1
Shouldn't condition variables be bounded to a particular lock?  It would be
possible to wait on or signal a condition variable by using different
locks, as long as the waiting/signaling process holds the lock used.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is possible but as long as we check to make sure that the signal
and wait is on the same lock (ie. compare addresses of the locks),
then it's fine.

1
Are there specific locations where Nachos, gmake and gcc should be installed 
to?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. The nachos files should be in the directories they come in the .tar file
but there's no specific directories for gmake and gcc.

1
Is it possible for instructors to obtain sample solutions to the assignments?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard solutions are not yet available.  We don have student versions of
the solutions but there's no guarantee on how good they are.

3
Where can I obtain gmake?
-------------------------
prep.ai.mit.edu

1
Is there a newsgroup discussion on NACHOS?
------------------------------------------
We have alt.os.nachos but many people don't have access to it.
We're trying to propose a different nachos newsgroup in comp.

1
Is the simulator adaptable to different projects?  Namely small kernel
with thread management, IPC, and user-level server for the filesystem.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes.  Since nachos is done in complete parts, it's possible to port it
to seperate processes and use some sort of IPC.  Is it easy?  No.

1
We don't know how to start.  We have installed successfully, 
but what's the interface? what nachos provide? 
what function call students can use? 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Starting is easy just tar -xvf the file and it will be installed.  Make
changes to make sure the system is compatible.  
Nachos uses command line interfaces.  The descriptions can be found in
the README.


1
What's Mesa-Style in project 1?
-------------------------------
Mesa-style -- what nachos is using, its characteristics are

a) signaller keeps lock, and
b) waiter puts on ready queue

Hoare style -- signaller gives up the lock, the CPU goes to the waiter.

1
Is the nachos assignments dependent on each other?
--------------------------------------------------
The only assignment that other assignments are dependent on is the threads
assignment.  The other four assignments are pretty much unrelated since they
implement different subsystems of nachos.  

1
Why does the fork function only passes one integer?
---------------------------------------------------
You can use the integer as a memory address to an array if necessary but
nachos generally don't require arguments to pass when forking.

1
Does nachos work with gcc 2.6.0?
--------------------------------
We're getting ready to release a fix to make it work.

1
Which version of gcc does nachos work with now?
-----------------------------------------------
The last version I used was 2.5.7.

1
Do we have any other assignments besides the initial 5?
-------------------------------------------------------
No.  Other universities might have modified the projects but we don't have
at this moment the modifications.


1
(ULTRIX) I get the following diagnostic apparantly out of
coff2noff:

ld -N -T 0 start.o halt.o -o halt.coff
../bin/coff2noff halt.coff halt
numsections 2
Loading 2 sections:
        ".text", filepos 0xa0, mempos 0x0, size 0x100
        ".comment", filepos 0x200, mempos 0x0, size 0x24
Unknown segment type: .comment
*** Error code 1

Stop.
----------------------------------------------------------

Most likely, the coff2noff is being overly restrictive -- that is,
it checks a flag in the header of the coff file, and it probably
will work fine on MIPSEL-LE COFF.  The right thing to do is try it
and see!

1
Are there any places where I can get help for nachos?
-----------------------------------------------------
You can reach us through email at nachos@cs.berkeley.edu, through the
newsgroup alt.os.nachos, the mailing lists, nachos-support and nachos-users.