[ECOS] Release testing.

[Patrick O'Grady]

Hi, All--

I've got a new version of the i386/PC HAL which I'd like to post...  it
has drivers for the serial ports (special thanks to the ARM AEB which also
uses 16550s), has a bug in calling DSRs fixed, includes break character
support for GDB so you can stop your program by pressing ^C, configures
the A20 line properly, supports software reset, and has a much cleaner
installation.  But before posting, I've got two questions:

- The 16550As have 16-character FIFOs, but the serial_DSR function I
borrowed from the AEB HAL only supports transmitting and receiving one
character at a time.  Is there a more efficient way of sending more than
one character than putting a loop around the (chan->callbacks->xmt_char)
and (chan->callbacks->rcv_char) in the serial port DSR function?  Fewer
function calls==better performance, and probably isn't that hard to do.

- Release testing--there are a bunch of test programs which come with the
OS, each of which individually tests a particular facility.  I can run
these individually and show that the parts of the system are working...
which is fine the first time, but becomes really cumbersome if I want to
post an update.  Is there a wide-coverage soak test which I can run to
verify that my update hasn't really broken anything?  The tm_basic test
code seems to be the most thorough so far... is there anything better?
It's always a drag posting something that you *know* needs more testing...

Let me know what you think.  Cheers...
-patrick