3 ms·

Actually you might be surprised. Windows NT is _older_ than many of the "standards we take for granted in x86/PC land", and for example it does support multiple

Actually you might be surprised. Windows NT is _older_ than many of the "standards we take for granted in x86/PC land", and for example it does support multiple types of pre-ACPI ways of bringing up multiprocessor systems and specifically multiple types of interrupt controllers. Heck, x86 Windows even supports non-PC servers from Compaq and others; ever tried to press F5 during (old) Windows NT setup ? As the OP said, all of this is abstracted by the Windows HAL, so it's just a matter of replacing the HAL (a separate binary). The problem is that the HAL is closed source. Outside of simple binary patches, I don't think anyone has come close to writing a new one.

monocasa 4y ago
ReactOS has written their own HALs.
amarioguy 4y ago
Generally speaking part of the issue with a custom HAL nowadays is that Microsoft moved the HAL from being a DLL to being a statically linked library within the kernel (likely as a performance optimization and because there's no real need for a new HAL in most instances when HAL Extensions exist) This merger of the kernel and HAL invariably means patching the HAL is now equivalent to patching the kernel
xattt 4y ago
> x86 Windows even supports non-PC servers from Compaq Were there x86 but non-IBM compatible models or did you mean the alternate instruction sets (Alpha, PPC, RISC)?
- zinekeller 4y ago
  Not GP. I'm not sure if there's a special Compaq version but there's a version (until Windows 2000, https://winworldpc.com/download/5204c39d-c3a9-5a68-11c3-a7c29d255254 https://winworldpc.com/download/5204c39d-c3a9-5a68-11c3-a7c2...) for NEC PC-98 architecture which is x86-based but IBM PC-incompatible, so it's likely that a Compaq version exists.
  - yuhong 4y ago
    The Compaq is IBM PC compatible but uses a different HAL for SMP support. You can see all of them by looking at what NT4 shipped with for example.
    - zinekeller 4y ago
      Ah, Uniprocessor versus Multiprocessor HALs, I remember now!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
DeathArrow 4y ago
>Outside of simple binary patches, I don't think anyone has come close to writing a new one. What about ReactOS, do they use a HAL implementation or not?

monocasa 4y ago

ReactOS has written their own HALs.

amarioguy 4y ago

Generally speaking part of the issue with a custom HAL nowadays is that Microsoft moved the HAL from being a DLL to being a statically linked library within the kernel (likely as a performance optimization and because there's no real need for a new HAL in most instances when HAL Extensions exist) This merger of the kernel and HAL invariably means patching the HAL is now equivalent to patching the kernel

xattt 4y ago

> x86 Windows even supports non-PC servers from Compaq Were there x86 but non-IBM compatible models or did you mean the alternate instruction sets (Alpha, PPC, RISC)?

zinekeller 4y ago
Not GP. I'm not sure if there's a special Compaq version but there's a version (until Windows 2000, https://winworldpc.com/download/5204c39d-c3a9-5a68-11c3-a7c29d255254 https://winworldpc.com/download/5204c39d-c3a9-5a68-11c3-a7c2...) for NEC PC-98 architecture which is x86-based but IBM PC-incompatible, so it's likely that a Compaq version exists.
- yuhong 4y ago
  The Compaq is IBM PC compatible but uses a different HAL for SMP support. You can see all of them by looking at what NT4 shipped with for example.
  - zinekeller 4y ago
    Ah, Uniprocessor versus Multiprocessor HALs, I remember now!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

DeathArrow 4y ago

>Outside of simple binary patches, I don't think anyone has come close to writing a new one. What about ReactOS, do they use a HAL implementation or not?