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<b>Gavare's eXperimental Emulator:</b></font><br> |
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<b>GXemul documentation: Introduction</b></font></td></tr> |
<font color="#000000" size="6"><b>Introduction</b> |
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$Id: intro.html,v 1.30 2005/04/07 15:43:15 debug Exp $ |
$Id: intro.html,v 1.73 2006/02/18 14:02:19 debug Exp $ |
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Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Anders Gavare. All rights reserved. |
Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Anders Gavare. All rights reserved. |
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Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without |
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without |
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modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: |
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: |
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<h2>Introduction</h2> |
<h2>Introduction</h2> |
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<p> |
<p> |
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<table border="0" width="99%"><tr><td valign="top" align="left"> |
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<ul> |
<ul> |
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<li><a href="#overview">Overview</a> |
<li><a href="#overview">Overview</a> |
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<li><a href="#free">Is GXemul free software?</a> |
<li><a href="#free">Is GXemul Free software?</a> |
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<li><a href="#build">How to compile/build the emulator</a> |
<li><a href="#build">How to compile/build the emulator</a> |
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<li><a href="#cpus">Which CPU types does GXemul emulate?</a> |
<li><a href="#run">How to run the emulator</a> |
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<li><a href="#cpus">Which processor architectures does GXemul emulate?</a> |
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<li><a href="#accuracy">Emulation accuracy</a> |
<li><a href="#accuracy">Emulation accuracy</a> |
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<li><a href="#emulmodes">Which machines does GXemul emulate?</a> |
<li><a href="#emulmodes">Which machines does GXemul emulate?</a> |
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<li><a href="#guestos">Which guest OSes are possible to run?</a> |
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</ul> |
</ul> |
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</td><td valign="center" align="center"> |
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<a href="20050317-example.png"><img src="20050317-example_small.png"></a> |
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<p>NetBSD/pmax 1.6.2 with X11<br>running in GXemul</td></tr></table> |
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<a name="overview"></a> |
<a name="overview"></a> |
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<h3>Overview:</h3> |
<h3>Overview:</h3> |
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GXemul is a machine emulator, which can be used to experiment with |
GXemul is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several |
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binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines. Several emulation |
emulation modes are available. In some modes, processors and surrounding |
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modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors and surrounding |
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hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating |
hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating |
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systems run as if they were running on a real machine. |
systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine. |
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<p> |
<p>The processor architecture best emulated by GXemul is MIPS, but other |
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It is important to keep in mind that devices and CPUs are not really |
architectures such as ARM and PowerPC are also partially emulated. |
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emulated correctly, they are only "faked" well enough to make eg. NetBSD |
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run. Still, the emulator could be of interest for academic research and |
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experiments, such as when learning how to write an OS for a real machine, |
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or profiling SMP, memory, or system call usage. |
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<p> |
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The emulator is written in C, does not depend on external libraries (except |
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X11, but that is optional), and should compile and run on most Unix-like |
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systems. If it doesn't, then that is a bug. |
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<p> |
<p>Devices and CPUs are not simulated with 100% accuracy. They are only |
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The emulator contains code which tries to emulate the workings of CPUs and |
``faked'' well enough to allow guest operating systems run without |
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surrounding hardware found in real machines, but it does not contain any |
complaining too much. Still, the emulator could be of interest for |
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ROM code. You will need some form of program (in binary form) to run in |
academic research and experiments, such as when learning how to write |
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the emulator. For many emulation modes, PROM calls are handled by the |
operating system code. |
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<p>The emulator is written in C, does not depend on third-party libraries, |
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and should compile and run on most 64-bit and 32-bit Unix-like systems. |
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<p>The emulator contains code which tries to emulate the workings of CPUs |
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and surrounding hardware found in real machines, but it does not contain |
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any ROM code. You will need some form of program (in binary form) to run |
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in the emulator. For many emulation modes, PROM calls are handled by the |
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emulator itself, so you do not need to use any ROM image at all. |
emulator itself, so you do not need to use any ROM image at all. |
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<p> |
<p>You can use pre-compiled kernels (for example NetBSD kernels, or |
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You can use pre-compiled kernels (for example NetBSD kernels, or Linux), |
Linux), or other programs that are in binary format, and in some cases |
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or other programs that are in binary format, and in some cases even actual |
even actual ROM images. A couple of different file formats are supported |
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ROM images. A couple of different file formats are supported (ELF, a.out, |
(ELF, a.out, ECOFF, SREC, and raw binaries). |
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ECOFF, SREC, raw binaries). |
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<p>If you do not have a kernel as a separate file, but you have a bootable |
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disk image, then it is sometimes possible to boot directly from that |
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image. (This works for example with DECstation emulation, or when booting |
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from ISO9660 CDROM images.) |
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<p> |
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(You do not need any MIPS compiler toolchain to build or use GXemul. |
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If you need to compile MIPS binaries from sources, then of course you need |
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such a toolchain, but that is completely separate from GXemul. There |
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is a <a href="technical.html#regtest">regression testing</a> framework, |
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which requires that a GNU CC for mips64-unknown-elf or similar is available. |
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For simply building and using the emulator, it is not required.) |
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<p><br> |
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<a name="free"></a> |
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<h3>Is GXemul free software?</h3> |
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Yes. I have released GXemul under a free license. |
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(For a definitions of the four freedoms associated with free software, |
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please read <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html"> |
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http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html</a>.) |
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<p> |
<p><br> |
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The code I have written is released under a 3-clause BSD-style license |
<a name="free"></a> |
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(or "revised BSD-style" if one wants to use |
<h3>Is GXemul Free software?</h3> |
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<a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/bsd.html">GNU jargon</a>.) |
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Apart from the code I have written, some files are copied from other sources |
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such as NetBSD, for example header files containing symbolic names of |
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bitfields in device registers. They are also covered by similar licenses, |
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but with some additional clauses. If you plan to redistribute GXemul |
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(for example as a binary package), or reuse code from GXemul, |
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then you should check those files for their license terms. |
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<p> |
Yes. I have released GXemul under a Free license. The code in GXemul is |
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(The licenses usually require that the original Copyright and license |
Copyrighted software, it is <i>not</i> public domain. (If this is |
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terms are included when you make a copy or modification. The "easiest way |
confusing to you, you might want to read up on the definitions of the |
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out" if you plan to redistribute code from GXemul is to simply supply |
four freedoms associated with Free software, <a |
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the source code. You should however check individual files for details.) |
href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html</a>.) |
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<p>The code I have written is released under a 3-clause BSD-style license |
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(or "revised BSD-style" if one wants to use <a |
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href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/bsd.html">GNU jargon</a>). Apart from |
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the code I have written, some files are copied from other sources such as |
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NetBSD, for example header files containing symbolic names of bitfields in |
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device registers. They are also covered by similar licenses, but with some |
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additional clauses. The main point, however, is that the licenses require |
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that the original Copyright and license terms are included when you make a |
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copy or modification. |
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<p>If you plan to redistribute GXemul <i>without</i> supplying the source |
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code, then you need to comply with each individual source file some other |
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way, for example by writing additional documentation containing copyright |
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notes. I have not done this, since I do not plan on making distributions |
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without source code. You need to check all individual files for details. |
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The "easiest way out" if you plan to redistribute code from GXemul is, of |
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course, to let it remain open source and simply supply the source code. |
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<p>In case you want to reuse parts of GXemul, but you need to do that |
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under a different license (e.g. the GPL), then contact me and I might |
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re-license/dual-license files on a case-by-case basis. |
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$ <b>make</b> |
$ <b>make</b> |
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</pre> |
</pre> |
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<p> |
<p>This should work on most Unix-like systems. GXemul does not require any |
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This should work on most Unix-like systems. If it doesn't, then please |
specific libraries to build, however, if you build on a system which does |
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mail me a bug report. |
not have X11 libraries installed, some functionality will be lost. |
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<p> |
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(Note for Windows users: there is a possibility that some releases |
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and/or snapshots will also work with Cygwin, but I can't promise that.) |
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<p> |
<p>The emulator's performance is highly dependent on both runtime settings |
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The emulator's performance is highly dependent on both runtime settings |
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and on compiler settings, so you might want to experiment with different |
and on compiler settings, so you might want to experiment with different |
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CC and CFLAGS environment variable values. For example, on a modern PC, |
CC and CFLAGS environment variable values. For example, on an AMD Athlon |
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you could try the following: |
host, you might want to try setting <tt>CFLAGS</tt> to <tt>-march=athlon |
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<p> |
-O3</tt> before running <tt>configure</tt>. |
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$ <b>CFLAGS="-mcpu=pentium4 -O3" ./configure</b> |
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$ <b>make</b> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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Run <b>./configure --help</b> to get a list of configure options. (The |
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possible options differ between different releases and snapshots.) |
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<p> |
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Once you have built GXemul, running it should be rather straight-forward. |
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To exit the emulator, type CTRL-C to enter the |
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single-step debugger, and then type <b>quit</b>. By typing CTRL-B instead, |
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a CTRL-C is sent to the emulated program. |
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<p><br> |
<p><br> |
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<a name="cpus"></a> |
<a name="run"></a> |
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<h3>Which CPU types does GXemul emulate?</h3> |
<h3>How to run the emulator:</h3> |
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<h4>MIPS:</h4> |
Once you have built GXemul, running it should be rather straight-forward. |
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Running <tt><b>gxemul</b></tt> without arguments (or with the |
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<b><tt>-h</tt></b> or <b><tt>-H</tt></b> command line options) will |
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display a help message. |
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<p> |
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To get some ideas about what is possible to run in the emulator, please |
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read the section about <a href="guestoses.html">installing "guest" |
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operating systems</a>. If you are interested in using the emulator to |
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develop code on your own, then you should also read the section about |
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<a href="experiments.html#hello">Hello World</a>. |
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Emulation of R4000, which is a 64-bit CPU, was my initial goal. Right |
<p> |
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now, R2000/R3000-like CPUs are also emulated (32-bit), and emulation of |
To exit the emulator, type CTRL-C to enter the |
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R1x000 (at least the parts that are similar to R4000) is beginning to work |
single-step debugger, and then type <tt><b>quit</b></tt>. |
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as expected. Code targeted for MIPS32 and MIPS64 also often work. |
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<p> |
<p> |
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I have written an experimental dynamic binary translation subsystem. |
If you are starting an emulation by entering settings directly on the |
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This gives higher total performance than interpreting one instruction at a |
command line, and you are not using the <tt><b>-x</b></tt> option, then all |
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time and executing it. (If you wish to enable bintrans, add <b>-b</b> to |
terminal input and output will go to the main controlling terminal. |
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the command line, but keep in mind that it is still experimental.) |
CTRL-C is used to break into the debugger, so in order to send CTRL-C to |
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the running (emulated) program, you may use CTRL-B. |
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(This should be a reasonable compromise to allow the emulator to be usable |
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even on systems without X Windows.) |
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<p> |
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There is no way to send an actual CTRL-B to the emulated program, when |
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typing in the main controlling terminal window. The solution is to either |
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use <a href="configfiles.html">configuration files</a>, or use |
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<tt><b>-x</b></tt>. Both these solutions cause new xterms to be opened for |
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each emulated serial port that is written to. CTRL-B and CTRL-C both have |
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their original meaning in those xterm windows. |
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<h4>URISC:</h4> |
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I have implemented an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URISC">URISC</a> |
<p><br> |
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emulation mode, just for fun. The only instruction available in an URISC |
<a name="cpus"></a> |
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machine is "reverse subtract and skip on borrow". (It is probably not |
<h3>Which processor architectures does GXemul emulate?</h3> |
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worth trying to do bintrans with URISC, because any reasonable URISC |
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program relies on self-modifying code, which is bad for bintrans |
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performance.) |
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<h4>MIPS:</h4> |
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Emulation of R4000, which is a 64-bit CPU, was my initial goal. |
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R2000/R3000-like CPUs (32-bit), R1x000, and generic MIPS32/MIPS64-style |
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CPUs are also emulated, and are hopefully almost as stable as the R4000 |
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emulation. Several guest operating systems for MIPS can run inside |
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the emulator. |
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<p>(For MIPS emulation, I have written an experimental dynamic binary |
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translation subsystem, for Alpha and i386 hosts. This gives higher total |
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performance than interpreting one instruction at a time and executing it. |
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If you wish to disable bintrans, add <b>-B</b> to the command line.) |
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<h4>ARM:</h4> |
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ARM emulation is good enough to run NetBSD/cats, OpenBSD/cats, and |
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NetBSD/evbarm, but it is not as tested or fine-tuned as the MIPS emulation |
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mode. |
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<h4>PowerPC:</h4> |
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<h4>Other CPU types:</h4> |
PowerPC emulation is still in its beginning stages, but good enough |
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to run NetBSD/prep 2.1. |
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There is some code for 64-bit (and 32-bit) POWER/PowerPC emulation too, |
<p>Non-MIPS emulation modes use dynamic translation, but not recompilation |
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but it only works for "Hello World" and similarly trivial programs. (There |
into native code. This makes it possible to run on any host platform. |
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are some other CPU modes too, but they are working even less.) |
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<a name="accuracy"></a> |
<a name="accuracy"></a> |
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<h3>Emulation accuracy:</h3> |
<h3>Emulation accuracy:</h3> |
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GXemul is an instruction-level simulator; things that would happen in |
GXemul is an instruction-level emulator; things that would happen in |
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several steps within a real CPU are not taken into account (eg. pipe-line |
several steps within a real CPU are not taken into account (eg. pipe-line |
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stages or out-of-order execution). Still, instruction-level accuracy seems |
stalls or out-of-order execution). Still, instruction-level accuracy seems |
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to be enough to be able to run complete guest operating systems inside the |
to be enough to be able to run complete guest operating systems inside the |
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emulator. |
emulator. |
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<p>Caches are by default not emulated. In some cases, the existance of |
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caches is "faked" to let operating systems think that they are there. |
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(There is some old code for R2000/R3000 caches, but it has probably |
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suffered from bitrot by now.) |
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<p>The emulator is <i>not</i> timing-accurate. It can be run in a |
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"deterministic" mode, <tt><b>-D</b></tt>. The meaning of deterministic is |
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simply that running two emulations with the same settings will result in |
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identical runs. Obviously, this requires that no user interaction is |
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taking place, and that clock speeds are fixed with the <tt><b>-I</b></tt> |
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option. (Deterministic in this case does <i>not</i> mean that the |
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emulation will be identical to some actual real-world machine.) |
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<p><font color="#ff0000">(Oops/TODO: User interaction means <i>both</i> |
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input to the emulated program/OS, and interacting with the emulator |
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itself. Breaking into the debugger and then continuing execution may |
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affect when/how interrupts occur.)</font> |
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<a name="emulmodes"></a> |
<a name="emulmodes"></a> |
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<h3>Which machines does GXemul emulate?</h3> |
<h3>Which machines does GXemul emulate?</h3> |
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A few different machine types are emulated. The machine types that are |
A few different machine types are emulated. The following machine types |
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emulated best at the moment are: |
are emulated well enough to run at least one "guest OS": |
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<p> |
<p> |
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<ul> |
<ul> |
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<li><b>DECstation 5000/200</b> ("pmax") |
<li><b><u>MIPS</u></b> |
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<br>(Serial controller (including keyboard and mouse), ethernet, |
<ul> |
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SCSI, and graphical framebuffers.) |
<li><b>DECstation 5000/200</b> ("3max") |
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<li><b>Acer Pica-61</b> (an ARC machine) |
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<li><b>NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, and 880</b> (HPCmips machines) |
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<li><b>Cobalt</b> |
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<li><b>Malta</b> (evbmips) |
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<li><b>SGI O2 ("IP32")</b> <font color="#0000e0">(<super>*</super>)</font> |
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</ul> |
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<p> |
<p> |
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<li><b>Acer Pica-61</b> (an ARC machine) |
<li><b><u>ARM</u></b> |
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<br>(Serial controller, "VGA" text console, and SCSI.) |
<ul> |
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<li><b>CATS</b> |
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<li><b>IQ80321</b> (evbarm) |
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</ul> |
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<p> |
<p> |
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<li><b>NEC MobilePro 770, 780, 800, and 880</b> (HPCmips machines) |
<li><b><u>PowerPC</u></b> |
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<br>(Framebuffer, keyboard, and a PCMCIA IDE controller.) |
<ul> |
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<li><b>PReP (PowerPC Reference Platform)</b> |
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</ul> |
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</ul> |
</ul> |
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<p> |
<p><small><font color="#0000e0">(<super>*</super>)</font> = |
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There is code in GXemul for emulation of many other machine types; |
Enough for root-on-nfs, but not for disk boot.)</small> |
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the degree to which these work range from "almost" being able to run |
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a complete OS, to almost completely unsupported (perhaps just enough |
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support to output a few boot messages via serial console). |
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<p> |
<p>There is code in GXemul for emulation of many other machine types; the |
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In addition to specific machine types, a "test-machine" can be emulated. |
degree to which these work range from almost being able to run a complete |
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A test-machine consists of one or more CPUs and a few experimental |
OS, to almost completely unsupported (perhaps just enough support to |
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devices such as: |
output a few boot messages via serial console). |
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| 319 |
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<p>In addition to emulating real machines, there is also a "test-machine". |
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A test-machine consists of one or more CPUs and a few experimental devices |
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such as: |
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<p> |
<p> |
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<ul> |
<ul> |
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<li>a console I/O device (putchar() and getchar()...) |
<li>a console I/O device (putchar() and getchar()...) |
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<li>an inter-processor communication device, for SMP experiments |
<li>an inter-processor communication device, for SMP experiments |
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<li>a very simple linear framebuffer device (for graphics output) |
<li>a very simple linear framebuffer device (for graphics output) |
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<li>a simple SCSI disk controller |
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<li>a simple ethernet controller |
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</ul> |
</ul> |
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<p> |
<p>This mode is useful if you wish to run experimental code, but do not |
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This mode is useful if you wish to run experimental code, but do not |
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wish to target any specific real-world machine type, for example for |
wish to target any specific real-world machine type, for example for |
| 334 |
educational purposes. |
educational purposes. |
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| 336 |
<p> |
<p>You can read more about these experimental devices <a |
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You can read more about these experimental devices |
href="experiments.html#expdevices">here</a>. |
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<a href="experiments.html#expdevices">here</a>. |
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<p><br> |
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<a name="guestos"></a> |
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<h3>Which guest OSes are possible to run?</h3> |
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This table sums up the guest OSes that run well enough to be considered |
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working in the emulator. They can boot from a harddisk image and be |
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interacted with similar to a real machine: |
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<p><br> |
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<center> |
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<table border="0"> |
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<tr><td> |
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<table border="0"> |
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<tr><td align="center"> |
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<table border="0"> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top"><b><u>Guest OS:</u></b></td> |
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<td width="15"> </td> |
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<td valign="top"><b><u>Emulation mode:</u></b></td> |
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<td width="35"> </td> |
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<td valign="top"><b><u>Guest OS:</u></b></td> |
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<td width="15"> </td> |
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<td valign="top"><b><u>Emulation mode:</u></b></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td height="1"></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax/">NetBSD/pmax</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/arc/">NetBSD/arc</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">ARC (Acer Pica)</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/pmax.html">OpenBSD/pmax</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/arc.html">OpenBSD/arc</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">ARC (Acer Pica)</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top">Ultrix/RISC</td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/projects/sprite/retrospective.html">Sprite</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top">Redhat Linux<super>*</super></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian GNU/Linux</a><super>*</super></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">DECstation</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/hpcmips/">NetBSD/hpcmips</a></td> |
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<td></td> |
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<td valign="top">NEC MobilePro</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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</td></tr> |
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<tr><td height="15"> </td></tr> |
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<tr><td> |
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<center> |
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<table border="0"> |
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<tr> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="netbsd-pmax-20040630.png"><img src="netbsd-pmax-20040630_small.png"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="openbsd-pmax-20040710.png"><img src="openbsd-pmax-20040710_small.png"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="ultrix4.5-20040706.png"><img src="ultrix4.5-20040706_small.gif"></a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td align=center>NetBSD/pmax 1.6.2</td> |
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<td align=center>OpenBSD/pmax 2.8</td> |
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<td align=center>Ultrix 4.5</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td height=10> </td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="20041024-netbsd-arc-installed.gif"><img src="20041024-netbsd-arc-installed_small.gif"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="20041024-openbsd-arc-installed.gif"><img src="20041024-openbsd-arc-installed_small.gif"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="sprite-20040711.png"><img src="sprite-20040711_small.png"></a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td align=center>NetBSD/arc 1.6.2</td> |
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<td align=center>OpenBSD/arc 2.3</td> |
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<td align=center>Sprite</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td height=10> </td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="20041129-redhat_mips.png"><img src="20041129-redhat_mips_small.png"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="20041213-debian_4.png"><img src="20041213-debian_4_small.gif"></a></td> |
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<td width=160 align=center><a href="20050331-netbsd-hpcmips.png"><img src="20050331-netbsd-hpcmips_small.png"></a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td align=center>Redhat Linux<super>*</super></td> |
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<td align=center>Debian GNU/Linux<super>*</super></td> |
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<td align=center>NetBSD/hpcmips</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
|
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</center> |
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</td></tr> |
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</table> |
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</td></tr> |
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</table> |
|
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</center> |
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<p><br> |
|
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(<super>*</super> Although Linux runs under DECstation emulation, the |
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default kernel in Debian GNU/Linux does not support keyboards on the 5000/200 |
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(the specific DECstation model being emulated), so when the login prompt |
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is reached you cannot interact with the system. |
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|
Kaj-Michael Lang has compiled and made available a newer kernel from the |
|
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current mips-linux development tree. You can find it here: |
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<a href="http://home.tal.org/~milang/o2/kernels/">http://home.tal.org/~milang/o2/kernels</a>/<a href="http://home.tal.org/~milang/o2/kernels/vmlinux-2.4.29-rc2-r3k-mipsel-decstation">vmlinux-2.4.29-rc2-r3k-mipsel-decstation</a> |
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This newer kernel supports keyboard input, but it does not have Debian's |
|
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ethernet patches, so you will not be able to use keyboard/framebuffer |
|
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<i>and</i> networking at the same time.) |
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<p> |
|
|
It is non-trivial to get a specific operating system or OS kernel to |
|
|
run in the emulator, so don't expect the list above to grow too quickly. |
|
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|
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<p> |
|
|
There is no guarantee that anything specific will run in the emulator, but |
|
|
NetBSD is a good starting point for someone who wants to experiment. |
|
| 338 |
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| 339 |
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| 340 |
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| 341 |
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| 342 |
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</p> |
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| 343 |
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| 344 |
</body> |
</body> |
| 345 |
</html> |
</html> |
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