membar and stbar are instructions available as of sparc v9. To get fpc running on a sparc <v9 I have commented out
def_system_macro('FPC_HAS_MEMBAR'); in compiler/options.pas. Is there a command line option that does the same?

Ludo

2011/7/8 Ludo Brands :

membar and stbar are instructions available as of sparc v9. To get fpc running on a sparc <v9 I have commented out def_system_macro('FPC_HAS_MEMBAR'); in compiler/options.pas. Is there a command line option that does the same?

maybe -uFPC_HAS_MEMBAR.

Vincent

maybe -uFPC_HAS_MEMBAR.

Mmm. Didn't expect that a command line undefine would override a define in the code. I'll give it a try.

Thanks, Ludo

Ludo Brands wrote

membar and stbar are instructions available as of sparc v9. To get fpc running on a sparc <v9 I have commented out def_system_macro('FPC_HAS_MEMBAR'); in compiler/options.pas. Is there a command line option that does the same?

I wonder whether this would be worth considering on a per-OS basis? Working from memory, when I last looked I think that Linux initialised the processor to a mode where it didn't reorder memory accesses so (if my recollection of the documentation is correct) didn't require membars, in which case an RTL startup check for an unexpected mode should suffice.

Ludo Brands wrote

membar and stbar are instructions available as of sparc v9. To get fpc running on a sparc <v9

For completeness and playing Devil's Advocate, I do have to ask whether pre-v9 (i.e. pre-UltraSPARC) systems are relevant any more.

I've got one remaining Sun4m system (SPARCstation 20) here which will just about run Linux 2.4, not sure it will handle anything later. I've also got several Sun4d which I've managed to get running SMP 2.4 but not 2.6. Both of those will also run Solaris 8 but I don't think later.

I've got a Sun4c (SPARCstation IPC) which I can't get to run a realistic (>=2.4) version of Linux, and won't run later than Solaris 7.

I must admit that I'm very attached to the Sun4d, because it performs spectacularly and is a Xerox PARC design. But I'd certainly not expect it to run an off-the-shelf FPC.

The remaining question is whether there's any mileage in supporting the Gaisler Research LEON processor, which I believe is a v8.

For completeness and playing Devil's Advocate, I do have to ask whether pre-v9 (i.e. pre-UltraSPARC) systems are relevant any more.

QEMU emulates V8. That's why I had to "downgrade".

Ludo

That seems an entirely adequate reason, since I believe a lot of developers use Qemu.