VOGONS


First post, by Sphere478

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Obviously none of the official releases of 95, 98, 98SE, or Windows millennium edition ever supported this, but was there ever any unreleased project or any kind of homebrew ever made to try and do this?

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 2 of 17, by TrashPanda

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Hard to homebrew something like this honestly, would require access to the source code for the level 0 kernel system along with everything else that relies upon it. Very likely why they switched to the NT kernel since it had native MP support and in essence windows simply sees multiple cores as CPUs or logical processors.

Reply 3 of 17, by DosFreak

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rloew does have a Multi-Core SDK for 9x but you'll need to code for it but I don't know if it's available anywhere. Even if it isn't it proves that it's possible.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/145512-multiproc … #comment-933209

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support Multiple Cores.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use All Available Cores to
run concurrent Threads within their Programs. Control and InterProcessor
Subroutines are provided. Compatible with MEMORY64 64-Bit RAM Package.
A Demonstration Package is now available for Downloading.

Here's the demo:
https://rloewelectronics.com/catalog2.htm
https://rloewelectronics.com/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP
http://www.geocities.ws/rloew/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP

Also

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support 64-Bit RAM.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use 64-Bit RAM in their
Programs. Single Programs are limited to 2GB but multiple Programs can access
up to 1024GB of RAM simultaneously. Compatible with MULTCORE Multiple Core
Package below.

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 4 of 17, by TrashPanda

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DosFreak wrote on 2022-02-04, 02:36:
rloew does have a Multi-Core SDK for 9x but you'll need to code for it but I don't know if it's available anywhere. Even if it i […]
Show full quote

rloew does have a Multi-Core SDK for 9x but you'll need to code for it but I don't know if it's available anywhere. Even if it isn't it proves that it's possible.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/145512-multiproc … #comment-933209

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support Multiple Cores.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use All Available Cores to
run concurrent Threads within their Programs. Control and InterProcessor
Subroutines are provided. Compatible with MEMORY64 64-Bit RAM Package.
A Demonstration Package is now available for Downloading.

Here's the demo:
https://rloewelectronics.com/catalog2.htm
https://rloewelectronics.com/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP
http://www.geocities.ws/rloew/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP

Also

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support 64-Bit RAM.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use 64-Bit RAM in their
Programs. Single Programs are limited to 2GB but multiple Programs can access
up to 1024GB of RAM simultaneously. Compatible with MULTCORE Multiple Core
Package below.

I think thats less about adding multicore support to windows itself and more about adding to your 9x programs so they support it rather than the underlying OS, its one way of getting around lack of multicore support under 9x same for the 64bit memory support.

Reply 5 of 17, by rmay635703

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TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-04, 02:48:
DosFreak wrote on 2022-02-04, 02:36:
rloew does have a Multi-Core SDK for 9x but you'll need to code for it but I don't know if it's available anywhere. Even if it i […]
Show full quote

rloew does have a Multi-Core SDK for 9x but you'll need to code for it but I don't know if it's available anywhere. Even if it isn't it proves that it's possible.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/145512-multiproc … #comment-933209

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MULTCORE $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support Multiple Cores.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use All Available Cores to
run concurrent Threads within their Programs. Control and InterProcessor
Subroutines are provided. Compatible with MEMORY64 64-Bit RAM Package.
A Demonstration Package is now available for Downloading.

Here's the demo:
https://rloewelectronics.com/catalog2.htm
https://rloewelectronics.com/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP
http://www.geocities.ws/rloew/Programs/DEMOCORE.ZIP

Also

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H […]
Show full quote

MEMORY64 $20 + $1 S&H

SDK to support 64-Bit RAM.
This Package allows Programmers to Allocate and use 64-Bit RAM in their
Programs. Single Programs are limited to 2GB but multiple Programs can access
up to 1024GB of RAM simultaneously. Compatible with MULTCORE Multiple Core
Package below.

I think thats less about adding multicore support to windows itself and more about adding to your 9x programs so they support it rather than the underlying OS, its one way of getting around lack of multicore support under 9x same for the 64bit memory support.

But that’s also the only reasonable way to do it

Could run disks on one core everything else on another, the simple less effective way is about the only way to manage it when you don’t have proper support

Reply 6 of 17, by Sphere478

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What about react os? That’s basically win 9x is it for 64 bit or dual though?

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 8 of 17, by Sphere478

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STX wrote on 2022-02-04, 04:09:

"The ReactOS kernel currently targets NT 5.2 and supports both x86 and x64 platforms." I don't have any personal experience with ReactOS, but their website indicates that ReactOS has some SMP support.

I would love to try it but last time I tried it wouldn’t even boot the cd

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 9 of 17, by doshea

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Sphere478 wrote on 2022-02-04, 03:06:

What about react os? That’s basically win 9x is it for 64 bit or dual though?

I'm pretty sure it's not much like Windows 9x. https://reactos.org/architecture/ talks a lot about the NT kernel and architecture, and I don't recall it ever being described as anything other than being based on NT. I know from experience that in the past it didn't even support 16-bit Windows applications running on 32-bit ReactOS - https://reactos.org/wiki/User:Petr-akhlamov/WOW talks about work on that being started in 2018.

Maybe it's like Windows 9x in terms of its size though? I don't think it's very bloated.

Reply 11 of 17, by Sphere478

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doshea wrote on 2022-02-06, 02:28:
Sphere478 wrote on 2022-02-04, 03:06:

What about react os? That’s basically win 9x is it for 64 bit or dual though?

I'm pretty sure it's not much like Windows 9x. https://reactos.org/architecture/ talks a lot about the NT kernel and architecture, and I don't recall it ever being described as anything other than being based on NT. I know from experience that in the past it didn't even support 16-bit Windows applications running on 32-bit ReactOS - https://reactos.org/wiki/User:Petr-akhlamov/WOW talks about work on that being started in 2018.

Maybe it's like Windows 9x in terms of its size though? I don't think it's very bloated.

Ah gotcha, Must’ve recalled wrong.

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 12 of 17, by firage

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I just wonder about this stuff. A single core is enough for everything that was designed for Win9x. What's so great about that OS that you want to use it for more things? 😁

My big-red-switch 486

Reply 13 of 17, by Grzyb

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firage wrote on 2022-02-09, 13:08:

I just wonder about this stuff. A single core is enough for everything that was designed for Win9x.

Yes, but multiprocessor support would be nice to run several things designed for Win9x simultaneously.

What's so great about that OS that you want to use it for more things? 😁

There's nothing great about that poor excuse for OS.
But there's plenty of software that can't be run on anything better.

Żywotwór planetarny, jego gnijące błoto, jest świtem egzystencji, fazą wstępną, i wyłoni się z krwawych ciastomózgowych miedź miłująca...

Reply 14 of 17, by firage

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Well, that's the question. What is this software that can't run on anything better that needs to run in parallel processes?

I can see someone could have a purpose for a Win9x exclusive version of some old productivity software, but what's the other simultaneous task that has to be done specifically on that system?

My big-red-switch 486

Reply 15 of 17, by RetroGamer4Ever

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ReactOS started out as a 32-bit Windows 9x/NT alternative, but it's now more or less a (general) Windows alternative for hardware that could have run (simultaneously) on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Because of it's compatibility with older Windows software, it can run the massive amount of pirated/cracked software present in Russia and other nations nearby. Not much has been looked into for gaming purposes, but it does use WINE and other FOSS software from that particular user niche.

Reply 16 of 17, by Grzyb

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RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2022-02-09, 13:37:

ReactOS [...] it's now more or less a (general) Windows alternative [...] it can run the massive amount of pirated/cracked software

What!?
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, it isn't - and won't be anytime soon - an alternative for anything, and there's hardly any software it can run.

Żywotwór planetarny, jego gnijące błoto, jest świtem egzystencji, fazą wstępną, i wyłoni się z krwawych ciastomózgowych miedź miłująca...