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Text File | 1995-03-03 | 22.7 KB | 584 lines

README for gdb-4.14 release Updated 2-Mar-95 by Stan Shebs This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger. A summary of new features is in the file `NEWS'. Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview ========================== In this release, the GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline library, and other libraries all have directories of their own underneath the gdb-4.14 directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation over time--for example don't try to build gdb with a copy of bfd from a release other than the gdb release (such as a binutils or gas release), especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart. Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right order. When you unpack the gdb-4.14.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory called `gdb-4.14', which contains: Makefile.in config.sub* glob/ opcodes/ README configure* include/ readline/ bfd/ configure.in libiberty/ texinfo/ config/ etc/ mmalloc/ config.guess* gdb/ move-if-change* To build GDB, you can just do: cd gdb-4.14 ./configure make cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want) This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If `configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its argument, e.g., sun4 or decstation. If you get compiler warnings during this stage, see the `Reporting Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems. GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type. See below. More Documentation ****************** The GDB 4 release includes an already-formatted reference card, ready for printing with PostScript or Ghostscript, in the `gdb' subdirectory of the main source directory. (In `gdb-4.14/gdb/refcard.ps'.) If you can use PostScript or Ghostscript with your printer, you can print the reference card immediately with `refcard.ps'. The release also includes the source for the reference card. You can format it, using TeX, by typing: make refcard.dvi The GDB reference card is designed to print in landscape mode on US "letter" size paper; that is, on a sheet 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high. You will need to specify this form of printing as an option to your DVI output program. All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which is a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce both on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the Info formatting commands to create the on-line version of the documentation and TeX (or `texi2roff') to typeset the printed version. GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version of this manual in the `gdb' subdirectory. The main Info file is `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER/gdb/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the standalone `info' program, available as part of the GNU Texinfo distribution. If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the Info formatting programs, such as `texinfo-format-buffer' or `makeinfo'. If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB source directory (`gdb-4.14', in the case of version 4.14), you can make the Info file by typing: cd gdb make gdb.info If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the Texinfo definitions file. TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document, you need a program to print DVI files. If your system has TeX installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise command to use depends on your system; `lpr -d' is common; another (for PostScript devices) is `dvips'. The DVI print command may require a file name without any extension or a `.dvi' extension. TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'. This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file. `texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER/texinfo' directory. If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset and print this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-4.14/gdb') and then type: make gdb.dvi Installing GDB ************** GDB comes with a `configure' script that automates the process of preparing GDB for installation; you can then use `make' to build the `gdb' program. The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in a single directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the version number to `gdb'. For example, the GDB version 4.14 distribution is in the `gdb-4.14' directory. That directory contains: `gdb-4.14/configure (and supporting files)' script for configuring GDB and all its supporting libraries. `gdb-4.14/gdb' the source specific to GDB itself `gdb-4.14/bfd' source for the Binary File Descriptor library `gdb-4.14/include' GNU include files `gdb-4.14/libiberty' source for the `-liberty' free software library `gdb-4.14/opcodes' source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers `gdb-4.14/readline' source for the GNU command-line interface `gdb-4.14/glob' source for the GNU filename pattern-matching subroutine `gdb-4.14/mmalloc' source for the GNU memory-mapped malloc package 'gdb-4.14/sim' source for some simulators (z8000, H8/300, H8/500, etc) The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure' from the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory, which in this example is the `gdb-4.14' directory. First switch to the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory if you are not already in it; then run `configure'. Pass the identifier for the platform on which GDB will run as an argument. For example: cd gdb-4.14 ./configure HOST make where HOST is an identifier such as `sun4' or `decstation', that identifies the platform where GDB will run. Running `configure HOST' followed by `make' builds the `bfd', `readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself. The configured source files, and the binaries, are left in the corresponding source directories. `configure' is a Bourne-shell (`/bin/sh') script; if your system does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell, you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly: sh configure HOST If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-4.14' source directory for version 4.14, `configure' creates configuration files for every directory level underneath (unless you tell it not to, with the `--norecursion' option). You can run the `configure' script from any of the subordinate directories in the GDB distribution, if you only want to configure that subdirectory; but be sure to specify a path to it. For example, with version 4.14, type the following to configure only the `bfd' subdirectory: cd gdb-4.14/bfd ../configure HOST You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However, you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL' environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the shell to start your program--some systems refuse to let GDB debug child processes whose programs are not readable. Compiling GDB in another directory ================================== If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines, you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH' feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should), running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program specified there. To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the `--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need to specify a path to find `configure' itself from your working directory. If the path to `configure' would be the same as the argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it will be assumed.) For example, with version 4.14, you can build GDB in a separate directory for a Sun 4 like this: cd gdb-4.14 mkdir ../gdb-sun4 cd ../gdb-sun4 ../gdb-4.14/configure sun4 make When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure (and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'. One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate directories is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on one machine--the host--while debugging programs that run on another machine--the target). You specify a cross-debugging target by giving the `--target=TARGET' option to `configure'. When you run `make' to build a program or library, you must run it in a configured directory--whatever directory you were in when you called `configure' (or one of its subdirectories). The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such as `gdb-4.14' (or in a separate configured directory configured with `--srcdir=PATH/gdb-4.14'), you will build all the required libraries, and then build GDB. When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate directories, you can run `make' on them in parallel (for example, if they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere with each other. Specifying names for hosts and targets ====================================== The specifications used for hosts and targets in the `configure' script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short predefined aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes three pieces of information in the following pattern: ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OS For example, you can use the alias `sun4' as a HOST argument or in a `--target=TARGET' option. The equivalent full name is `sparc-sun-sunos4'. The `configure' script accompanying GDB does not provide any query facility to list all supported host and target names or aliases. `configure' calls the Bourne shell script `config.sub' to map abbreviations to full names; you can read the script, if you wish, or you can use it to test your guesses on abbreviations--for example: % sh config.sub sun4 sparc-sun-sunos411 % sh config.sub sun3 m68k-sun-sunos411 % sh config.sub decstation mips-dec-ultrix42 % sh config.sub hp300bsd m68k-hp-bsd % sh config.sub i386v i386-unknown-sysv % sh config.sub i786v Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized `config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory (`gdb-4.14', for version 4.14). `configure' options =================== Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does, for a full explanation of `configure'. configure [--help] [--prefix=DIR] [--srcdir=PATH] [--norecursion] [--rm] [--target=TARGET] HOST You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'. `--help' Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'. `-prefix=DIR' Configure the source to install programs and files under directory `DIR'. `--srcdir=PATH' *Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make' that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.* Use this option to make configurations in directories separate from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously, in separate directories. `configure' writes configuration specific files in the current directory, but arranges for them to use the source in the directory PATH. `configure' will create directories under the working directory in parallel to the source directories below PATH. `--norecursion' Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed; do not propagate configuration to subdirectories. `--rm' Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify. `--target=TARGET' Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself. There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available targets. `HOST ...' Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST. There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available hosts. `configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect GDB or its supporting libraries. Languages other than C ======================= See the GDB manual (doc/gdb.texinfo) for information on this. Kernel debugging ================= I have't done this myself so I can't really offer any advice. Remote debugging over serial lines works fine, but the kernel debugging code in here has not been tested in years. Van Jacobson has better kernel debugging, but the UC lawyers won't let FSF have it. Remote debugging ================= The files m68k-stub.c, i386-stub.c, and sparc-stub.c are examples of remote stubs to be used with remote.c. They are designed to run standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly with the remote.c stub over a serial line. The file rem-multi.shar contains a general stub that can probably run on various different flavors of unix to allow debugging over a serial line from one machine to another. Some working remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM monitors are: remote-adapt.c AMD 29000 "Adapt" remote-e7000.c Hitachi E7000 ICE remote-eb.c AMD 29000 "EBMON" remote-es.c Ericsson 1800 monitor remote-hms.c Hitachi Micro Systems H8/300 monitor remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol remote-mm.c AMD 29000 "minimon" remote-nindy.c Intel 960 "Nindy" remote-os9k.c PC running OS/9000 remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol remote-st.c Tandem ST-2000 monitor remote-udi.c AMD 29000 using the AMD "Universal Debug Interface" remote-vx.c VxWorks realtime kernel remote-z8k.c Zilog Z8000 simulator Remote-vx.c and the vx-share subdirectory contain a remote interface for the VxWorks realtime kernel, which communicates over TCP using the Sun RPC library. This would be a useful starting point for other remote- via-ethernet back ends. Remote-udi.c and the 29k-share subdirectory contain a remote interface for AMD 29000 programs, which uses the AMD "Universal Debug Interface". This allows GDB to talk to software simulators, emulators, and/or bare hardware boards, via network or serial interfaces. Note that GDB only provides an interface that speaks UDI, not a complete solution. You will need something on the other end that also speaks UDI. Reporting Bugs =============== The correct address for reporting bugs found in gdb is "bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu". Please email all bugs, and all requests for help with GDB, to that address. Please include the GDB version number (e.g., gdb-4.14), and how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 host, i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many different configurations, it is important that you be precise about this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner that GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual configure command that you used when configuring GDB. For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the GDB Bugs section of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo). Known bugs: * Under Ultrix 4.2 (DECstation-3100) or Alphas under OSF/1, we have seen problems with backtraces after interrupting the inferior out of a read(). The problem is caused by ptrace() returning an incorrect value for the frame pointer register (register 15 or 30). As far as we can tell, this is a kernel problem. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. * Under Ultrix 4.4 (DECstation-3100), setting the TERMCAP environment variable to a string without a trailing ':' can cause GDB to dump core upon startup. Although the core file makes it look as though GDB code failed, the crash actually occurs within a call to the termcap library function tgetent(). The problem can be solved by using the GNU Termcap library. Alphas running OSF/1 (versions 1.0 through 2.1) have the same buggy termcap code, but GDB behaves strangely rather than crashing. * On DECstations there are warnings about shift counts out of range in various BFD modules. None of them is a cause for alarm, they are actually a result of bugs in the DECstation compiler. * Notes for the DEC Alpha using OSF/1: The debugging output of native cc has two known problems; we view these as compiler bugs. The linker miscompacts symbol tables, which causes gdb to confuse the type of variables or results in `struct <illegal>' type outputs. dbx has the same problems with those executables. A workaround is to specify -Wl,-b when linking, but that will increase the executable size considerably. If a structure has incomplete type in one file (e.g., "struct foo *" without a definition for "struct foo"), gdb will be unable to find the structure definition from another file. It has been reported that the Ultrix 4.3A compiler on decstations has the same problems. * Notes for Solaris 2.x, using the SPARCworks cc compiler: You have to compile your program with the -xs option of the SPARCworks compiler to be able to debug your program with gdb. Under Solaris 2.3 you also need patch 101409-03 (Jumbo linker patch). Under Solaris 2.2, if you have patch 101052 installed, make sure that it is at least at revision 101052-06. * Under Irix 5 for SGIs, you must have installed the `compiler_dev.hdr' subsystem that is on the IDO CD, otherwise you will get complaints that certain files such as `/usr/include/syms.h' cannot be found. * AIX 4.1 is not yet supported. * Notes for BSD/386: To compile gdb-4.14 on BSD/386, you must run the configure script and its subscripts with bash. Here is an easy way to do this: bash -c 'CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash ./configure' (configure will report i386-unknown-bsd). Then, compile with the standard "make" command. GDB can produce warnings about symbols that it does not understand. By default, these warnings are disabled. You can enable them by executing `set complaint 10' (which you can put in your ~/.gdbinit if you like). I recommend doing this if you are working on a compiler, assembler, linker, or GDB, since it will point out problems that you may be able to fix. Warnings produced during symbol reading indicate some mismatch between the object file and GDB's symbol reading code. In many cases, it's a mismatch between the specs for the object file format, and what the compiler actually outputs or the debugger actually understands. X Windows versus GDB ===================== There is an "xxgdb", which seems to work for simple operations, which was posted to comp.sources.x. For those interested in auto display of source and the availability of an editor while debugging I suggest trying gdb-mode in GNU Emacs (Try typing M-x gdb RETURN). Comments on this mode are welcome. Those interested in experimenting with a new kind of gdb-mode should load gdb/gdba.el into GNU Emacs 19.25 or later. Comments on this mode are also welcome. Writing Code for GDB ===================== There is a lot of information about writing code for GDB in the internals manual, distributed with GDB in gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo. You can read it by hand, print it by using TeX and texinfo, or process it into an `info' file for use with Emacs' info mode or the standalone `info' program. In particular, see the nodes Getting Started, Debugging GDB, New Architectures, Coding Style, Clean Design, and Submitting Patches. If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially take note of the information about copyrights in the node Submitting Patches. It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you think you will be ready to submit the patches. GDB Testsuite ============= There is a DejaGNU based testsuite available for testing your newly built GDB, or for regression testing GDBs with local modifications. The testsuite is distributed separately from the base GDB distribution for the convenience of people that wish to get either GDB or the testsuite separately. The name of the testsuite is gdb-4.14-testsuite.tar.gz. You unpack it in the same directory in which you unpacked the base GDB distribution, and it will create and populate the directory gdb-4.14/gdb/testsuite. Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU, which is generally available via ftp. Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of two ways: (1) cd gdb-4.14/gdb (assuming you also unpacked gdb) make check or (2) cd gdb-4.14/gdb/testsuite make (builds the test executables) make site.exp (builds the site specific file) runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate) The second method gives you slightly more control in case of problems with building one or more test executables, in case you wish to remove some test executables before running the tests, or if you are using the testsuite 'standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree. See the DejaGNU documentation for further details. (this is for editing this file with GNU emacs) Local Variables: mode: text End: