/[gxemul]/trunk/man/gxemul.1
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revision 4 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:18:00 2007 UTC revision 14 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:18:51 2007 UTC
# Line 1  Line 1 
1  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.14 2005/04/16 02:38:21 debug Exp $  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.33 2005/10/07 22:45:34 debug Exp $
2  .\"  .\"
3  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2005  Anders Gavare.  All rights reserved.  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2005  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 APRIL 2005  .Dd OCTOBER 2005
33  .Dt GXEMUL 1  .Dt GXEMUL 1
34  .Os  .Os
35  .Sh NAME  .Sh NAME
# Line 41  Line 41 
41  .Op file Ar ...  .Op file Ar ...
42  .Nm  .Nm
43  .Op general options  .Op general options
44  .Op Ar @configfile ...  .Ar @configfile
45  .Nm  .Nm
46  .Op userland, other, and general options  .Op userland, other, and general options
47  .Ar file Op Ar args ...  .Ar file Op Ar args ...
48  .Sh DESCRIPTION  .Sh DESCRIPTION
49  .Nm  .Nm
50  is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. It can be used  is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several
51  to run binary code for (among others) MIPS-based machines.  emulation modes are available. In some modes, processors and surrounding
52  Several emulation modes are available. For some emulation modes, processors  hardware components are emulated well enough to let unmodified operating
53  and surrounding hardware components are emulated well enough to let  systems (e.g. NetBSD) run as if they were running on a real machine.
54  unmodified operating systems (eg NetBSD) run as if they were running on a  .Pp
55  real machine.  The processor architecture best emulated by GXemul is MIPS, but other
56  .Pp  architectures are also partially emulated.
57  There are three ways to invoke the emulator. When emulating a  .Pp
58  complete machine, settings can be entered directly on the command line, or  There are three ways to invoke the emulator:
59  they can be read from a configuration file. When emulating a userland  .Pp
60  environment (syscall-only emulation, not emulating complete machines),  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered
61  then the program name and its argument should be given on the command  directly on the command line.
62  line.  .Pp
63    2. Options can be read from a configuration file.
64    .Pp
65    3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not
66    emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument
67    should be given on the command line. (This mode doesn't really work yet.)
68  .Pp  .Pp
69  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
70  command line. The most important thing you need to supply is the  command line. The most important thing you need to supply is the
71  file argument. This is the name of a binary file (an ELF, a.out, ECOFF,  file argument. This is the name of a binary file (an ELF, a.out, COFF/ECOFF,
72  SREC, or a raw binary image) which you wish to run in the emulator. This file  SREC, or a raw binary image) which you wish to run in the emulator. This file
73  might be an operating system kernel, or perhaps a ROM image file.  might be an operating system kernel, or perhaps a ROM image file.
74  .Pp  .Pp
# Line 78  from SGI. Use Line 83  from SGI. Use
83  .Fl H  .Fl H
84  to get a list of available emulation modes.  to get a list of available emulation modes.
85  .Pp  .Pp
86  (There is an exception to the normal invocation usage mentioned above;  There are two exceptions to the normal invocation usage mentioned above.
87  if you want to use the DECstation emulation mode, and have a bootable  The first is for DECstation emulation: if you have a bootable
88  DECstation harddisk or CDROM image, then just supplying the diskimage via  DECstation harddisk or CDROM image, then just supplying the diskimage via
89  the  the
90  .Fl d  .Fl d
91  option is sufficient. The filename of the kernel can then be  option is sufficient. (The filename of the kernel can then be
92  skipped, as the emulator runs the bootblocks from the diskimage directly and  skipped, as the emulator runs the bootblocks from the diskimage directly and
93  doesn't need the kernel as a separate file.)  doesn't need the kernel as a separate file.)
94    The second is if you supply an ISO9660 CDROM disk image. You may then use
95    the
96    .Fl j
97    option to indicate which file on the CDROM filesystem that should be
98    loaded into emulated memory.
99  .Pp  .Pp
100  Machine selection options:  Machine selection options:
101  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
102  .It Fl E Ar t  .It Fl E Ar t
103  Try to emulate machine type  Try to emulate machine type
104  .Ar "t".  .Ar "t".
105    This option is not always needed, if the
106    .Fl e
107    option uniquely selects a machine.
108  (Use  (Use
109  .Fl H  .Fl H
110  to get a list of types.)  to get a list of types.)
# Line 105  Use this together with Line 118  Use this together with
118  .Pp  .Pp
119  Other options:  Other options:
120  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
121    .It Fl A
122    Disable load/store alignment checks in some cases. This might give a small
123    increase in performance, but the emulator will not run correctly if the
124    emulated code actually tries to do unaligned loads or stores.
125  .It Fl B  .It Fl B
126  Disable dynamic binary translation completely. By default, bintrans  Disable dynamic binary translation. By default, bintrans
127  will be turned on if the host architecture supports it.  will be turned on if the host+target architecture combination is
128  However, in this release (0.3.1), there is no new bintrans system.  supported.
 If you want to enable binary translation, use  
 .Fl "b".  
 .It Fl b  
 Use the OLD binary translation subsystem. (Alpha and i386 hosts only.)  
129  .It Fl C Ar x  .It Fl C Ar x
130  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,
131  .Ar "x".  .Ar "x".
# Line 126  Add Line 139  Add
139  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
140  colon (":") as a prefix to  colon (":") as a prefix to
141  .Ar "name",  .Ar "name",
142  you can modify the disk image's behaviour. Available modifiers are:  you can modify the way the disk image is treated. Available modifiers are:
143  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
144  .It b  .It b
145  Specifies that this is a boot device.  Specifies that this is a boot device.
# Line 136  CD-ROM. Line 149  CD-ROM.
149  DISK (this is the default).  DISK (this is the default).
150  .It f  .It f
151  FLOPPY.  FLOPPY.
152    .It gH;S;
153    Override the default geometry; use H heads and S sectors-per-track.
154    (The number of cylinders is calculated automatically.)
155  .It i  .It i
156  IDE.  IDE.
157  .It r  .It r
# Line 145  SCSI (this is the default for most machi Line 161  SCSI (this is the default for most machi
161  .It t  .It t
162  Tape.  Tape.
163  .It 0-7  .It 0-7
164  Force a specific SCSI ID number.  Force a specific ID number.
165  .El  .El
166  .Pp  .Pp
167  Filenames ending with ".iso" are assumed to be CDROM images. Files with a  Unless otherwise specified, filenames ending with ".iso" or ".cdr" are
168  size of exactly 1.44 MB are assumed to be floppy images. All others  assumed to be CDROM images. Most others are assumed to be disks. Depending
169  are assumed to be disks.  on which machine is being emulated, the default for disks can be either
170    SCSI or IDE. Some disk images that are very small are assumed to be floppy
171    disks. (If you are not happy with the way a disk image is detected, then
172    you need to use explicit prefixes to force a specific type.)
173    .Pp
174    For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignored. Instead, the number of
175    heads and cylinders are assumed to be 2 and 80, respectively, and the
176    number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for
177    720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)
178  .It Fl I Ar x  .It Fl I Ar x
179  Emulate clock interrupts at  Emulate clock interrupts at
180  .Ar x  .Ar x
# Line 164  Disable some speed tricks. Line 188  Disable some speed tricks.
188  .It Fl j Ar n  .It Fl j Ar n
189  Set the name of the kernel to  Set the name of the kernel to
190  .Ar "n".  .Ar "n".
191  Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax, or "vmunix" for Ultrix.  When booting from an ISO9660 filesystem, the emulator will try to boot
192  ("netbsd" is usually the default value.)  using this file. (In some emulation modes, eg. DECstation, this name is passed
193    along to the boot program. Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax,
194    or "vmunix" for Ultrix.)
195  .It Fl M Ar m  .It Fl M Ar m
196  Emulate  Emulate
197  .Ar m  .Ar m
# Line 186  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC em Line 212  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC em
212  Set the boot argument (for DEC, ARC, or SGI emulation).  Set the boot argument (for DEC, ARC, or SGI emulation).
213  Default  Default
214  .Ar arg  .Ar arg
215  for DEC is '-a', for ARC '-aN'.  for DEC is "-a", for ARC "-aN".
216  .It Fl p Ar pc  .It Fl p Ar pc
217  Add a breakpoint (remember to use the '0x' prefix for hex).  Add a breakpoint. (Remember to use the "0x" prefix for hex.)
218  .It Fl Q  .It Fl Q
219  Disable the built-in PROM emulation. This is useful for running raw ROM  Disable the built-in PROM emulation. This is useful for running raw ROM
220  images from real machines.  images from real machines.
# Line 242  emulation. Line 268  emulation.
268  General options:  General options:
269  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
270  .It Fl D  .It Fl D
271  Guarantee fully deterministic behaviour. Normally, the emulator calls  Guarantee fully deterministic behavior. Normally, the emulator calls
272  srandom() with a seed based on the current time at startup. When the  srandom() with a seed based on the current time at startup. When the
273  .Fl D  .Fl D
274  option is used, the srandom() call is skipped, which should cause two  option is used, the srandom() call is skipped, which should cause two
275  subsequent invokations of the emulator to be identical, if all other  subsequent invocations of the emulator to be identical, if all other
276  settings are identical. (If this option is used, then  settings are identical and no user input is taking place. (If this option
277    is used, then
278  .Fl I  .Fl I
279  must also be used.)  must also be used.)
280  .It Fl H  .It Fl H
# Line 283  subdirectory of the Line 310  subdirectory of the
310  distribution.  distribution.
311  .Sh EXAMPLES  .Sh EXAMPLES
312  The following command will start NetBSD/pmax on an emulated DECstation  The following command will start NetBSD/pmax on an emulated DECstation
313  5000/200 (3MAX), with the old bintrans system enabled:  5000/200 (3MAX):
314  .Pp  .Pp
315  .Dl "gxemul -E dec -e 3max -b -d netbsddisk.img"  .Dl "gxemul -e 3max -d nbsd_pmax.img"
316  .Pp  .Pp
317  netbsddisk.img should be a raw disk image containing a bootable  nbsd_pmax.img should be a raw disk image containing a bootable
318  NetBSD/pmax filesystem.  NetBSD/pmax filesystem.
319  .Pp  .Pp
320  The following command will start an emulation session based on settings in  The following command will start an emulation session based on settings in
# Line 311  Please read the documentation for more d Line 338  Please read the documentation for more d
338  There are many bugs. Some of the known bugs are listed in the BUGS  There are many bugs. Some of the known bugs are listed in the BUGS
339  file in the  file in the
340  .Nm  .Nm
341  source distribution, some are indirectly mentioned in the TODO file.  source distribution, some are indirectly mentioned in the TODO file,
342    and some are mentioned in the source code itself.
343    .Pp
344    The binary translation subsystem is really terrible, but it is less
345    terrible than running without it.
346  .Pp  .Pp
347  There is no new bintrans system in this release (0.3.1), so you will  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.
 need to add  
 .Fl b  
 to select the old bintrans system, if you want speed.  
348  .Pp  .Pp
349  .Nm  .Nm
350  does not simulate individual pipe-line stages or penalties caused by  does not simulate individual pipe-line stages or penalties caused by
351  branch-prediction misses, so it cannot be used for accurate performance  branch-prediction misses or cache misses, so it cannot be used for
352  measurement.  accurate simulation of any actual real-world processor.
353    .Pp
354    .Nm
355    is not timing-accurate.
356  .Sh AUTHOR  .Sh AUTHOR
357  Anders Gavare <anders@gavare.se>  Anders Gavare <anders@gavare.se>
358  .Pp  .Pp
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