OSDEV Series - Episode 1.2: Software list

Here is a list with all the software used, and how to get it.

Name: Cygwin
Operating system: Windows
Download source: http://www.cygwin.com/
Description: Linux like shell that runs in windows, also includes compiler, linker and many other useful tools.

Name: GCC Toolchain
Operating system: Linux
Download source: Should be already installed on most Linux distributions. Can be installed using** sudo apt-get install gcc-core gcc-g++
Description: C and C++ compiler.

Name: NASM (NetWide Assembler)
Operating system: Windows*, Linux
Download source: ** sudo apt-get install nasm
Description: x86 assembler.

Name: Notepad2
Operating system: Windows
Download source: http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
Description: Simple text editor with syntax highlighting.

Name: Notepad++
Operating system: Windows
Download source: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
Description: Advanced source code editor, has many more features than Notepad2.

Name: GEdit
Operating system: Linux
Download source: Already installed on Gnome distributions.
Description: Simple text editor with syntax highlighting.

Name: Kate
Operating system: Linux
Download source: Already installed on KDE distributions.
Description: Simple text editor with syntax highlighting.

Name: HxD
Operating system: Windows
Download source: http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/
Description: Powerful hex editor.

Name: GNOME Hexadecimal Editor
Operating system: Linux
Download source: ** sudo apt-get install ghex
Description: Hex editor for Gnome.

Name: VirtualBox
Operating system: Windows, Linux
Download source: http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Description: Virtualization software.

Name: Qemu
Operating system: Linux
Download source: ** sudo apt-get install qemu
Description: Virtualization software for linux.

Name: Bochs
Operating system: Windows, Linux
Download source:
Linux:** sudo apt-get install bochs
Windows: http://bochs.sourceforge.net/
Description: Operating system debugger.

Notes:
* On Windows, Nasm should be installed using Cygwin, for full compatibility with the tutorial.
** The apt-get command is only available on Debian/Ubuntu based distributions. On other distributions, there may be Yum or other package managers installed.

OSDEV Series - Episode 1.2 - Setting up the environment

Section 1: Introduction
Episode 2: Setting up the environment



This is the second episode in the series, and this time we will set up our environment for operating system development.
Windows starts at 0:00, Linux at 5:00.

In the next episode, we will install the GRUB bootloader on a virtual floppy image, and we will cover some basic theory about operating systems.

Notice

The blog has moved to a new address: http://luxsystem.blogspot.com

This is due to the CTA project being canceled, and a new project called Lux Operating System has started. There are many reasons for this change, but however a lot from the old project will be used in the new one, but some parts will be rewritten, with increased efficiency and speed.

OSDEV Series - Episode 1.1 - To begin with

Section 1: Introduction
Episode 1: To begin with




This episode is an introduction to the OSDEV Series, that will teach how to create an operating system. Topics covered:
* Beginner mistakes
* Checklist (needed tools)

In the next episodes, we will download, install and configure these tools both on Linux and Windows.

CTA Operating System news

The operating system has reached a new milestone. Some key features were created, here is this first preview.

The OS has it's own bootloader, which works much faster than GRUB. Multiboot support was removed, so GRUB doesn't work any more. Here is a screenshot at booting:

 

The operating system uses a Console user interface, GUI is planned to be added later in the project.

The shell includes a help system for the available commands. 

Also, the user input is more advanced than a typical console, it offers features such as insert/overwrite mode, or using CTRL for skipping whole words, features that are normal to any text editor.

The OS has a memory manager implemented, and also supports paging (so that would be physical + virtual memory manager).

The latest addition was the floppy driver, which supports 3 types of 3.5" disks, more exactly low density (720KB), double density (1.44M) and extended density (2.88M). Any other types are unsupported.

On the todo list there is FAT drivers, to make some order in this mess, and single tasking support (multitasking will be added later).

Finally, this is the kernel panic screen:

Later in the project, when GUI will be added, it will be replaced with a Screen Of Death.

First episode in a new tutorial series coming soon

The first episode into a new series will be coming soon. The series is called "Operating System Development", and it will teach you how to create a real operating system. In the first episode, it will be some theory about what happens when you turn on your computer, the components of the operating system, and we start to create the most simple operating system in C programming language. It will come together with few pilot episodes, and one extra which will show you what tools you need, and how to set them up.

Another thing that you will be seeing around here will be news about an in-house operating system called CTA OS, which is under early development.

Evolution of Windows - Windows NT 3.1

This is the last episode in this 4 episode series, intended to show actual video footage of the oldest versions of Windows. In this episode, it's the first fully 32bit operating system, that doesn't depend on MS-DOS: Windows NT 3.1. NT stands for "New Technology". It offered many security features that any DOS based version could not, and supports networking. This is why DOS was dropped after Windows Millennium, and the NT was used in 2000, XP, Vista and now 7.