From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
From: wkt@tuhs.org (Warren Toomey)
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:21:20 +1000
Subject: [Unix-jun72] Disassembler in progress
Message-ID: <20080430102120.GA84492@minnie.tuhs.org>

Guys, I'm writing a PDP-11 a.out disassember. I think it will be useful for
a couple of reasons:

 - we will be able to convert the extant 1972 binaries back into some form
   of source code. It won't be as good as the real thing, but it will be
   better than the binary.
 - we have some source code in fragmentary form on the s1 tape, see
   http://minnie.tuhs.org/UnixTree/1972_stuff/. Some of the fragments
   are identifiable, some are not. We might be able to use the
   diassembled binaries to identify some of the fragments, and even
   reconstruct a hybrid original/diassembled version of the source
   for some of the 1972 applications.

Right now, here's what I've got: disassembly of the top of 1972 ls:

    sys        break: 00
    mov        $01,044260
    mov        sp,r5
    mov        (r5)+,043732
    tst        (r5)+
    dec        043732
    mov        043732,043734
    bgt        040056
    mov        $042542,r5
    mov        (r5)+,r4
    cmpb        (r4)+,$055
    bne        040174
    dec        043734

and the top of the frag19 file:

        sys     break; end+512.
        mov     $1,obuf
        mov     sp,r5
        mov     (r5)+,count
        tst     (r5)+
        dec     count
        mov     count,ocount
        bgt     loop
        mov     $dotp,r5
loop:
        mov     (r5)+,r4
        cmpb    (r4)+,$'-
        bne     1f
        dec     ocount

At the moment it's a 1-pass disassembler. I want to make it 2-pass: on the
first pass I will try to identify labels for branches, functions, strings and
variable locations (and given them arbitrary names); on the second pass
I'll print out the instructions with reference to the labels.
None of the binaries have symbol tables, unfortunately.

It's a start, anyway.
	Warren