is there any hope?

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AltCtrlDel
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is there any hope?

Post by AltCtrlDel »

i am a studetn of computer science
here in egypt, computer science means only software and we dont have much hardware knowledge(only a preliminary courses in Logic and Arch.)
i have been trying to learn OS development for a few weeks but i am totally puzzled
should i study hardware related materials?what exactly should i learn?is there any (human-readable) online materials to learn interfacig with hardware(mouse-keyborad-harddisk)?and what to learn before reading those?
how to learn pmode programmingfor x86 arch.?is there any good resources covering switching to pmode and working with the
GDt,IDT..etc?

and - finally - i am intending to make this one my graduation project, is there any hope to learn all those things and to implement it in one year time,
i can write code in C,ASM, and i have read alot about OS concepts
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smiddy
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Re: is there any hope?

Post by smiddy »

I will answer the burning question first: is there any hope to leanr all those things and implement it in one years time?

The simple anser is yes. But, that is the simple answer. It means long hours tied to understanding the archetecture, which of the most popular, is the most difficult to learn. You should get a mentor who can guide you through the process, someone who has successfully implemented an OS before and understands all the pitfalls associated with development of an OS. It is probably wise to get an archetecture book that discusses the interfacing between hardware and software (OS's more specifically). You should figure out if you have to provide a working OS or if the design process is sufficient for a passing grade. Some professors will give specific criteria based on performance and others will give a pass/fail based on the project. I recommend being very specific in your design goals too; acheiving these goals will define your success at the end of the project. I would recommend staying away from the latest technology bases since documentation for those technologies will not be as available as they are for older types (read: newer devices/technologies means higher risk of failure). Limit your devices to standard devices: floppy drives, IDE (ATA) hard drives, VGA displays, mouse, 101/102 keyboard. Limit yourself to well known file systems, like FAT (loads of documentation available on the web).
-smiddy
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intel_breaker
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Re: is there any hope?

Post by intel_breaker »

The book desciribing hardware of PC is called 'Anatomia PC' But this book is in polish, Before you read it, you must learn a polish language. It is hardly than O.S developing:)
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