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developersguide:cpureferencemanuals

CPU Manuals

INTEL Manuals

The Intel Corporation provides many useful documents on the

Pentium 4 Processor Technical Documentation page.

Especially useful for helping you to understand the machine dependent code of MINIX 3 on an IBM-PC compatible machine will be the Manuals section. As of October 2016 the following manuals are available as PDF files (read with Adobe Acrobat or Ghostview):

  • Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Optimization Reference Manual
  • Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Documentation Changes
  • Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 1: Basic Architecture
  • Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D: Instruction Set Reference, A-Z
  • Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D: System Programming Guide

These are all downloadable as PDF files in various combinations (read with Adobe Acrobat or Ghostview). A CD-ROM containing the complete set of manuals is no longer available, but official print copies can be ordered from Lulu.

AMD Manuals

All AMD processors for IBM-PC have the same IA-32 architecture as Intel processors. The differences are in multimedia technology, where AMD processors have 3DNOW! and other things… And the next AMD processor (x86-64) will be different, but still compatible with IA-32. So, the Intel docs will also help you understand and program for AMD processors. But, AMD provides manuals too – they are available at the

AMD64 Architecture Tech Docs

page. These AMD manuals were available as of October 2016:

  • AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 1: Application Programming
  • AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 2: System Programming
  • AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 3: General-Purpose and System Instructions
  • AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 4: 128-Bit and 256-bit Media Instructions
  • AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 5: 64-Bit Media and x87 Floating-Point Instructions
  • Compiler Usage Guidelines for AMD64 Platforms Application Note
  • Software Optimization Guide for AMD64 Processors

Note that the syntax of the assembly language used in MINIX 3 is different from Intel's. The MINIX 3 syntax is consistent with assembly languages used by other UNIX-derived systems. Other links on the page point to articles describing assembly language syntax.

developersguide/cpureferencemanuals.txt · Last modified: 2016/10/26 20:00 by dullroar