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Re: [committed] Remove MIPS +D and +T operands
- From: "Maciej W. Rozycki" <macro at codesourcery dot com>
- To: Richard Sandiford <rdsandiford at googlemail dot com>
- Cc: <binutils at sourceware dot org>
- Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 18:22:52 +0100
- Subject: Re: [committed] Remove MIPS +D and +T operands
- References: <87txk65zy0 dot fsf at talisman dot default> <alpine dot DEB dot 1 dot 10 dot 1307081800580 dot 20590 at tp dot orcam dot me dot uk> <87wqp04yk1 dot fsf at talisman dot default>
On Mon, 8 Jul 2013, Richard Sandiford wrote:
> >> This patch removes the "+D" and "+T" entries and gets the disassembler to
> >> look directly for ",H". It also uses a "0" at the end of the opcode
> >> name to distinguish coprocessor 0 instructions; this showed that the
> >> MIPS I LWC0 instruction wasn't being treated as coprocessor 0.
> >
> > But why do we support things like LWC0 or SWC0 in the first place?
> > There are no such instructions.
>
> No idea, sorry. Maybe a processor-specific extension?
I think the only plausible explanation is that older ISA manuals
listed/grouped the instructions as LWCz/SWCz rather than individually and
their major opcodes as 1100xx/1110xx respectively, and whoever added LWC0
and SWC0 didn't notice the z != 0 constraint. This hypothesis is further
backed up by the opcodes being marked as MIPS I in our opcode table rather
than for a specific processor.
As of the MIPS II ISA the opcodes LWC0 and SWC0 could use were taken for
the LL and SC instruction respectively. Therefore to find out whether
they really existed anywhere only the original MIPS I ISA can be
considered. Regrettably the original MIPS I/R2000 manual is not available
online (I only saw a hard copy once and I can't say for sure how the
entries for LWCz/SWCz looked like there), but the MIPS II/R6000 manual is
and does not include LWC0 or SWC0 in its list of removed instructions even
though LL and SC took their places. So this is one reference one can
infer from they were not present in MIPS I/R2000.
Then "IDT R30xx Family Software Reference Manual", that I happen to have
handy, in its Appendix A uses the usual LWCz/SWCz and 1100xx/1110xx format
with "This instruction is not valid for use with CP0." mentioned in the
full descriptions only. That book includes this note: "Appendices A & B
contain material that is (C)1994 by Mips Technology, Inc." on its title
page so I trust the descriptions truly come from the architecture
designers. Also the book makes it explicit that the IDT processors
concerned are full MIPS I implementations, e.g. in Chapter 1: "In the case
of the R30xx family, all devices implement the MIPS-1 ISA."
Searching the Internet for LWC0 or SWC0 does make several references turn
up, however none appears authoritative. I think these instructions should
be removed to stop confusion from spreading. And likewise CFC0/CTC0.
Maciej