Terra and Lua - UEFI

Posted on Wed 28 May 2025 in programming • Tagged with lua, terra, c, lowlevel, uefi • 6 min read

2015: Moon crosses Earth (EPIC/DSCOVR)

2015: Moon crosses Earth (EPIC/DSCOVR) Image Credit: NASA/NOAA

Now in part 2 we will see how we can generate code and link it to GNU-EFI so it can run on the EFI environment, but first.

I asked ChatGPT... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'll copy more or less the wording on Wikipedia rather. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a specification for the firmware of computer systems that supports booting from a hardware-based EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) environment, and it's used by both UEFI 1.0 & later versions as well with some older BIOSes like …


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How to (not) Install C on the AOS on a Nova MV

Posted on Mon 26 May 2025 in programming • Tagged with data general, nova, bcpl, alto • 4 min read

a Nova rack in the center with a terminal on the top, PDP-11/35 control panel to the left on top of some other smaller rack a Data General branded teletype terminal in betwen the two and an old large ociloscope behine. On the right a table with a glass terminal with the Data General colors.

I have this idea of restoring the Mesa/Cedar compiler but discipline and skill are lacking. I have documented the progress I made from a archive that was released by the Computer History Museum while ago in https://github.com/xspager/Cedar_tools.

So I was the other day watching the a Data General Nova being restored (Usagi Electric playlist, Tech Tangents playlist) and wondered if I could get myself familiar with the software on that platform and see if that helps with recreating the kind of …


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Batman Carioca

Posted on Tue 29 April 2025 in short stories • 2 min read

Era o calor das noites de verão, 42 graus a noite inteira, por semanas, era isso que causava essa insanidade tão característica da cidade em que ele cresceu sempre tentou não odiar. A maior parte da população não dormia por muitos dias seguidos, ele tinha certeza que era essa a causa. A cidade de São Sebastião não era desconhecida da criminalidade, de gangsters e milicianos, de políticos corruptos, e sim, de alguns heróis. Era uma cidade rica que já havia sido a capital de um império modesto, teve seu período de grande estagnação, viu alguma melhoria …


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Follow up on PS/2 55 SX

Posted on Tue 29 April 2025 in vintage computing • Tagged with emulation, ibm, pc, ps/2, 86box, netbsd • 1 min read

So I did got back to playing with NetBSD on the PS/2 55 SX as I was afraid I would (check the original article here) and got it running. To be exact I got NetBSD 3.0.3 to install and run as I mentioned before, and after sorting the BIOS issues by deleting the file that store the non-volatile contents of the emulated BIOS and recreating the Reference Floppy with the .ADF files I still had to resort to using the installation boot disk to boot the installed system. By pressing any key and …


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Jet Pack

Posted on Tue 29 April 2025 in short stories • 1 min read

Veiled Worlds Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18335

Her mother use to design fast water boats, not the regular kind, the ones designed and tests in the computer, made of carbon fiber and using electric engines. She made a name for herself, she was famous on Youtube before Alphabet was bought by that Vietnamese company in 2055. In fact she was born not much after her mother got internet famous. She use to watch all her mother videos on how she made her way into making all sorts of …


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