To build the operating system, a batch file (BUILD.BAT) is included to make life easier. This file is in the FDKERNEL directory of the distribution. In addition, there is a corresponding batch file (CLEAN.BAT) to clean up the source directories. There is a CONFIG.B file that specifies all the paths and names of the compiler, assembler, etc. that you want to use. You MUST copy it to CONFIG.BAT first, then edit it to reflect your setup. The reason for this copying of files is that when new releases of the kernel come out, you can extract them over your previous source, and not have to worry about resetting up your configuration because your CONFIG.BAT file will not get replaced! The recommended compiler and assembler at the time of writing (2004/01/31) are OpenWatcom 1.2 and NASM 0.98.38. You may need to download the latest version of NASM and a C compiler Be sure to edit the CONFIG.BAT file to reflect where you put the tools. You can find NASM at http://nasm.sourceforge.net. Version 0.98.36 or later is strongly recommended. The older 0.98 will also work fine, but any version in between is likely to fail. It's best to use a NASM that is native to your host; that is, when compiling in Windows, use the win32 version. The DJGPP version is less likely to run out of memory than the DOS version. Optionally, the kernel can be compressed using UPX. You can find UPX at http://upx.sourceforge.net. Simply adjust config.bat to enable it. This kernel compiles with Turbo C 2.01, Turbo C++ 1.01 (now freely available!), Turbo C 3.0, Borland C 4.51 & 5.01. It should work with other Borland and Microsoft compilers and (Open)Watcom C. GCC can compile the kernel but the result does *not* work (no 16-bit x86 support). The OpenWatcom 1.0 compiler (or later) for DOS can be downloaded at www.openwatcom.org: you need at least the following zips from ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/watcom/zips/ (see ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/watcom/zips/layout.txt) cm_core_all - Core binaries (All hosts) cm_core_dos - Core binaries (DOS host) cm_core_doswin - Core binaries (DOS & Win hosts) cm_clib_hdr - C runtime library header files cm_clib_a16 - C runtime libraries (16-bit all targets) cm_clib_d16 - C runtime libraries (16-bit DOS) clib_a16 - C runtime libraries (16-bit all targets) clib_d16 - C runtime libraries (16-bit DOS) core_doswin - Core binaries (DOS & Win16 hosts) c_doswin - C compiler (DOS & Win16 hosts) ext_dos4gw - DOS/4GW DOS extender Replace "dos" by "nt" for an NT/Win9x host or "os2" for an OS/2 host. The host needs to be a 386+ with at least 8MB of memory. If you feel hardy, read on to understand the directory structure. A more complete description of the build environment is contained in a companion book, "The FreeDOS Kernel" (ISBN: 0-87930-436-7) published by R&D Books, an imprint of Miller Freeman of Lawrence, Kansas (USA) and distributed in the USA and Canada by Publishers Group West. See the file README.TXT for more details. Directory Structure ------------------- fdkernel root directory +-----bin holds image of distribution disk +-----boot boot.bin (boot sector) +-----docs documentation directory +-----drivers DEVICE.LIB +-----hdr common *.h files +-----kernel The kernel itself +-----lib LIBM.LIB and DEVICE.LIB +-----sys SYS.COM and supporting programs +-----utils Miscellaneous utilities Organization in a nutshell -------------------------- Each component or group of utilities is segregated into its own directory. In order to build that component or utility, a makefile exists in the directory that bears the component's or utility's basename. Each makefile has at least two targets, production and clean. The target production builds the expected component or utility and the component clean cleans up the directory for distribution. The makefile may have at least one additional target that builds the component. Study the makefile to better understand this. --------------------------------------------------------------------- $Id: build.txt,v 1.14 2004/04/13 23:46:24 bartoldeman Exp $