself, so I can't give you a personal recommandation for a book. Besides from that, you should troll through this forum for a while, and get inspiration to develop your own OS. There are several ways of attacking a way to start developing your own OS.

Some people like to read tons of theory first, which will give them a solid fundation of knowing what they're about to do. Other people are satisfied by acknowledging some of the theory, while already at an early stage, starting to develop - i.e. a bootloader - and then get into more theory as it is needed during the expansion of their new OS.

I figure there are two things you should keep in mind from the start:
1. Comment your code from the start on, when you are developing - not after!
2. Don't be a total copy cat.

I've been thinking about learning how to and start develop my own little OS for a while now, although I've never gotten around to it. Stomache says I'll be starting soon - so does my brain. It's been tempting just to pass the heavy theory and go straight-on and code --- but then I'd needed to look at other's code. Been programming for quite some years now, and the feeling is never better when you create something from the bottom on yourself, and it works!

Someone at this forum (can't remember the nick) has made a tutorial in creating your own bootloader. The guide seems nice - a mix of practical code and theory. URL is http://www.mt2002.sitesled.com/

Good luck !

Milo · Post by **Milo** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:14 am

after finishment of bootloader, man, I'm sure you're gonna love that feeling and just wanna keep on writing... So try your best to write bootloader now.

no_one · Post by **no_one** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:59 am

Thanks, I'll check out those links.

no_one · Post by **no_one** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:15 pm

I have a problem, the tutorials say that I need:

- NASM assembler
- VFD
- PartCopy
- Bochs emulator

I have a Mac so I have NASM. VFD is not available for Mac, what other application can I use with Mac to make virtual floppies? PartCopy isn't available for Mac either, what can I use? Bochs is available for Mac but I already have VMware. Will it work?

een · Post by **een** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:43 pm

no_one wrote:I already have VMware. Will it work?

Yes

Brynet-Inc · Post by **Brynet-Inc** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:31 pm

een wrote:
no_one wrote:I already have VMware. Will it work?
Yes

Yes - and No.. From what I hear it lacks any real debugging capabilities.

Use a better and open source emulator, like Bochs or Qemu.

no_one wrote:VFD is not available for Mac, what other application can I use with Mac to make virtual floppies?

Mac OS X is a decent Unix from what I hear, perhaps it includes the "dd" command.. look into it

no_one · Post by **no_one** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:41 pm

Yes it has dd, thanks. As for PartCopy, what can I use?

Brynet-Inc · Post by **Brynet-Inc** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:57 am

no_one wrote:Yes it has dd, thanks. As for PartCopy, what can I use?

Again I think dd will suffice

distantvoices · Post by **distantvoices** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:04 am

It took me a year of prestudy from august 2001 to august 2002 ere I could start doing some osdeving - it was a bootloader at first, then a small kernel lite thing switching some stacks around the cpu - it was some output stuff to write messages to the screen ... small stuff of that sort.

Also it was about rediscovering Dynamic data structures like linked lists, trees and sorta. I've heard about them in programming courses, but it is another thing to use them in all earnest.

Oh, yes and dd comes in handy if you're using some flavour of Linux/Unix