Questions tagged [x86]
The Intel x86 family of architectures in general. Contemporary systems are OFF-TOPIC! Use the specific architecture’s tag if applicable.
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The start of x86: Intel 8080 vs Intel 8086?
Why is it said that all modern Intel processors of the x86 family are said to descend from the Intel 8086 and not the Intel 8080? From the Wikipedia article on the Intel 8086,
The 8086 gave rise to ...
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Can x86 processors run 8-bit applications?
I was wondering if it is possible to run 8-bit applications within QEMU. I know that the x86 architecture can run 16-bit applications, but can it also run 8-bit applications?
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What was the first multiprocessor x86 motherboard?
I know dual socket motherboards were around in the 90's before Intel released the Core series. And SMP hardware and operating systems have been around earlier than the PC platform of course.
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x86 as a Pascal Machine?
From this answer by gsg about the usage of certain x86 instructions:
Note that the x86 was originally designed as a Pascal machine, which is why there are instructions to support nested functions (...
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What was the first x86 CPU to use a cache of any kind?
I believe the 80286 had a prefetch instruction queue, but did it have any other forms of cache? Was the 80386 the first x86 CPU to have a cache?
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BIOS interrupts vs Hardware interrupts
On an x86 chip running in Real Mode, interrupts are resolved with the help of the IVT (Interrupt Vector Table), which is an array located at address 0000h:0000h that consists of 256 entries, 32-bit ...
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Swapping endian-ness on the 68000
In the 80s, the two great 16/32-bit desktop CPU architectures were the x86, used in the IBM PC and compatibles, and the 68000, used in the Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh, early UNIX workstations and ...
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Is it possible to trap 387 FPU opcodes on a 287 connected to a 386?
The 8087 and 287 FPUs were designed before the IEEE 754 standard was released. Because of this, they contain some instructions which are not compliant with it. When the 387 was released in 1987, it ...
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How does the ‘real mode flat model’ work?
I am interested in old Intel processors. I'll try to be as concise as possible.
I have been studying both Jeff Duntemann's Assembly Language Step-by-Step - Chapter 4 and Modes of Memory Addressing on ...
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Are .COM executable binaries real mode or protected mode?
Windows and DOS binary executable files with the .EXE extension have an MZ header in them and nowadays also a PE header.
But before these there used to also be .COM binary executable files and they ...
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How do you put a 286 in Protected Mode?
From the Art of Intel x86 Assembly, Page 149,
The 80386 added four control registers: CR0-CR3. These registers extend the msw registers of the 80286 [...]
The book says earlier that,
The 80286 ...
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What was the first publication documenting AT&T syntax assembly language?
What was the first publication to document what is (now) known as AT&T syntax assembly language?
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