/[gxemul]/trunk/man/gxemul.1
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revision 23 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:19:37 2007 UTC revision 24 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:19:56 2007 UTC
# Line 1  Line 1 
1  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.49 2006/02/18 14:02:20 debug Exp $  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.65 2006/06/22 13:22:40 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 JUNE 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 a kind of dynamic
58  architectures (ARM and PowerPC) are also partially emulated.  translation system. Performance is somewhere between traditional
59  .Pp  interpretation and recompilation into native code. However, the dynamic
60  MIPS processors are emulated using either a simple binary translation  translation system used in GXemul does not (currently) generate native
61  layer (recompilation into native code), which is used on Alpha and i386  code, and thus does not require platform-specific back-ends. In plain
62  hosts, or by traditional interpretation (very very slow, but works on any  English, this means that the dyntrans system works on any host architecture.
 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.  
63  .Pp  .Pp
64  There are three ways to invoke the emulator:  The emulator can be invoked in the following ways:
65  .Pp  .Pp
66  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered
67  directly on the command line.  directly on the command line.
68  .Pp  .Pp
69  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.
70  .Pp  .\" .Pp
71  3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not  .\" 3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not
72  emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument  .\" emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument
73  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,
74    .\" and is disabled for stable release builds.)
75  .Pp  .Pp
76  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
77  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 132  Use this together with Line 125  Use this together with
125  .Pp  .Pp
126  Other options:  Other options:
127  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
128  .It Fl A  .\" The -A command line option is DEPRECATED and will be removed soon.
129  Disable load/store alignment checks in some cases. This might give a small  .\" .It Fl A
130  increase in performance, but the emulator will not run correctly if the  .\" Disable load/store alignment checks in some cases. This might give a small
131  emulated code actually tries to do unaligned loads or stores. (This option  .\" increase in performance, but the emulator will not run correctly if the
132  is only meaningful when emulating MIPS CPUs, when the host architecture is  .\" emulated code actually tries to do unaligned loads or stores. (This option
133  Alpha or i386, and binary translation is enabled.)  .\" is only meaningful when emulating MIPS CPUs, when the host architecture is
134  .It Fl B  .\" Alpha or i386, and binary translation is enabled.)
135  Disable native translation backends. By default, translation backends are  .\" .It Fl B
136  used if the host+target architecture combination is supported. Currently,  .\" Disable native translation backends. By default, translation backends are
137  the only supported host architecture for the old bintrans system (used  .\" used if the host+target architecture combination is supported. Currently,
138  when emulating MIPS processors) are Alpha and i386. The old bintrans  .\" the only supported host architecture for the old bintrans system (used
139  system will hopefully be removed some day.  .\" when emulating MIPS processors) are Alpha and i386. The old bintrans
140    .\" system will hopefully be removed some day.
141  .It Fl C Ar x  .It Fl C Ar x
142  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,  Try to emulate a specific CPU type,
143  .Ar "x".  .Ar "x".
# Line 151  This overrides the default CPU type for Line 145  This overrides the default CPU type for
145  (Use  (Use
146  .Fl H  .Fl H
147  to get a list of available CPU types.)  to get a list of available CPU types.)
148  .It Fl d Ar name  .It Fl d Ar [modifiers:]filename
149  Add  Add
150  .Ar name  .Ar filename
151  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
152  colon (":") as a prefix to  colon (":") as a prefix to
153  .Ar "name",  .Ar filename,
154  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:
155  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
156  .It b  .It b
# Line 182  Tape. Line 176  Tape.
176  Force a specific ID number.  Force a specific ID number.
177  .El  .El
178  .Pp  .Pp
179    For SCSI devices, the ID number is the SCSI ID. For IDE harddisks, the ID
180    number has the following meaning:
181    .Bl -tag -width Ds
182    .It 0
183    Primary master.
184    .It 1
185    Primary slave.
186    .It 2
187    Secondary master.
188    .It 3
189    Secondary slave.
190    .El
191    .Pp
192  Unless otherwise specified, filenames ending with ".iso" or ".cdr" are  Unless otherwise specified, filenames ending with ".iso" or ".cdr" are
193  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
194  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 200  For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignore
200  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
201  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for
202  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)
203    .It Fl G Ar port
204    Pause at startup, and listen to TCP port
205    .Ar port
206    for incoming remote GDB connections. The emulator starts up in paused
207    mode, and it is up to the remote GDB instance to start the session.
208  .It Fl I Ar x  .It Fl I Ar x
209  Emulate clock interrupts at  Emulate clock interrupts at
210  .Ar x  .Ar x
# Line 202  This disables automatic clock adjustment Line 214  This disables automatic clock adjustment
214  .It Fl i  .It Fl i
215  Display each instruction as it is being executed.  Display each instruction as it is being executed.
216  .It Fl J  .It Fl J
217  Disable some speed tricks. For MIPS emulation, these are mostly  Disable some speed tricks. This usually means disabling the use of
218  timing-related. For non-MIPS emulation (i.e. modes using dyntrans),  dyntrans "instruction combinations".
 this flag disables the use of "instruction combinations".  
219  .It Fl j Ar n  .It Fl j Ar n
220  Set the name of the kernel to  Set the name of the kernel to
221  .Ar "n".  .Ar "n".
222  When booting from an ISO9660 filesystem, the emulator will try to boot  When booting from an ISO9660 filesystem, the emulator will try to boot
223  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
224  along to the boot program. Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax,  along to the boot program. Useful names are "bsd" for OpenBSD/pmax,
225  or "vmunix" for Ultrix.)  "vmunix" for Ultrix, or "vmsprite" for Sprite.)
226  .It Fl M Ar m  .It Fl M Ar m
227  Emulate  Emulate
228  .Ar m  .Ar m
229  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
230  selected machine type.  selected machine type.
 .It Fl m Ar nr  
 Run at most  
 .Ar nr  
 instructions (on any cpu).  
231  .It Fl N  .It Fl N
232  Display nr of instructions/second average, at regular intervals.  Display the number of executed instructions per second on average, at
233    regular intervals.
234  .It Fl n Ar nr  .It Fl n Ar nr
235  Set nr of CPUs (for SMP experiments). Note: The emulator allocates quite a  Set the number of processors in the machine, for SMP experiments.
236    .Pp
237    Note: The emulator allocates quite a
238  lot of virtual memory for per-CPU translation tables. On 64-bit hosts,  lot of virtual memory for per-CPU translation tables. On 64-bit hosts,
239  this is normally not a problem. On 32-bit hosts, this can use up all  this is normally not a problem. On 32-bit hosts, this can use up all
240  available virtual userspace memory. The solution is to either run the  available virtual userspace memory. The solution is to either run the
241  emulator on a 64-bit host, or limit the number of emulated CPUs to a  emulator on a 64-bit host, or limit the number of emulated CPUs to a
242  reasonable number (say, less than 32).  reasonable number (say, less than 32).
243    .Pp
244    Note 2: SMP simulation is not working very well yet; multiple processors
245    are simulated, but synchronization between the processors does not map
246    very well to how real-world SMP systems work.
247  .It Fl O  .It Fl O
248  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
249  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC emulation).  present (for DECstation, SGI, and ARC emulation).
# Line 239  Default Line 253  Default
253  .Ar arg  .Ar arg
254  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".
255  .It Fl p Ar pc  .It Fl p Ar pc
256  Add a breakpoint. (Remember to use the "0x" prefix for hex.)  Add a breakpoint.
257    .Ar pc
258    can be a symbol, or a numeric value. (Remember to use the "0x" prefix for
259    hexadecimal values.)
260  .It Fl Q  .It Fl Q
261  Disable the built-in PROM emulation. This is useful for running raw ROM  Disable the built-in PROM emulation. This is useful for
262  images from real machines.  experimenting with running raw ROM images from real machines.
263  .It Fl R  .It Fl R
264  Use a random bootstrap cpu, instead of CPU nr 0. (For SMP experiments.)  Use a random bootstrap cpu, instead of CPU nr 0. (For SMP experiments.)
265  .It Fl r  .It Fl r
266  Dump register contents for every executed instruction.  Dump register contents for every executed instruction.
267  .It Fl S  .It Fl S
268  Initialize the emulated RAM to random data, instead of zeroes.  Initialize emulated RAM to random data, instead of zeroes. This option
269  .It Fl T  is useful when trying to trigger bugs in a program that occur because the
270  Enter the single-step debugger on unimplemented memory accesses.  program assumed that uninitialized memory contains zeros. (Use with
271    care.)
272  .It Fl t  .It Fl t
273  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.
274  .It Fl U  .It Fl U
# Line 284  times instead. E.g. Using Line 302  times instead. E.g. Using
302  .Ar -2  .Ar -2
303  with VGA text mode emulation will result in 80x25 character cells rendered  with VGA text mode emulation will result in 80x25 character cells rendered
304  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).  
305  .It Fl Z Ar n  .It Fl Z Ar n
306  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
307  environment. (Only for DECstation emulation so far.)  environment. (Only for DECstation emulation so far.)
# Line 297  Add Line 311  Add
311  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.
312  .El  .El
313  .Pp  .Pp
314  Userland options:  .\" Userland options:
315  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .\" .Bl -tag -width Ds
316  .It Fl u Ar emul-mode  .\" .It Fl u Ar emul-mode
317  Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use  .\" Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use
318  .Fl H  .\" .Fl H
319  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
320  options listed under Other options above can also be used with userland  .\" options listed under Other options above can also be used with
321  emulation.  .\" userland emulation.
322  .El  .\" .El
323  .Pp  .\" .Pp
324  General options:  General options:
325  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
326  .It Fl c Ar cmd  .It Fl c Ar cmd
# Line 331  Display a list of available CPU types, m Line 345  Display a list of available CPU types, m
345  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation
346  included in the  included in the
347  .Nm  .Nm
348  distribution for details on which modes that actually work.)  distribution for details on which modes that actually work. Userland
349    emulation is not included in stable release builds, since it doesn't work
350    yet.)
351  .It Fl h  .It Fl h
352  Display a list of all available command line options.  Display a list of all available command line options.
353  .It Fl K  .It Fl K
354  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.
355  .It Fl q  .It Fl q
356  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.
357  .It Fl s  .\".It Fl s
358  For MIPS emulation: Show opcode usage statistics after the simulation.  .\"For MIPS emulation: Show opcode usage statistics after the simulation.
359  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
360  regular intervals of which physical addresses that were executed.  .\"at regular intervals of which physical addresses that were executed.
361  .It Fl V  .It Fl V
362  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.
363  .It Fl v  .It Fl v
# Line 382  emulated test machine in "paused" mode: Line 398  emulated test machine in "paused" mode:
398  .Pp  .Pp
399  .Dl "gxemul -E testmips -V hello_mips"  .Dl "gxemul -E testmips -V hello_mips"
400  .Pp  .Pp
401  (Paused mode means that you enter the interactive single-step debugger  Paused mode means that you enter the interactive single-step debugger
402  directly at startup, instead of launching the Hello World program.)  directly at startup, instead of launching the Hello World program.
403    .Pp
404    The paused mode is also what should be used when running "unknown" files
405    for the first time in the emulator. E.g. if you have a binary which you
406    think is some kind of MIPS ROM image, then you can try the following:
407    .Pp
408    .Dl "gxemul -vv -E baremips -V 0xbfc00000:image.raw"
409    .Pp
410    You can then use the single-stepping functionality of the built-in
411    debugger to run the code in the ROM image, to see how it behaves. Based on
412    that, you can deduce what machine type it was actually from (the
413    baremips machine is not a real machine), and perhaps try again with
414    another emulation mode.
415    .Pp
416    In general, however, real ROM images require much more emulation detail
417    than GXemul provides, so they can usually not run.
418  .Pp  .Pp
419  Please read the documentation for more details.  Please read the documentation for more details.
420  .Sh BUGS  .Sh BUGS
421  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
422  file in the  file in the
423  .Nm  .Nm
424  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.  
425  .Pp  .Pp
426  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.
427  .Pp  .Pp
428  Emulation of MIPS CPUs is done differently from other emulation modes; the  The documentation sometimes only reflects the way things worked with
429  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
430  emulation, and it is incorrect when applied to e.g. ARM emulation.  applied to current releases.
431  .Pp  .Pp
432  .Nm  .Nm
433  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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