/[gxemul]/trunk/man/gxemul.1
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revision 22 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:19:37 2007 UTC revision 30 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:20:40 2007 UTC
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1  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.49 2006/02/18 14:02:20 debug Exp $  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.69 2006/08/11 17:43:29 debug Exp $
2  .\"  .\"
3  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2006  Anders Gavare.  All rights reserved.  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2006  Anders Gavare.  All rights reserved.
4  .\"  .\"
# Line 29  Line 29 
29  .\" This is a minimal man page for GXemul. Process this file with  .\" This is a minimal man page for GXemul. Process this file with
30  .\"     groff -man -Tascii gxemul.1    or    nroff -man gxemul.1  .\"     groff -man -Tascii gxemul.1    or    nroff -man gxemul.1
31  .\"  .\"
32  .Dd FEBRUARY 2006  .Dd AUGUST 2006
33  .Dt GXEMUL 1  .Dt GXEMUL 1
34  .Os  .Os
35  .Sh NAME  .Sh NAME
# Line 42  Line 42 
42  .Nm  .Nm
43  .Op general options  .Op general options
44  .Ar @configfile  .Ar @configfile
45  .Nm  .\" TODO: Reenable this once userland emulation works:
46  .Op userland, other, and general options  .\" .Nm
47  .Ar file Op Ar args ...  .\" .Op userland, other, and general options
48    .\" .Ar file Op Ar args ...
49  .Sh DESCRIPTION  .Sh DESCRIPTION
50  .Nm  .Nm
51  is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several  is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several
# Line 53  hardware components are emulated well en Line 54  hardware components are emulated well en
54  systems (e.g. NetBSD) run inside the emulator as if they were running on a  systems (e.g. NetBSD) run inside the emulator as if they were running on a
55  real machine.  real machine.
56  .Pp  .Pp
57  The processor architecture best emulated by GXemul is MIPS, but other  Processors (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC) are emulated using dynamic translation.
58  architectures (ARM and PowerPC) are also partially emulated.  However, unlike some other dynamically translating emulators, GXemul does
59  .Pp  not currently generate native code, only a "runnable intermediate
60  MIPS processors are emulated using either a simple binary translation  representation", and will thus run on any host architecture, without the
61  layer (recompilation into native code), which is used on Alpha and i386  need to implement per-architecture backends.
 hosts, or by traditional interpretation (very very slow, but works on any  
 host platform).  
 .Pp  
 Non-MIPS processors are emulated using a newer dynamic translation  
 system (called dyntrans in the rest of this man page). Performance is  
 somewhere between traditional interpretation and recompilation into native  
 code. However, the dynamic translation system used in GXemul does NOT  
 generate native code, and thus doesn't require platform-specific  
 back-ends. In plain English, this means that the dyntrans system works on  
 any host platform.  
62  .Pp  .Pp
63  There are three ways to invoke the emulator:  The emulator can be invoked in the following ways:
64  .Pp  .Pp
65  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered
66  directly on the command line.  directly on the command line.
67  .Pp  .Pp
68  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.
69  .Pp  .\" .Pp
70  3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not  .\" 3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not
71  emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument  .\" emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument
72  should be given on the command line. (This mode doesn't really work yet.)  .\" should be given on the command line. (This mode doesn't really work yet,
73    .\" and is disabled for stable release builds.)
74  .Pp  .Pp
75  The easiest way to use the emulator is to supply settings directly on the  The easiest way to use the emulator is to supply settings directly on the
76  command line. The most important thing you need to supply is the  command line. The most important thing you need to supply is the
# Line 111  the Line 103  the
103  option to indicate which file on the CDROM filesystem that should be  option to indicate which file on the CDROM filesystem that should be
104  loaded into emulated memory.  loaded into emulated memory.
105  .Pp  .Pp
106    Gzipped kernels are automatically unzipped, by calling the external gunzip
107    program, both when specifying a gzipped file directly on the command line
108    and when loading such a file using the
109    .Fl j
110    option.
111    .Pp
112  Machine selection options:  Machine selection options:
113  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
114  .It Fl E Ar t  .It Fl E Ar t
# Line 132  Use this together with Line 130  Use this together with
130  .Pp  .Pp
131  Other options:  Other options:
132  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
 .It Fl A  
 Disable load/store alignment checks in some cases. This might give a small  
 increase in performance, but the emulator will not run correctly if the  
 emulated code actually tries to do unaligned loads or stores. (This option  
 is only meaningful when emulating MIPS CPUs, when the host architecture is  
 Alpha or i386, and binary translation is enabled.)  
 .It Fl B  
 Disable native translation backends. By default, translation backends are  
 used if the host+target architecture combination is supported. Currently,  
 the only supported host architecture for the old bintrans system (used  
 when emulating MIPS processors) are Alpha and i386. The old bintrans  
 system will hopefully be removed some day.  
133  .It Fl C Ar x  .It Fl C Ar x
134  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,
135  .Ar "x".  .Ar "x".
# Line 151  This overrides the default CPU type for Line 137  This overrides the default CPU type for
137  (Use  (Use
138  .Fl H  .Fl H
139  to get a list of available CPU types.)  to get a list of available CPU types.)
140  .It Fl d Ar name  .It Fl d Ar [modifiers:]filename
141  Add  Add
142  .Ar name  .Ar filename
143  as a disk image. By adding one or more modifier characters and then a  as a disk image. By adding one or more modifier characters and then a
144  colon (":") as a prefix to  colon (":") as a prefix to
145  .Ar "name",  .Ar filename,
146  you can modify the way the disk image is treated. Available modifiers are:  you can modify the way the disk image is treated. Available modifiers are:
147  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
148  .It b  .It b
# Line 182  Tape. Line 168  Tape.
168  Force a specific ID number.  Force a specific ID number.
169  .El  .El
170  .Pp  .Pp
171    For SCSI devices, the ID number is the SCSI ID. For IDE harddisks, the ID
172    number has the following meaning:
173    .Bl -tag -width Ds
174    .It 0
175    Primary master.
176    .It 1
177    Primary slave.
178    .It 2
179    Secondary master.
180    .It 3
181    Secondary slave.
182    .El
183    .Pp
184  Unless otherwise specified, filenames ending with ".iso" or ".cdr" are  Unless otherwise specified, filenames ending with ".iso" or ".cdr" are
185  assumed to be CDROM images. Most others are assumed to be disks. Depending  assumed to be CDROM images. Most others are assumed to be disks. Depending
186  on which machine is being emulated, the default for disks can be either  on which machine is being emulated, the default for disks can be either
# Line 193  For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignore Line 192  For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignore
192  heads and cylinders are assumed to be 2 and 80, respectively, and the  heads and cylinders are assumed to be 2 and 80, respectively, and the
193  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for
194  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)
195    .It Fl G Ar port
196    Pause at startup, and listen to TCP port
197    .Ar port
198    for incoming remote GDB connections. The emulator starts up in paused
199    mode, and it is up to the remote GDB instance to start the session.
200  .It Fl I Ar x  .It Fl I Ar x
201  Emulate clock interrupts at  Emulate clock interrupts at
202  .Ar x  .Ar x
# Line 200  Hz. (This affects emulated clock devices Line 204  Hz. (This affects emulated clock devices
204  This disables automatic clock adjustments, which is otherwise turned on.)  This disables automatic clock adjustments, which is otherwise turned on.)
205  (This option is probably only valid for DECstation emulation.)  (This option is probably only valid for DECstation emulation.)
206  .It Fl i  .It Fl i
207  Display each instruction as it is being executed.  Enable instruction trace, i.e. display disassembly of each instruction as
208    it is being executed.
209  .It Fl J  .It Fl J
210  Disable some speed tricks. For MIPS emulation, these are mostly  Disable instruction combinations in the dynamic translator.
 timing-related. For non-MIPS emulation (i.e. modes using dyntrans),  
 this flag disables the use of "instruction combinations".  
211  .It Fl j Ar n  .It Fl j Ar n
212  Set the name of the kernel to  Set the name of the kernel to
213  .Ar "n".  .Ar "n".
214  When booting from an ISO9660 filesystem, the emulator will try to boot  When booting from an ISO9660 filesystem, the emulator will try to boot
215  using this file. (In some emulation modes, eg. DECstation, this name is passed  using this file. (In some emulation modes, eg. DECstation, this name is passed
216  along to the boot program. Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax,  along to the boot program. Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax,
217  or "vmunix" for Ultrix.)  "vmunix" for Ultrix, or "vmsprite" for Sprite.)
218  .It Fl M Ar m  .It Fl M Ar m
219  Emulate  Emulate
220  .Ar m  .Ar m
221  MBs of physical RAM. This overrides the default amount of RAM for the  MBs of physical RAM. This overrides the default amount of RAM for the
222  selected machine type.  selected machine type.
 .It Fl m Ar nr  
 Run at most  
 .Ar nr  
 instructions (on any cpu).  
223  .It Fl N  .It Fl N
224  Display nr of instructions/second average, at regular intervals.  Display the number of executed instructions per second on average, at
225    regular intervals.
226  .It Fl n Ar nr  .It Fl n Ar nr
227  Set nr of CPUs (for SMP experiments). Note: The emulator allocates quite a  Set the number of processors in the machine, for SMP experiments.
228  lot of virtual memory for per-CPU translation tables. On 64-bit hosts,  .Pp
229  this is normally not a problem. On 32-bit hosts, this can use up all  Note 1: The emulator allocates quite a lot of virtual memory for
230  available virtual userspace memory. The solution is to either run the  per-CPU translation tables. On 64-bit hosts, this is normally not a
231  emulator on a 64-bit host, or limit the number of emulated CPUs to a  problem. On 32-bit hosts, this can use up all available virtual userspace
232  reasonable number (say, less than 32).  memory. The solution is to either run the emulator on a 64-bit host,
233    or limit the number of emulated CPUs to a reasonably low number.
234    .Pp
235    Note 2: SMP simulation is not working very well yet; multiple processors
236    are simulated, but synchronization between the processors does not map
237    very well to how real-world SMP systems work.
238  .It Fl O  .It Fl O
239  Force a "netboot" (tftp instead of disk), even when a disk image is  Force a "netboot" (tftp instead of disk), even when a disk image is
240  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC emulation).  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC emulation).
# Line 239  Default Line 244  Default
244  .Ar arg  .Ar arg
245  for DEC is "-a", for ARC/SGI it is "-aN", and for CATS it is "-A".  for DEC is "-a", for ARC/SGI it is "-aN", and for CATS it is "-A".
246  .It Fl p Ar pc  .It Fl p Ar pc
247  Add a breakpoint. (Remember to use the "0x" prefix for hex.)  Add a breakpoint.
248    .Ar pc
249    can be a symbol, or a numeric value. (Remember to use the "0x" prefix for
250    hexadecimal values.)
251  .It Fl Q  .It Fl Q
252  Disable the built-in PROM emulation. This is useful for running raw ROM  Disable the built-in (software-only) PROM emulation. This option is useful
253  images from real machines.  for experimenting with running raw ROM images from real machines. The default
254    behaviour of the emulator is to "fake" certain PROM calls used by guest
255    operating systems (e.g. NetBSD), so that no real PROM image is needed.
256  .It Fl R  .It Fl R
257  Use a random bootstrap cpu, instead of CPU nr 0. (For SMP experiments.)  Use a random bootstrap cpu, instead of CPU nr 0. (This option is only
258    meaningful together with the
259    .Fl n
260    option.)
261  .It Fl r  .It Fl r
262  Dump register contents for every executed instruction.  Dump register contents for every executed instruction.
263  .It Fl S  .It Fl S
264  Initialize the emulated RAM to random data, instead of zeroes.  Initialize emulated RAM to random data, instead of zeroes. This option
265  .It Fl T  is useful when trying to trigger bugs in a program that occur because the
266  Enter the single-step debugger on unimplemented memory accesses.  program assumed that uninitialized memory contains zeros. (Use with
267    care.)
268    .It Fl s Ar flags:filename
269    Gather statistics based on the current emulated program counter value,
270    while the program executes. The statistics is actually just a raw dump of
271    all program counter values in sequence, suitable for post-analysis with
272    separate tools. Output is appended to
273    .Ar filename.
274    .Pp
275    The
276    .Ar flags
277    should include one or more of the following type specifiers:
278    .Bl -tag -width Ds
279    .It v
280    Virtual. This means that the program counter value is used.
281    .It p
282    Physical. This means that the physical address of where the program
283    is actually running is used.
284    .It i
285    Instruction call. This type of statistics gathering is practically only
286    useful during development of the emulator itself. The output is a list of
287    addresses of instruction call functions (ic->f), which after some
288    post-processing can be used as a basis for deciding when to implement
289    instruction combinations.
290    .El
291    .Pp
292    The
293    .Ar flags
294    may also include the following optional modifiers:
295    .Bl -tag -width Ds
296    .It d
297    Disabled at startup.
298    .It o
299    Overwrite the file, instead of appending to it.
300    .El
301    .Pp
302    .\" Statistics gathering can be enabled/disabled at runtime by using the
303    .\" "TODO" debugger command.
304    .\" .Pp
305    When gathering instruction statistics using the
306    .Fl s
307    option, instruction combinations are always disabled (i.e.
308    an implicit
309    .Fl J
310    is added to the command line).
311    .Pp
312    If a value is missing (e.g. the end-of-page slot does not really have a
313    known physical address), it is written out as just a dash ("-").
314  .It Fl t  .It Fl t
315  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.
316  .It Fl U  .It Fl U
# Line 284  times instead. E.g. Using Line 344  times instead. E.g. Using
344  .Ar -2  .Ar -2
345  with VGA text mode emulation will result in 80x25 character cells rendered  with VGA text mode emulation will result in 80x25 character cells rendered
346  in a 1280x800 window, instead of the normal resolution of 640x400.  in a 1280x800 window, instead of the normal resolution of 640x400.
 .It Fl y Ar x  
 Set max_random_cycles_per_chunk to  
 .Ar x  
 (experimental).  
347  .It Fl Z Ar n  .It Fl Z Ar n
348  Set the number of graphics cards, for emulating a dual-head or tripple-head  Set the number of graphics cards, for emulating a dual-head or tripple-head
349  environment. (Only for DECstation emulation so far.)  environment. (Only for DECstation emulation so far.)
# Line 297  Add Line 353  Add
353  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.
354  .El  .El
355  .Pp  .Pp
356  Userland options:  .\" Userland options:
357  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .\" .Bl -tag -width Ds
358  .It Fl u Ar emul-mode  .\" .It Fl u Ar emul-mode
359  Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use  .\" Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use
360  .Fl H  .\" .Fl H
361  to get a list of available emulation modes.) Some (but not all) of the  .\" to get a list of available emulation modes.) Some (but not all) of the
362  options listed under Other options above can also be used with userland  .\" options listed under Other options above can also be used with
363  emulation.  .\" userland emulation.
364  .El  .\" .El
365  .Pp  .\" .Pp
366  General options:  General options:
367  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
368  .It Fl c Ar cmd  .It Fl c Ar cmd
# Line 331  Display a list of available CPU types, m Line 387  Display a list of available CPU types, m
387  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation
388  included in the  included in the
389  .Nm  .Nm
390  distribution for details on which modes that actually work.)  distribution for details on which modes that actually work. Userland
391    emulation is not included in stable release builds, since it doesn't work
392    yet.)
393  .It Fl h  .It Fl h
394  Display a list of all available command line options.  Display a list of all available command line options.
395  .It Fl K  .It Fl K
396  Force the single-step debugger to be entered at the end of a simulation.  Force the single-step debugger to be entered at the end of a simulation.
397  .It Fl q  .It Fl q
398  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.
399  .It Fl s  .\".It Fl s
400  For MIPS emulation: Show opcode usage statistics after the simulation.  .\"For MIPS emulation: Show opcode usage statistics after the simulation.
401  For non-MIPS emulation (i.e. using dyntrans): Save statistics to a file at  .\"For non-MIPS emulation (i.e. using dyntrans): Save statistics to a file
402  regular intervals of which physical addresses that were executed.  .\"at regular intervals of which physical addresses that were executed.
403  .It Fl V  .It Fl V
404  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.
405  .It Fl v  .It Fl v
# Line 382  emulated test machine in "paused" mode: Line 440  emulated test machine in "paused" mode:
440  .Pp  .Pp
441  .Dl "gxemul -E testmips -V hello_mips"  .Dl "gxemul -E testmips -V hello_mips"
442  .Pp  .Pp
443  (Paused mode means that you enter the interactive single-step debugger  Paused mode means that you enter the interactive single-step debugger
444  directly at startup, instead of launching the Hello World program.)  directly at startup, instead of launching the Hello World program.
445    .Pp
446    The paused mode is also what should be used when running "unknown" files
447    for the first time in the emulator. E.g. if you have a binary which you
448    think is some kind of MIPS ROM image, then you can try the following:
449    .Pp
450    .Dl "gxemul -vv -E baremips -V 0xbfc00000:image.raw"
451    .Pp
452    You can then use the single-stepping functionality of the built-in
453    debugger to run the code in the ROM image, to see how it behaves. Based on
454    that, you can deduce what machine type it was actually from (the
455    baremips machine is not a real machine), and perhaps try again with
456    another emulation mode.
457    .Pp
458    In general, however, real ROM images require much more emulation detail
459    than GXemul provides, so they can usually not run.
460  .Pp  .Pp
461  Please read the documentation for more details.  Please read the documentation for more details.
462  .Sh BUGS  .Sh BUGS
463  There are many bugs. Some of the known bugs are listed in the BUGS  There are many bugs. Some of the known bugs are mentioned in the TODO
464  file in the  file in the
465  .Nm  .Nm
466  source distribution, some are indirectly mentioned in the TODO file,  source distribution, some are marked as TODO in the source code itself.
 and some are mentioned in the source code itself.  
 .Pp  
 The binary translation subsystem used for emulating MIPS processors is  
 really terrible, but it is less terrible than running without it. It will  
 be removed once the newer MIPS dyntrans emulation mode works well enough.  
467  .Pp  .Pp
468  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.
469  .Pp  .Pp
470  Emulation of MIPS CPUs is done differently from other emulation modes; the  The documentation sometimes only reflects the way things worked with
471  documentation sometimes only reflects the way things work with MIPS  the old MIPS emulation mode (prior to 0.4.0), and it is incorrect when
472  emulation, and it is incorrect when applied to e.g. ARM emulation.  applied to current releases.
473  .Pp  .Pp
474  .Nm  .Nm
475  is in general not cycle-accurate; it does not simulate individual  is in general not cycle-accurate; it does not simulate individual
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