To build the operating system, a batch file (BUILD.BAT) is included to make life easier. This file is in the FDKERNEL directory of the distribution. In addition, there is a corresponding batch file (CLEAN.BAT) to clean up the source directories. There is a CONFIG.M file that specifies all the paths and names of the compiler, assembler, etc. that you want to use. You MUST copy it to CONFIG.MAK first, then edit it to reflect your setup. Likewise, there is a CONFIG.B file that should be copied to CONFIG.BAT, and then edited to reflect your setup. The reason for this copying of files is that when new releases of the kernel come out, you can extract them over your previous source, and not have to worry about resetting up your configuration because your CONFIG.BAT and CONFIG.MAK files will not get replaced! You will also need to download the latest version of NASM and Turbo C 2.01. Install Turbo C and NASM somewhere (it doesn't really matter where) and then be sure to edit the CONFIG.MAK file to reflect where you put the tools. This program will now compile with Turbo C 2.01 (now freely available!), Turbo C 3.0, Borland C 4.51 & 5.01. It should work with other Borland compilers as well. If you feel hardy, read on to understand the directory structure. A more complete description of the build environment is contained in a companion book, "The FreeDOS Kernel" (ISBN: 0-87930-436-7) published by R&D Books, an imprint of Miller Freeman of Lawrence, Kansas (USA) and distributed in the USA and Canada by Publishers Group West. See the file README.TXT for more details. Directory Structure ------------------- fdkernel root directory +-----bin holds image of distribution disk +-----boot boot.bin (boot sector) +-----docs documentation directory +-----drivers DEVICE.LIB +-----hdr common *.h files +-----kernel The kernel itself +-----lib LIBM.LIB and DEVICE.LIB +-----sys SYS.COM and supporting programs +-----utils Miscellaneous utilities Organization in a nutshell -------------------------- Each component or group of utilities is segregated into its own directory. In order to build that component or utility, a makefile exists in the directory that bears the component's or utility's basename. Each makefile has at least two targets, production and clean. The target production builds the expected component or utility and the component clean cleans up the directory for distribution. The makefile may have at least one additional target that builds the component. Study the makefile to better understand this. --------------------------------------------------------------------- $Id$ $Log$ Revision 1.3 2000/08/15 03:42:17 jhall1 update to the bugs.txt file to point the user to the bug database at the FreeDOS web site (http://www.freedos.org/bugs) update to the build.txt file to remove references to the now-defunct web site at gcfl.net (John's old site). Revision 1.2 2000/05/08 04:27:48 jimtabor Update CVS to 2020 Revision 1.2 1999/08/25 04:12:31 jprice update Revision 1.1 1999/08/25 03:46:41 jprice New build config