debian man page for npx

NPX(4)							 BSD/i386 Kernel Interfaces Manual						    NPX(4)

NAME
     npx -- Numeric Processing Extension coprocessor

SYNOPSIS
     device npx
     hint.npx.0.at="nexus"
     hint.npx.0.port="0x0F0"
     hint.npx.0.flags="0x0"
     hint.npx.0.irq="13"

DESCRIPTION
     The npx driver enables the use of the system's Numeric Processing Extension coprocessor.  Numeric processing extensions are present in sys-
     tems with 486DX CPUs and in systems with 387 or 487SX coprocessors.  The npx driver is required for proper system functioning.  If there is
     no NPX in the system, the system will not boot.

     The flags for npx0 are:

     0x01    do not use the NPX registers to optimize bcopy.
     0x02    do not use the NPX registers to optimize bzero.
     0x04    do not use the NPX registers to optimize copyin or copyout.

     The NPX registers are normally used to optimize copying and zeroing when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

     1.   cpu I586_CPU is an option
     2.   the CPU is an i586 (perhaps not a Pentium)
     3.   the probe for npx0 succeeds
     4.   INT 16 exception handling works.

     Then copying and zeroing using the NPX registers is normally 30-100% faster.

     The flags can be used to control cases where it does not work or is slower.  Setting them at boot time using userconfig works correctly (the
     optimizations are not used until later in the bootstrap when npx0 is attached).

BUGS
     There are lots of them, especially on old cheap motherboards.  In particular, some motherboards do not have the interrupt lines from the NPX
     to the CPU wired properly.

BSD
								  August 28, 1993							       BSD