35 KiB
tms-c-compiler
A modern C toolchain for the DEC VT1200 / TI TMS34010, built as a small fork of upstream LLVM.
Status: M4. llc -march=tms34010 emits GSPA-compatible assembly using the
TI ABI: integer/pointer arguments are pushed on the program stack, the result is
returned in A8, frames use A13/A14/A15, and functions end in RETS 2
(RETS 0 without arguments). M4 adds function pointers and CALL Rs, 32-bit
multiply/divide, zero-extending narrow loads, module-unique private labels,
i8/i16 fixed arguments and the contiguous-stack varargs form, the X11R4
XImage/XEvent layouts, the full image/event client, the corrected 30-entry
ROM symbol table, and the pinned termtris full-game integration. It is still
assembly-only: no object writer, no clang -c, and no native COFF;
GSPA/GSPLNK under DOSBox produce the COFF. Floats, long long, general
varargs, bitfields, structs by value, narrow returns and native COFF are M5.
Branch m4 is the current milestone snapshot in both repositories; the
default branch is m3 until the controller/user updates it after the final
review. Branch m3 remains the previous snapshot, m2 is the M2 tip and
m1 the reproducible M1 snapshot.
- Design:
docs/superpowers/specs/2026-11-10-tms34010-llvm-design.md - M0 plan:
docs/superpowers/plans/2026-11-10-tms34010-m0-fork-and-bit-address-semantics.md - M1 plan:
docs/superpowers/plans/2026-11-11-tms34010-m1-minimal-backend.md - M2 plan:
docs/superpowers/plans/2026-11-11-tms34010-m2-ti-abi-and-rom-calls.md - M3 plan:
docs/superpowers/plans/2026-11-11-tms34010-m3-control-flow-and-xlib-window.md - M4 plan:
docs/superpowers/plans/2026-11-12-tms34010-m4-xlib-image-events-and-termtris.md - Spike:
spike/REPORT-23.md(current, LLVM 23.1.5);spike/REPORT.md(historical, 19.1.7)
Repositories
- Compiler fork: https://git.wut.ee/opencode.siil.arti.ee/llvm-tms34010
(branch
m4) — the full buildable LLVM 23.1.5 tree with the TMS34010 target, clang bit-address changes and the M2/M3/M4 backend. Branchm3(the repository default) is the previous snapshot; branchm2is the M2 tip and branchtms34010is the M1 tip and keeps the original M1 backend and suite. - This project: https://git.wut.ee/opencode.siil.arti.ee/tms-c-compiler
(branch
m4) — plans/specs, VT1200 integration tooling,tms-bitaddr,tms-clang, symbols, the M2/M3/M4 harnesses and the spike. Branchm3(the repository default) is the previous snapshot; branchm2is the M2 snapshot and branchm1is the reproducible M1 snapshot, including the retired M1 harness.
The compiler fork is the canonical source for all target code. patches/llvm
here is a frozen M0 mirror used by the default upstream+patches build;
M2/M3/M4 do not change it.
What M4 provides
M4 closes the remaining Xlib path to a real image/event client and a full-game integration, still assembly-only:
- Function pointers and
CALL Rs. A function pointer is a 32-bit bit address; an indirect call lowers to the one-word register callCALL Rs(GSPA0x0920,dis34call aN), with the same old-STK save, argument pushes,SETFfixup andRETS 2as a direct call. Direct calls remainCALLA _sym.m4-fnptr.ll+scripts/tests/m4/fnptr.sh. - 32-bit multiply/divide.
MPYS/MPYU/DIVS/DIVUwith an odd destination (the even form is theRd:Rd+1pair and would clobber the next register); remainder is quotient +MPYS+SUB. There is no compiler multiply/divide helper inRTS.LIB;_divis only the Cdiv()wrapper.m4-mul.ll+scripts/tests/m4/mul.sh. - Zero-extending and extending narrow loads.
ZEXTLOAD/EXTLOADi8/i16 lower to the sign-extending load plusANDI 255/ANDI 65535; an i1 load is a byte load masked to one bit.m4-zext.ll,m4-anyext.ll,m4-i1load.ll. - Module-unique private labels. Every local symbol gets a custom 64-bit
string-hash token (FNV-style, not canonical FNV-1a), so two TUs with literals
no longer collide in GSPA's flat table; public names are unchanged.
m4-private.lland the two-TUscripts/tests/m4/private.sh. i8/i16fixed arguments. Promoted to a 4-byte stack slot; the caller sign/zero-extends per the parameter attribute and the callee truncates.i8/i16/i64/float/aggregate returns remain rejected.m4-arg8.ll.- Contiguous-stack varargs. Only the
&last_fixedwalk used by termtris'sprintf; nova_list/va_start/va_arg. Zero-fixed and i8/i16-anchor definitions are rejected. Static variadic definitions can lose...under-O2dead-argument elimination; external termtrissprintfis unaffected.m4-varargs.ll,m4-reject-vararg0.ll,m4-reject-vararg-narrow{,16}.ll,scripts/tests/m4/varargs.sh. - Driver policies.
scripts/tms-clangpasses-replexitval=never(the i33 exit-value multiply is unselectable on this i64-less target) and-switch-to-lookup=false(a late byte-offset GEP after--scalewould be read as a bit offset, an 8x address bug). Both are driver policies becauseopthas no target machine. - X11R4
XImage/XEvent/XErrorEventlayouts and the image client. The real 32-bit packed offsets:XImagedata 16, byte_order 20, bytes_per_line 40, bits_per_pixel 44, f 64,sizeof88;XEvent96;XErrorEvent20 (with the explicit X11R4 object-size compatibility pad);Display.screensbyte 0x90 / bit 0x480,Screen.rootbyte 0x8 / bit 0x40. The client draws a 1-bit LSBFirst checker through an aligned pixmap +XCopyArea(12-pixel phase) and 15 bands of 32 rows (the ROM request buffer is 16 KiB), with.bssat0x01A00000andprogat0x018A0000.XCopyAreacopiesIMG_W - 12= 628 columns, so the rightmost 12 source columns (the last visible cell's final 12 px) are not displayed; the last visible cell is 20 px, not 32. It asserts the checker pixels, the real LK401q(keycode 193 / keysym0x71), window focus and zero X errors in MAME. - Corrected 30-entry v2.2 symbol table.
XMapWindowis0x3FD64F60(MapWindow opcode 8);0x3FD645B0isXRaiseWindow(ConfigureWindow opcode 12,CWStackMode=Above). The XG block and the image/error-handler entries are validated byscripts/m4/validate-syms.shandscripts/tests/m4/symbols.sh. - Pinned termtris. The full game builds with this compiler and the 1987
GSPA/GSPLNK +
rts.lib, at the pinnedvt1200-termtriscommit, and runs board/move/panels/quit in MAME with real key injection, the0x40000-bitprogregion and the required thresholds. The tree is test-only (GPLv3). - Differential goldens. The 1987 TI compiler's function-pointer and
image/struct-offset assembly is stored under
scripts/tests/m4/diff/; the check compares ABI shape without running DOSBox.
What M3 provides (branch m3)
M3 adds integer control flow and the first compiled C Xlib client, still assembly-only:
- Conditional and unconditional branches for
i32and pointer values:CMP/CMPIplusJAEQ/JANE, the signedJALT/JALE/JAGT/JAGE, the unsignedJALO/JALS/JAHI/JAHS, andJAUCfor an unconditional jump. Ordinarywhile/forloops (subject to the M3 limitations below), if/else and?:work;?:expands to a compare plus a two-block diamond (SELECTCC), andsetccbecomes that diamond over 1/0. - Integer ALU and shift operations:
SUB,AND,OR,XOR,NEG,NOT,SLL,SRL,SRA, plusADDI/ANDI/SLLK/SRAK/SRLKimmediates. - The first compiled C Xlib window:
XOpenDisplay,XCreateSimpleWindow(nine arguments in the ROM's order: display, root, x, y, width, height, border width, border, background),XMapWindowandXSync. All four go through validated ROM import stubs. - The ROM's
Display/Screenfield displacements are bit offsets0x480(Display.screens) and0x40(Screen.root), i.e. byte offsets0x90and0x8inscripts/m3/vt1200_xlib.h. - Misaligned accesses:
MOVE/MOVBand the FS0/FS1 field-size forms have no alignment requirement on the TMS34010, so packed and bit-addressed struct fields select directly instead of being split into byte-wide accesses. - Nine
m3-*.lllit tests on them3branch (46 with the M2 suite); M4 removes five obsolete M2 refusal tests (m2-reject-arg8,m2-reject-call-arg8,m2-reject-call-indirect,m2-reject-call-vararg,m2-reject-vararg) andm3-reject-zext.ll, and adds 18m4-*tests: 46 - 5 - 1 + 18 = 58 total with the M2 suite.
M3 remains an i32/pointer milestone. setcc is supported, but narrow
(i8/i16) parameters and returns are still rejected. Branches on i64,
floats, aggregates, varargs and indirect calls are not supported. The backend
still emits assembly only.
M3 limitations
- Narrow loads are sign-extending only.
MOVBhandles signedcharand the FS0MOVEhandles signedshort;unsigned char,unsigned shortand_Boolloads need a zero-extending pattern that M3 does not have. They stopllcwith a rawCannot select, whichm3-reject-zext.llpins. M4 adds the zero-extending loads; do not assume general narrow-load support in M3. -O2loop exit-value rewriting is not lowered. IndVarSimplify can turnsumto's loop into a closed-formi33multiply, which M3 cannot select. The M3 harness therefore buildsbranch.cwith-replexitval=never. Ordinarywhile/forloops that keep a real back-edge and phi work. M4 adds multiply/divide and moves the-replexitval=neverpolicy intoscripts/tms-clang; see "What M4 provides".
What M2 provides (branch m2)
M2 replaces the M1 test convention with the TI ABI and stops at assembly:
llc -march=tms34010 -filetype=asmfor straight-linei32/pointer functions with calls, frames and locals.- A caller saves
A14(STK) on the system stack, pushes arguments on the program stack in reverse order (each a 32-bit slot), emitsCALLA, then re-establishes both field sizes (SETF 16,0,0,SETF 32,0,1). - A callee starts with
SETF 16,0,0/SETF 32,0,1, saves the used A0–A7/A9–A12 registers and the old FP on the system stack, setsFP = STK, allocates the frame withADDI, and restores both stacks in the epilogue. The first explicit argument is atFP(-32), the second atFP(-64), and so on; locals live at positive FP offsets. void,i32and pointer returns, inA8;RETS 2when the function has explicit arguments,RETS 0otherwise.- Initialized globals, string/byte-array literals and pointer initializers in
.data; zero-initialized mutable globals stay in.bss. The loader copies.dataalong with.text. - ROM import stubs generated from
symbols/vt1200-v22.syms. M2 consumesstrlenonly:_strlen: jauc 3FB458D0h.CALLA _strlenpushes the return PC, the stub jumps to the ROM, and the ROM'sRETS 2returns directly to our caller. - Thirty-seven
llvm-lit/FileCheck tests underllvm/test/CodeGen/TMS34010/m2-*.ll, including negative tests that pin the loud refusals. The ABI/data coverage includesm2-returned,m2-returned-call,m2-call-noret,m2-data-align,m2-data-avail,m2-data-z64andm2-data-i1. - End-to-end MAME and dis34 gates, plus a differential check against assembly generated once by the 1987 TI compiler (see below).
The TI ABI
M1 test convention (branch m1) |
TI ABI (M2/M3/M4) | |
|---|---|---|
| Integer/pointer arguments | A0–A3, four maximum |
program stack via A14 (STK), pushed in reverse |
| Argument slots | registers | first at FP(-32), second at FP(-64), … |
| Return value | A0 |
A8 |
| Frame | none; leaf functions only | A13 FP, A14 STK, A15 system stack |
| Locals | none | positive FP offsets |
| Return instruction | RETS 0 |
RETS 2 with arguments, RETS 0 without |
| Calls, callee-saves, stack args | rejected | required |
| Field size | harness sets FS1/FS0 before entry | FS0 = 16 and FS1 = 32, set in the prologue and after every call |
The callee-saved set is A0–A7 and A9–A12; A8 is the return register
and A13–A15 are reserved. After n system-stack pushes the saved old STK
is at SP + (n+1)*32, and RETS N pops the return PC and advances SP by
32 + 16N. FS0 must be 16 and FS1 must be 32 at function entry and
immediately after every CALLA (SETF 16,0,0 then SETF 32,0,1), because
ROM code may change either field size. FS0 drives short loads/stores and FS1
drives 32-bit words.
Run the M4 gates
These are the documented commands on branch m4; all must pass. The MAME
gates are slow and are run once.
# 1. Build llc, opt, clang and the test tools
ninja -C build/llvm-clean-build llc opt clang llvm-config FileCheck count not
# 2. LLVM codegen tests: 58 passed (32 m2-* + 8 m3-* + 18 m4-*)
build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llvm-lit -v \
build/llvm-clean/llvm/test/CodeGen/TMS34010 --filter='(m2|m3|m4)-'
# 3. M4 image/event client in MAME (also runs layout.sh + validate-syms.sh)
scripts/tests/m4/run.sh
# -> m4 xshow: PASS (1-bit image + real q key + window focus + 0 X errors)
# 4. Linked .text decoded with dis34 (ROM stubs, CALL A?, SETF, RETS, checker)
scripts/tests/m4/dis-roundtrip.sh
# -> M4 dis34 round-trip: PASS
# 5. Layouts, the 30-entry symbol table, and the correction negative control
scripts/tests/m4/layout.sh
scripts/tests/m4/symbols.sh
# 6. The pinned termtris full-game integration
scripts/tests/m4/termtris.sh
# -> m4 termtris: PASS (board/move/panels/quit; .../termtris_*_3200.png)
# 7. Differential TI-compiler function-pointer/image ABI check (no DOSBox)
scripts/tests/m4/diff/check.sh
# -> M4 diff: PASS (goldens + negative controls)
# 8. The smaller M4 runtime gates
scripts/tests/m4/unsigned.sh
scripts/tests/m4/private.sh
scripts/tests/m4/mul.sh
scripts/tests/m4/fnptr.sh
scripts/tests/m4/varargs.sh
# 9. M2/M3 regressions and the GEP tool tests
scripts/tests/m3/run.sh
scripts/tests/m3/dis-roundtrip.sh
scripts/tests/m3/layout.sh
scripts/tests/m2/run.sh
scripts/tests/m2/dis-roundtrip.sh
scripts/tests/m2/diff/check.sh
tools/tms-bitaddr/tests/run.sh
# -> tms-bitaddr: PASS
scripts/tests/m4/run.sh first runs layout.sh and
scripts/m4/validate-syms.sh, then compiles scripts/m4/xshow.c and
scripts/m4/xgfix.c with scripts/tms-clang -O2, runs
llc -march=tms34010 -O0 -filetype=asm, generates the ROM import stubs,
concatenates scripts/m4/xshow-entry.asm, assembles/links with GSPA/GSPLNK
2.00 under DOSBox, loads the COFF in MAME, injects the real LK401 Q, and
requires the checker pixels, quit=1, keycode 193 / keysym 0x71,
xerrors=0, focus 0x400001 and the last event KeyPress. The 12-pixel
prefix is checked as the preceding checker cell in bands 0 and 1.
scripts/tests/m4/termtris.sh runs the pinned tree through
scripts/m4/termtris/build.sh and play_keys.sh; it enforces loops >= 100
for all four modes, events >= 6 for move/panels/quit (>= 2 for board),
quit = 1 only for quit, focus = the created termtris window,
status=0 (OK) and a non-empty screenshot each time. The vendored tree is
test-only (GPLv3).
scripts/tests/m4/diff/check.sh is the new CI golden check. It compiles our
function-pointer and image equivalents with scripts/tms-clang + llc and
compares ABI shape with scripts/tests/m4/diff/ti-fnptr.s and
ti-image.s: an indirect CALL A?, the old-STK save, argument/return/RETS 2, ten XCreateImage and ten XPutImage pushes (the plan's 10/9 is a typo;
XPutImage takes display, drawable, gc, image, src_x, src_y, dest_x, dest_y,
width, height), nine XCreateSimpleWindow pushes, the leading
constant/Display-last order, and the Display/Screen/XImage bit displacements.
It then mutates copies of the goldens (removing the indirect call and
reversing the XPutImage argument pushes) and requires the check to fail;
the stored goldens are not modified. The goldens were generated once with
GSP C Compiler 2.01 under DOSBox; CI never runs DOSBox.
Paths are overridable with TMS_CLANG, TMS_OPT, TMS_BITADDR, TMS_LLC,
MAME, DOSBOX, SDK_IMG, the per-gate work/COFF variables and M4_SYMS.
Run the M3 gates (branch m3)
These are the documented commands on branch m3; all must pass.
# 1. Build llc, opt, clang and the test tools
ninja -C build/llvm-clean-build llc opt clang llvm-config FileCheck count not
# 2. LLVM codegen tests: 46 passed (37 m2-* + 9 m3-*)
build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llvm-lit -v \
build/llvm-clean-build/test/CodeGen/TMS34010 --filter='(m2|m3)-'
# 3. Layout/symbols, then compile, assemble, link and run in MAME
scripts/tests/m3/run.sh
# -> layout.sh: PASS (Display.screens=0x480, Screen.root=0x40; ...)
# -> M3 MAME: PASS
# (display/root/window nonzero, sum=55 max=22 lt=1, screens=0x480 root=0x40)
# 4. Rebuild the COFF and check the GSPA encodings with dis34
scripts/tests/m3/dis-roundtrip.sh
# -> M3 dis34 round-trip: PASS
# 5. Differential TI-compiler control-flow/Xlib check (no DOSBox)
scripts/tests/m3/diff/check.sh
# -> M3 diff: PASS
# 6. Negative controls: the same check must reject a wrong TI displacement
scripts/tests/m3/diff/negative-control.sh
# -> M3 diff negative controls: PASS
# 7. GEP scaling/normalization tool tests
tools/tms-bitaddr/tests/run.sh
# -> tms-bitaddr: PASS
scripts/tests/m3/run.sh first runs scripts/tests/m3/layout.sh (the ROM's
0x480/0x40 bit displacements in both our asm and the 1987 golden) and
scripts/m3/validate-syms.sh (the four Xlib imports), then compiles
scripts/m3/branch.c, layout.c and xhello.c with scripts/tms-clang -O2,
runs llc -march=tms34010 -O0 -filetype=asm, generates the per-ROM import
stubs, concatenates the result with scripts/m3/entry.asm, assembles/links
with GSPA/GSPLNK 2.00 under DOSBox, and loads the COFF in MAME. branch.c is
built with opt -replexitval=never, because the default exit-value rewrite
turns sumto's loop into an i33 multiply that this target cannot select;
the loop itself is the point of the test.
The MAME run pins VT1200_MONITOR=VR319 (the real 2048-bit row pitch) and
checks the ABI markers — nonzero display/root/window ids, sumto(10) == 55,
max2(20, 22) == 22, lt(5, 7) == 1, layout_screens() == 0x480,
layout_root() == 0x40 — and, decisively, two all-white 32-bit client words in
VRAM at (150,150) and (250,200) inside the mapped window. A markers-only run or
a root-window bit is a failure. Paths are overridable with TMS_CLANG,
TMS_OPT, TMS_BITADDR, TMS_LLC, MAME, DOSBOX, SDK_IMG, M3_WORK,
M3_COFF and M3_SDK.
scripts/tests/m3/dis-roundtrip.sh rebuilds through the normal GSPA/GSPLNK
path and uses dis34 to check the linked Xlib stubs (JAUC to the ROM bit
addresses), the nine-argument XCreateSimpleWindow push order, the branch code
(CMP, JALT, JAGT, JAEQ, JAUC, LBB… labels), the old-STK restore
offsets, and the "0::0" .data bytes.
scripts/tests/m3/diff/check.sh is the CI golden check. It compares the ABI
shape of our assembly with stored output from the 1987 TI compiler for the same
K&R sources: a conditional branch and an unconditional loop back-edge in
sumto, a conditional branch in max2, the function's last RETS being
RETS 2, nine XCreateSimpleWindow argument pushes, and the 0x480/0x40
bit displacements. The displacements must appear in the load that uses them
(TI *A7(1152) and *A7(64),*FP(32),1; ours an ADDI 1152/ADDI 64 feeding
a load through the same register), with exact token boundaries, so an
unrelated local at *FP(64), the constant 0x400, or a prefix such as
0x4800 cannot satisfy them. scripts/tests/m3/diff/negative-control.sh
mutates the stored TI displacement to 512 (and to 0x4800) and requires
check.sh to fail. The check does not verify the result register or argument
order: the MAME gate checks the returned values and dis-roundtrip.sh checks
the push order. It does not compare instruction selection byte-for-byte. The
stored ti-branch.s and ti-xhello.s were generated once with
gspcpp/gspcc/gspcg (GSP C Compiler 2.01) under DOSBox; CI never runs
DOSBox, it greps the stored files. As in the MAME gate, branch.c must be
built with -replexitval=never; the default exit-value rewrite turns
sumto's loop into an unselectable i33 multiply.
Run the M2 gates (branch m2)
These are the M2 commands; they also pass on m3 (verified on branch m3 on
2026-11-11: M2 MAME: PASS, M2 dis34 round-trip: PASS, M2 diff: PASS). The
M1 harness and suite are on branch m1 and are not M2 gates: they encode
the retired M1 register convention.
# 1. Build llc, opt, clang and the test tools
ninja -C build/llvm-clean-build llc opt clang llvm-config FileCheck count not
# 2. LLVM codegen tests: 37 passed
build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llvm-lit -v \
build/llvm-clean-build/test/CodeGen/TMS34010 --filter='m2-'
# 3. Compile, assemble, link and run in MAME
scripts/tests/m2/run.sh
# -> M2 MAME: PASS
# (check=4 first=20 second=22 caller=42 locals=7 keep=16)
# 4. Rebuild the COFF and check the GSPA encodings with dis34
scripts/tests/m2/dis-roundtrip.sh
# -> M2 dis34 round-trip: PASS
# 5. Differential TI-compiler ABI check (no DOSBox)
scripts/tests/m2/diff/check.sh
# -> M2 diff: PASS
# 6. GEP scaling/normalization tool tests
tools/tms-bitaddr/tests/run.sh
# -> tms-bitaddr: PASS
scripts/tests/m2/run.sh compiles five C inputs with scripts/tms-clang -O2,
runs llc -march=tms34010 -O0 -filetype=asm on the normalized IR, generates
the per-ROM import stubs, concatenates the result with scripts/m2/entry.asm,
assembles/links with GSPA/GSPLNK 2.00 under DOSBox, then loads the COFF in
MAME. It checks strlen("0::0") == 4, two-argument order, a direct call, a
local frame, and callee-saved preservation. Paths are overridable with
TMS_CLANG, TMS_OPT, TMS_BITADDR, TMS_LLC, MAME, DOSBOX, SDK_IMG,
M2_WORK, M2_COFF and M2_SDK.
dis-roundtrip.sh runs the same build and disassembles the linked .text with
the VT1200 tree's dis34, checking the TI-ABI instructions at their linked bit
addresses, the old-STK restore offset against the push count, and the copied
.data bytes.
scripts/tests/m2/diff/check.sh is the CI golden check. It compares the ABI
shape of our assembly with stored output from the 1987 TI compiler for the same
K&R sources: first argument at FP(-32), second at FP(-64), result in A8,
RETS 2 for add2, a nonzero frame and RETS 0 for locals. It does not
compare instruction selection byte-for-byte. The stored ti-add2.s and
ti-locals.s were generated once with gspcpp/gspcc/gspcg (GSP C Compiler
2.01) under DOSBox; CI never runs DOSBox, it greps the stored files.
.data, strings and the loader
GSPA 2.00 has no ELF sections. M2 emits raw .data text, never .rodata,
.asciz, .p2align or .section:
i8scalar or byte/string array:.bytewith GSPA hex (068h)i16scalar:.wordi32scalar:.long- pointer:
.long _symbol+<bit addend>(the addend is already in bits) .evenbefore a.dataglobal whose alignment is at least 16 bits, so the label and the following.word/.longagree.
A scalar's directive must match its width, otherwise the next global's offset
is wrong. GSPA's .even aligns to a 16-bit boundary only, so an explicit
align 4/align 8 on a .data object is not honored in M2: the target's
standalone object alignment is 2 bytes. Private/local symbol names are
sanitized to GSPA-safe names (_HH for non-alphanumerics). Unsupported
initializer shapes — including arrays whose element width has no GSPA
directive (i1, i64) — fail with
M2 .data supports only integer, pointer and byte-array initializers.
Zero-initialized mutable globals remain .bss and are zeroed by the loader.
ROM imports
ROM entry points are per-ROM-revision bit addresses, kept out of the compiler
in symbols/vt1200-v22.syms. scripts/m2/gen-rom-imports.sh turns each entry
into an absolute-jump stub:
.globl _strlen
_strlen:
jauc 3FB458D0h
JAUC is the TMS34010 unconditional absolute jump; GSPA 2.00 rejects bare
ja. M2 uses only strlen. M3 adds the four Xlib entries
(XOpenDisplay, XCreateSimpleWindow, XMapWindow, XSync) and validates
their stubs in scripts/m3/validate-syms.sh and in MAME; symbols/README.md
records the evidence. Do not add other Xlib dependencies until they are
validated.
M2 non-goals
M2 deliberately rejects or omits:
- Branches/control flow: conditional and unconditional branches, loops, and spill/fixup paths that need them. A branch that reaches ISel fails loudly; M3 owns control flow.
- Floating point: float/double arguments, returns and arithmetic (M5).
- Aggregates: structs/unions by value,
sret,byval, bitfields (M4/M5). - Varargs:
...functions and calls (M5). - Function pointers and indirect calls (M4).
- Tail calls: ordinary
tailmarkers are demoted to ordinary calls;musttailis not implemented (M2 C does not emit it). Real tail calls remain a later milestone. - Narrow ABI types:
i8/i16parameters,i64, and narrow returns remain rejected. Narrow accesses inside a function are sign-extending only:MOVBfor signedcharand FS0MOVEfor signedshort; zero-extendingunsigned char/unsigned short/_Boolloads are M4 work. - Object output: no
MCCodeEmitter, object writer,llc -filetype=obj,clang -cor native COFF. GSPA assembles and GSPLNK links the asm. - Xlib and clients: no X11 headers, Xlib calls or real VT1200 clients in
M2; only the
strlenROM call.
The optimizer's returned argument attribute is accepted because it does not
affect the stack-slot ABI; sret/byval/inreg/nest remain rejected.
M3 non-goals
M3 deliberately stops at the first window and ordinary integer control flow:
- XImage/XEvent and the real client: no image transfer, event handling, full X11R4 headers or real VT1200 client (M4). M3 uses exactly the four Xlib calls above and no other Xlib entry.
- Aggregates by value: structs/unions passed or returned by value,
sret,byval, bitfields (M4/M5). Struct fields through pointers are supported. - Function pointers and indirect calls: the callee must be a direct global symbol (M4).
- Floating point and
i64: no float/double or 64-bit integer arguments, returns, arithmetic or branches (M5). - Object output: still no
MCCodeEmitter, object writer,llc -filetype=obj,clang -cor native COFF; GSPA/GSPLNK produce the COFF. TheJR/branch-relaxation code-size pass is M5 as well. - Varargs,
musttail, narrow ABI parameters/returns: unchanged from M2.
M3 carry-forwards in M4
M4 closes three of the five final-M3 prerequisites: zero-extending loads
replaced the reject test, private labels are module-unique, and unsigned/<=
runtime coverage exists. The new M4 harness and
scripts/tests/m4/dis-roundtrip.sh are operand/register-independent, and
layout.sh was tightened. The M3 regression is deliberately unchanged:
m3-cmpi.ll still uses CHECK-DAG: MOVI 0/MOVI 1 (the 1/0 order is not
pinned), and scripts/m3/dis-roundtrip.sh still hardcodes the nine
XCreateSimpleWindow push registers. Those M3-strength fixes remain
test-hardening follow-ups; the M3 gates pass as-is. See the M4 feature list
above.
M4 non-goals and the M5 boundary
M4 deliberately stops before:
- Native object output: no
MCCodeEmitter, object writer,llc -filetype=obj,clang -cor native COFF; GSPA/GSPLNK still produce the COFF. TheJR/branch-relaxation code-size pass and MMTM/MMFM register-list saves are M5 (the current per-register system-stack pushes have the identical ABI layout). - Floating point and
long long: no float/double ori64arguments, returns, arithmetic or branches. - General varargs: no
va_list,va_startorva_arg; only the contiguous&last_fixedpattern used by termtrissprintf. - Bitfields and aggregates by value: no structs/unions by value,
sret,byval, bitfields or aggregate returns. Struct fields through pointers are supported. - Narrow returns:
i8/i16returns remain rejected; fixed i8/i16 arguments are supported. - Xlib beyond the tested calls: the client uses the validated image,
event, GC, window and error-handler entries; it does not implement the whole
Xlib surface,
XGetImage, orXDestroyImageon a non-heap image. - Deeper libc/runtime coverage: M5 owns the broader
RTS.LIBintegration.
The pinned termtris tree is test-only (GPLv3) and is not part of the compiler or project distribution.
Repository layout
build/llvm-clean/ compiler fork checkout used for M2/M3/M4 (ignored)
build/llvm-clean-build/ its Ninja build tree (ignored)
build/llvm-src/ M0 working fork (ignored)
patches/llvm/ frozen M0 patch series against llvmorg-23.1.5
tools/tms-bitaddr/ GEP scale/normalize tool
scripts/tms-clang IR pipeline wrapper (clang + tms-bitaddr + opt)
scripts/m2/ M2 harness: C inputs, entry.asm, link.cmd, stubs, checks
scripts/m3/ M3 harness: branch/xhello/layout inputs, Xlib header, entry/link
scripts/m4/ M4 harness: unsigned/private/mul/fnptr/varargs, XImage client,
XG fix, termtris build, symbols validator
scripts/tests/m2/ M2 gates (run.sh, dis-roundtrip.sh)
scripts/tests/m2/diff/ TI golden asm and the differential ABI check
scripts/tests/m3/ M3 gates (run.sh, dis-roundtrip.sh, layout.sh)
scripts/tests/m3/diff/ TI branch/Xlib goldens, differential check + negative controls
scripts/tests/m4/ M4 gates (run/dis-roundtrip/layout/symbols/termtris and the
unsigned/private/mul/fnptr/varargs gates)
scripts/tests/m4/diff/ TI function-pointer/image goldens + the differential check
scripts/m1/ M1 harness (historical; also on branch `m1`, not an M2 gate)
scripts/tests/m1/ M1 gates (historical; also on branch `m1`, not an M2 gate)
scripts/tests/m0/ M0 integration tests
scripts/build-llvm.sh fork or upstream+patches build
scripts/fetch-vt1200.sh fetch the VT1200 RE tree at its pinned commit
spike/ measurement corpus and reports
symbols/ per-ROM import tables (v2.2 subset)
vendor/ fetched assets and LLVM sources (ignored)
docs/ design and plans
Prerequisites
cmake, ninja-build, ccache, a C++17 host compiler (GCC 14 is used here),
Python 3, and about 20 GB of disk for the LLVM source and build. The M2/M3/M4
MAME and dis34 gates additionally need dosbox, mtools (mcopy), the
VT1200 SDK image, the dwt COFF loader, dis34, and a built MAME vt1200
binary (build/mame-src/vt1200). The termtris gate also needs the pinned
vendor/vt1200-termtris tree (test-only). The differential golden check needs
no DOSBox/MAME/SDK; it needs only the built clang, opt, llc and
tools/tms-bitaddr/tms-bitaddr. On Debian:
sudo apt-get install -y cmake ninja-build ccache dosbox mtools
Fetch the VT1200 assets
The compiler contract is checked against the VT1200 tree (TI hello.s, the
Xlib call sequence, as34, dis34, SDKs, manuals). It is not vendored:
./scripts/fetch-vt1200.sh # -> vendor/vt1200, pinned 17dfd24...
Build the compiler
Compiler fork (M4, the normal path)
The fork checkout already exists at build/llvm-clean on m4. Build it in
place:
LLVM_SRC=$PWD/build/llvm-clean LLVM_BRANCH=m4 ./scripts/build-llvm.sh
# binaries: build/llvm-clean-build/bin/{llc,clang,opt,llvm-config,FileCheck}
# lit driver: build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llvm-lit
To clone the fork first instead of using an existing checkout:
LLVM_REPO=gitea@git.wut.ee:opencode.siil.arti.ee/llvm-tms34010.git \
LLVM_BRANCH=m4 ./scripts/build-llvm.sh
Fork mode never checks out, resets, cleans or patches the source tree; it
only runs CMake and Ninja. Local commits on the branch are safe. Use
LLVM_BUILD=... to keep a separate build directory. It builds llc, clang,
opt, llvm-config, FileCheck and the test helpers with X86 (host) and
TMS34010; a first build takes roughly 20–40 minutes.
Upstream + patches (frozen M0 path)
./scripts/build-llvm.sh
This mode clones llvmorg-23.1.5, applies patches/llvm/*.patch, and builds
build/llvm-clean-build. It owns and resets only a plain llvm-project clone:
if build/llvm-clean has some other origin (for example the M2/M3/M4 fork),
it refuses rather than destroying it. Use fork mode for that checkout.
scripts/export-patches.sh regenerates the committed M0 patch series with
git diff (including new files via git add -N); it is not used for
M1/M2/M3/M4.
Build the M0 support tools
The M2/M3/M4 pipeline uses tms-bitaddr and tms-clang:
LLVM_CONFIG=$PWD/build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llvm-config \
tools/tms-bitaddr/build.sh
M0 regression test (optional in M2/M3/M4):
TMS_CLANG=$PWD/build/llvm-clean-build/bin/clang \
TMS_OPT=$PWD/build/llvm-clean-build/bin/opt \
TMS_BITADDR=$PWD/tools/tms-bitaddr/tms-bitaddr \
./scripts/tests/m0/run.sh
# -> M0 pipeline: PASS
Emit assembly by hand
TMS_CLANG=$PWD/build/llvm-clean-build/bin/clang \
TMS_OPT=$PWD/build/llvm-clean-build/bin/opt \
TMS_BITADDR=$PWD/tools/tms-bitaddr/tms-bitaddr \
scripts/tms-clang -O2 -o /tmp/add2.ll scripts/tests/m2/diff/ti-add2.c
build/llvm-clean-build/bin/llc -march=tms34010 -O0 -filetype=asm \
/tmp/add2.ll -o /tmp/add2.s
The resulting function loads its arguments at FP(-32) and FP(-64), returns
in A8, and ends in RETS 2. Always produce the IR with scripts/tms-clang
(or run tms-bitaddr --scale) before llc: raw clang IR carries byte GEP
offsets, but llc treats every surviving GEP offset as a bit offset, so
addresses would be 8× too small. Run llc -O0 on the normalized IR that
tms-clang already optimized and scaled. tms-bitaddr --normalize consumes
that scaled IR and rejects a typed (non-i8) or vector GEP instead of emitting
its byte offset as bits. The lit tests use
llc -march=tms34010 -O2 -filetype=asm on hand-written IR to exercise the
selector pipeline directly. Output is assembly only: llc cannot emit an
object file or a usable COFF for this target.
Later milestones
M5 adds the native COFF path (MCCodeEmitter/object writer), floats,
long long, general varargs (va_list), bitfields, structs by value and the
JR/branch-relaxation code-size pass, plus MMTM/MMFM register-list saves and
deeper libc/runtime coverage. 2ine r5.01 is a later speed-up for the
GSPA/GSPLNK step.