Since I last updated the worklog, I've been working on a GCC port for the TMS9900. I made up my mind on this after I realized the ton of work required to maintain the source code if it all stays as assembly. Additionally, if I fool myself into thinking anyone else would be interested in using this thing when I'm done, C programming would be much more inviting.

So here's where I'm at right now:

I've got GCC sort of ported at the moment, the TMS9900 is a valid target, the call interface is working, as are the shift instructions. I'm currently working on the conditional jumps.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Tursi's port, and it looks like he just used the PDP11 stuff, but changed the opcode names. Works OK I suppose, but suboptimal.

I used concepts from the ARM, M68HC11 and PDP11 implementations, since I wasn't sure where to start. As a result, I've had a heck of a time with the call interface, since the pieces I used didn't play well together. Tracking down the bugs is challenging, since there is a lot going on and it's still not clear to me how all the machine-specific parts get used.

I want to have parameters passed in the registers, and am trying to keep the file "tios_abi.txt" current regarding the internals of the implementation.

Back to work...