.TH em87 "" "" "Kernel Module"
.PC "Perform/emulate hardware floating-point operations"
.PP
.II "hardware floating point"
.II "floating point^hardware, module"
The kernel module
.B em87
performs or emulates hardware floating-point operations.
Whether it performs the operations or emulates them depends whether your
computer contains a mathematics co-processor.
Note that the Intel 80486-DX processor has the co-processor built in.
.PP
.B em87
is called a
.I "kernel module"
because you can link it into the kernel or exclude it from the kernel,
just like a device driver.
However, it is not a true device driver because it does not perform
I/O from a peripheral device.
To install
.B em87
into a kernel (should your kernel not already contain it),
log in as the superuser
.B root
and execute the following commands:
.DM
	cd /etc/conf
	em87/mkdev
	bin/idmkcoh -o /\fIkernel_name\fP
.DE
.PP
where
.I kernel_name
is the name of the new kernel to build.
When you next boot \*(CO, hardware floating point will be enabled.
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "device drivers," device_dr
.Xr "float," float
.Xr "kernel" kernel
