/[gxemul]/trunk/man/gxemul.1
This is repository of my old source code which isn't updated any more. Go to git.rot13.org for current projects!
ViewVC logotype

Diff of /trunk/man/gxemul.1

Parent Directory Parent Directory | Revision Log Revision Log | View Patch Patch

revision 30 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:20:40 2007 UTC revision 42 by dpavlin, Mon Oct 8 16:22:32 2007 UTC
# Line 1  Line 1 
1  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.69 2006/08/11 17:43:29 debug Exp $  .\" $Id: gxemul.1,v 1.96 2007/06/15 21:43:53 debug Exp $
2  .\"  .\"
3  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2006  Anders Gavare.  All rights reserved.  .\" Copyright (C) 2004-2007  Anders Gavare.  All rights reserved.
4  .\"  .\"
5  .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without  .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
6  .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:  .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
# 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 AUGUST 2006  .Dd JUNE 2007
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  .\" TODO: Reenable this once userland emulation works:  .Nm
46  .\" .Nm  .Op userland, other, and general options
47  .\" .Op userland, other, and general options  .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. Several  is an experimental instruction-level machine emulator. Several
# Line 54  hardware components are emulated well en Line 53  hardware components are emulated well en
53  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
54  real machine.  real machine.
55  .Pp  .Pp
56  Processors (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC) are emulated using dynamic translation.  Processors (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, and SuperH) are emulated using dynamic
57  However, unlike some other dynamically translating emulators, GXemul does  translation. However, unlike some other dynamically translating emulators,
58  not currently generate native code, only a "runnable intermediate  GXemul does not need to generate native code, only a "runnable
59  representation", and will thus run on any host architecture, without the  intermediate representation", and will thus run on any host architecture,
60  need to implement per-architecture backends.  without the need to implement per-architecture backends.
61  .Pp  .Pp
62  The emulator can be invoked in the following ways:  The emulator can be invoked in the following ways:
63  .Pp  .Pp
64  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be entered  1. When emulating a complete machine, configuration options can be
65  directly on the command line.  supplied directly on the command line.
66  .Pp  .Pp
67  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.  2. Options can be read from a configuration file.
68  .\" .Pp  .Pp
69  .\" 3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not  3. When emulating a userland environment (syscall-only emulation, not
70  .\" emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument  emulating complete machines), then the program name and its argument
71  .\" should be given on the command line. (This mode doesn't really work yet,  should be given on the command line. (This mode is not really usable yet.)
 .\" and is disabled for stable release builds.)  
72  .Pp  .Pp
73  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
74  command line. The most important thing you need to supply is the  command line.
75    .Pp
76    The most important thing you need to supply is the
77  file argument. This is the name of a binary file (an ELF, a.out, COFF/ECOFF,  file argument. This is the name of a binary file (an ELF, a.out, COFF/ECOFF,
78  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
79  might be an operating system kernel, or perhaps a ROM image file.  might be an operating system kernel, or perhaps a ROM image file.
 .Pp  
80  If more than one filename is supplied, all files are loaded into memory,  If more than one filename is supplied, all files are loaded into memory,
81  and the entry point (if available) is taken from the last file.  and the entry point (if available) is taken from the last file.
82  .Pp  .Pp
83  Apart from the name of a binary file, it is also necessary to select  Apart from the name of a binary file, you must also use the
84  which specific emulation mode to use. For example, a MIPS-based machine  .Fl E
85  from DEC (a DECstation) is very different from a MIPS-based machine  and/or
86  from SGI. Use  .Fl e
87    options to select which emulation mode to use. This is necessary because
88    the emulator cannot in general deduce this from the file being executed.
89    For example, a MIPS-based machine from DEC (a DECstation) is very different
90    from a MIPS-based machine from SGI. Use
91  .Nm  .Nm
92  .Fl H  .Fl H
93  to get a list of available emulation modes.  to get a list of available emulation modes.
94  .Pp  .Pp
95  There are two exceptions to the normal invocation usage mentioned above.  There are three exceptions to the normal invocation usage mentioned above.
96  The first is for DECstation emulation: if you have a bootable  .Pp
97  DECstation harddisk or CDROM image, then just supplying the diskimage via  1. For DECstation emulation, if you have a bootable DECstation harddisk or
98  the  CDROM image, then just supplying the diskimage via the
99  .Fl d  .Fl d
100  option is sufficient. (The filename of the kernel can then be  option is sufficient. The filename of the kernel can then be
101  skipped, as the emulator runs the bootblocks from the diskimage directly and  skipped, as the emulator runs the bootblocks from the diskimage directly and
102  doesn't need the kernel as a separate file.)  doesn't need the kernel as a separate file.
103  The second is if you supply an ISO9660 CDROM disk image. You may then use  .Pp
104  the  2. If you supply an ISO9660 CDROM disk image, then using the
105  .Fl j  .Fl j
106  option to indicate which file on the CDROM filesystem that should be  option to indicate a file on the CDROM filesystem to load is sufficient;
107  loaded into emulated memory.  no additional kernel filename needs to be supplied on the command line.
108    .Pp
109    3. For Dreamcast emulation, when booting e.g. a NetBSD/dreamcast CDROM
110    image, it is enough to supply the disk image (with the correct ISO
111    partition start offset). Bootblocks will be read directly from the CDROM
112    image, and there is no need to supply the name of an external kernel on
113    the command line.
114  .Pp  .Pp
115  Gzipped kernels are automatically unzipped, by calling the external gunzip  Gzipped kernels are automatically unzipped, by calling the external gunzip
116  program, both when specifying a gzipped file directly on the command line  program, both when specifying a gzipped file directly on the command line
# Line 158  Override the default geometry; use H hea Line 167  Override the default geometry; use H hea
167  (The number of cylinders is calculated automatically.)  (The number of cylinders is calculated automatically.)
168  .It i  .It i
169  IDE. (This is the default for most machine types.)  IDE. (This is the default for most machine types.)
170    .It oOFS;
171    Set the base offset for an ISO9660 filesystem on a disk image. The default
172    is 0. A suitable offset when booting from Dreamcast ISO9660 filesystem
173    images, which are offset by 11702 sectors, is 23965696.
174  .It r  .It r
175  Read-only (don't allow changes to be written to the file).  Read-only (don't allow changes to be written to the file).
176  .It s  .It s
177  SCSI.  SCSI.
178  .It t  .It t
179  Tape.  Tape.
180    .It V
181    Add an overlay filename to an already defined disk image.
182    (A ID number must also be specified when this flag is used. See the
183    documentation for an example of how to use overlays.)
184  .It 0-7  .It 0-7
185  Force a specific ID number.  Force a specific ID number.
186  .El  .El
# Line 192  For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignore Line 209  For floppies, the gH;S; prefix is ignore
209  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
210  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for  number of sectors per track is calculated automatically. (This works for
211  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)  720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB floppies.)
212  .It Fl G Ar port  .It Fl I Ar hz
213  Pause at startup, and listen to TCP port  Set the main CPU's frequency to
214  .Ar port  .Ar hz
215  for incoming remote GDB connections. The emulator starts up in paused  Hz. This option does not work for all emulated machine modes. It affects
216  mode, and it is up to the remote GDB instance to start the session.  the way count/compare interrupts are faked to simulate emulated time =
217  .It Fl I Ar x  real world time. If the guest operating system relies on RTC interrupts
218  Emulate clock interrupts at  instead of count/compare interrupts, then this option has no effect.
219  .Ar x  .Pp
220  Hz. (This affects emulated clock devices only, not actual runtime speed.  Setting the frequency to zero disables automatic synchronization of
221  This disables automatic clock adjustments, which is otherwise turned on.)  emulated time vs real world time, and the count/compare system runs at a
222  (This option is probably only valid for DECstation emulation.)  fixed rate.
223  .It Fl i  .It Fl i
224  Enable instruction trace, i.e. display disassembly of each instruction as  Enable instruction trace, i.e. display disassembly of each instruction as
225  it is being executed.  it is being executed.
# Line 299  Disabled at startup. Line 316  Disabled at startup.
316  Overwrite the file, instead of appending to it.  Overwrite the file, instead of appending to it.
317  .El  .El
318  .Pp  .Pp
319  .\" Statistics gathering can be enabled/disabled at runtime by using the  Statistics gathering can be enabled/disabled at runtime by using the
320  .\" "TODO" debugger command.  "statistics_enabled = yes" and "statistics_enabled = no" debugger
321  .\" .Pp  commands.
322    .Pp
323  When gathering instruction statistics using the  When gathering instruction statistics using the
324  .Fl s  .Fl s
325  option, instruction combinations are always disabled (i.e.  option, instruction combinations and native code generation
326  an implicit  are always disabled (i.e. implicit
327  .Fl J  .Fl J
328  is added to the command line).  and
329  .Pp  .Fl B
330  If a value is missing (e.g. the end-of-page slot does not really have a  flags are added to the command line).
331  known physical address), it is written out as just a dash ("-").  .It Fl T
332    Halt if the emulated program attempts to access non-existing memory.
333  .It Fl t  .It Fl t
334  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.  Show a trace tree of all function calls being made.
335  .It Fl U  .It Fl U
# Line 353  Add Line 372  Add
372  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.  as an X11 display to use for framebuffers.
373  .El  .El
374  .Pp  .Pp
375  .\" Userland options:  Userland options:
376  .\" .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
377  .\" .It Fl u Ar emul-mode  .It Fl u Ar emul-mode
378  .\" Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use  Userland-only (syscall) emulation. (Use
379  .\" .Fl H  .Fl H
380  .\" 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
381  .\" options listed under Other options above can also be used with  options listed under Other options above can also be used with
382  .\" userland emulation.  userland emulation.
383  .\" .El  .Pp
384  .\" .Pp  Note: Userland (syscall) emulation does not really work yet.
385    .El
386    .Pp
387  General options:  General options:
388  .Bl -tag -width Ds  .Bl -tag -width Ds
389    .It Fl b
390    Enable native code generation at runtime. This is not really implemented
391    yet. Don't use it unless you know what you are doing. It will most
392    likely not work.
393    .It Fl B
394    Disable native code generation at runtime. This is the default in this
395    release of GXemul.
396  .It Fl c Ar cmd  .It Fl c Ar cmd
397  Add  Add
398  .Ar cmd  .Ar cmd
# Line 373  be achieved by using the Line 401  be achieved by using the
401  .Fl V  .Fl V
402  option, and entering the commands manually.  option, and entering the commands manually.
403  .It Fl D  .It Fl D
404  Guarantee fully deterministic behavior. Normally, the emulator calls  Causes the emulator to skip a call to srandom(). This leads to somewhat
405  srandom() with a seed based on the current time at startup. When the  more deterministic behaviour than running without this option.
406  .Fl D  However, if the emulated machine has clocks or timer interrupt sources,
407  option is used, the srandom() call is skipped, which should cause two  or if user interaction is taking place (e.g. keyboard input at irregular
408  subsequent invocations of the emulator to be identical, if all other  intervals), then this option is meaningless.
 settings are identical and no user input is taking place. (If this option  
 is used, then  
 .Fl I  
 must also be used.)  
409  .It Fl H  .It Fl H
410  Display a list of available CPU types, machine types, and userland  Display a list of available CPU types, machine types, and userland
411  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation  emulation modes. (Most of these don't work. Please read the documentation
# Line 392  emulation is not included in stable rele Line 416  emulation is not included in stable rele
416  yet.)  yet.)
417  .It Fl h  .It Fl h
418  Display a list of all available command line options.  Display a list of all available command line options.
419    .It Fl k Ar n
420    Set the size of the dyntrans cache (per emulated CPU) to
421    .Ar n
422    MB. The default size is 48 MB.
423  .It Fl K  .It Fl K
424  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.
425  .It Fl q  .It Fl q
426  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.  Quiet mode; this suppresses startup messages.
 .\".It Fl s  
 .\"For MIPS emulation: Show opcode usage statistics after the simulation.  
 .\"For non-MIPS emulation (i.e. using dyntrans): Save statistics to a file  
 .\"at regular intervals of which physical addresses that were executed.  
427  .It Fl V  .It Fl V
428  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.  Start up in the single-step debugger, paused.
429  .It Fl v  .It Fl v
# Line 465  file in the Line 489  file in the
489  .Nm  .Nm
490  source distribution, some are marked as TODO in the source code itself.  source distribution, some are marked as TODO in the source code itself.
491  .Pp  .Pp
492  Userland (syscall-only) emulation doesn't really work yet.  Userland (syscall-only) emulation, i.e. running a userland binary directly
493  .Pp  without simulating an entire machine, doesn't really work yet.
 The documentation sometimes only reflects the way things worked with  
 the old MIPS emulation mode (prior to 0.4.0), and it is incorrect when  
 applied to current releases.  
494  .Pp  .Pp
495  .Nm  .Nm
496  is in general not cycle-accurate; it does not simulate individual  is in general not cycle-accurate; it does not simulate individual
# Line 478  cache misses, so it cannot be used for a Line 499  cache misses, so it cannot be used for a
499  real-world processor.  real-world processor.
500  .Pp  .Pp
501  .Nm  .Nm
502  is not timing-accurate, i.e. clocks inside the emulator are in general  is in general not timing-accurate. Many emulation modes try to make the
503  not at all synched with clocks in the real world. There are a few  guest operating system's clock run at the same speed as the host clock.
504  exceptions to this rule (the mc146818 device tries to automagically  However, the number of instructions executed per clock tick can
505  adjust emulated timer ticks to actual emulation speed).  obviously vary, depending on the current CPU load on the host.
506  .Sh AUTHOR  .Sh AUTHOR
507  GXemul is Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Anders Gavare <anders@gavare.se>  GXemul is Copyright (C) 2003-2007 Anders Gavare <anders@gavare.se>
508  .Pp  .Pp
509  See http://gavare.se/gxemul/ for more information. For other Copyright  See http://gavare.se/gxemul/ for more information. For other Copyright
510  messages, see the corresponding parts of the source code and/or  messages, see the corresponding parts of the source code and/or
Legend:
Removed from v.30  
changed lines
  Added in v.42
  ViewVC Help
Powered by ViewVC 1.1.26