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1 | README for gdb-5.0 release |
2 | Updated 11 May 2000 by Andrew Cagney | |
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3 | |
4 | This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger. | |
5 | A summary of new features is in the file `NEWS'. | |
6 | ||
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7 | See the GDB home page at http://sourceware.cygnus.com/gdb/ for up to |
8 | date release information, mailing list links and archives, etc. | |
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9 | |
10 | ||
11 | Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview | |
12 | ========================== | |
13 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 14 | In this release, the GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include |
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15 | files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline |
16 | library, and other libraries all have directories of their own | |
aba7b4b6 | 17 | underneath the gdb-5.0 directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU |
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18 | tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation |
19 | over time--for example don't try to build gdb with a copy of bfd from | |
20 | a release other than the gdb release (such as a binutils or gas | |
21 | release), especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart. | |
22 | Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this | |
23 | directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right | |
24 | order. | |
25 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
26 | When you unpack the gdb-5.0.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory |
27 | called `gdb-5.0', which contains: | |
c906108c | 28 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
29 | COPYING config.if install-sh mmalloc readline |
30 | COPYING.LIB config.sub intl move-if-change sim | |
31 | Makefile.in configure libiberty mpw-README symlink-tree | |
32 | README configure.in ltconfig mpw-build.in texinfo | |
33 | bfd djunpack.bat ltmain.sh mpw-config.in utils | |
34 | config etc md5.sum mpw-configure ylwrap | |
35 | config-ml.in gdb missing mpw-install | |
36 | config.guess include mkinstalldirs opcodes | |
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37 | |
38 | To build GDB, you can just do: | |
39 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 40 | cd gdb-5.0 |
c906108c SS |
41 | ./configure |
42 | make | |
43 | cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want) | |
44 | ||
c63ce875 | 45 | (Building GDB with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS/MS-Windows is slightly |
aba7b4b6 | 46 | different; see the file gdb-5.0/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.) |
c63ce875 | 47 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
48 | This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If |
49 | `configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its | |
50 | argument, e.g., `./configure sun4' or `./configure decstation'. | |
c906108c | 51 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
52 | If you get compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting |
53 | Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems. | |
c906108c | 54 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
55 | GDB requires an ISO-C (ANSI C) compiler. If you do not have an |
56 | ISO-C compiler for your system, you may be able to download and | |
57 | install the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from | |
58 | the directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'. | |
c906108c | 59 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
60 | GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one |
61 | type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type. | |
62 | See below. | |
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63 | |
64 | ||
65 | More Documentation | |
66 | ****************** | |
67 | ||
68 | All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable | |
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69 | distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which |
70 | is a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce | |
71 | both on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the | |
72 | Info formatting commands to create the on-line version of the | |
73 | documentation and TeX (or `texi2roff') to typeset the printed version. | |
74 | ||
75 | GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version | |
76 | of this manual in the `gdb/doc' subdirectory. The main Info file is | |
77 | `gdb-5.0/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files | |
78 | matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can | |
79 | print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are | |
80 | easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the | |
81 | standalone `info' program, available as part of the GNU Texinfo | |
82 | distribution. | |
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83 | |
84 | If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the | |
85 | Info formatting programs, such as `texinfo-format-buffer' or | |
86 | `makeinfo'. | |
87 | ||
88 | If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB | |
aba7b4b6 | 89 | source directory (`gdb-5.0', in the case of version 5.0), you can make |
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90 | the Info file by typing: |
91 | ||
92 | cd gdb/doc | |
93 | make info | |
94 | ||
95 | If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need | |
96 | TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the | |
97 | Texinfo definitions file. This file is included in the GDB | |
aba7b4b6 | 98 | distribution, in the directory `gdb-5.0/texinfo'. |
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99 | |
100 | TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but | |
101 | produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document, | |
102 | you need a program to print DVI files. If your system has TeX | |
103 | installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise command to | |
104 | use depends on your system; `lpr -d' is common; another (for PostScript | |
105 | devices) is `dvips'. The DVI print command may require a file name | |
106 | without any extension or a `.dvi' extension. | |
107 | ||
108 | TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'. | |
109 | This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo | |
110 | format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file. | |
111 | `texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the | |
aba7b4b6 | 112 | `gdb-5.0/texinfo' directory. |
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113 | |
114 | If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset | |
115 | and print this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of | |
aba7b4b6 | 116 | the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-5.0/gdb') and then type: |
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117 | |
118 | make gdb.dvi | |
119 | ||
120 | ||
121 | Installing GDB | |
122 | ************** | |
123 | ||
124 | GDB comes with a `configure' script that automates the process of | |
125 | preparing GDB for installation; you can then use `make' to build the | |
126 | `gdb' program. | |
127 | ||
128 | The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in | |
129 | a single directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the | |
130 | version number to `gdb'. | |
131 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 132 | For example, the GDB version 5.0 distribution is in the `gdb-5.0' |
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133 | directory. That directory contains: |
134 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 135 | `gdb-5.0/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}' |
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136 | Standard GNU license files. Please read them. |
137 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 138 | `gdb-5.0/bfd' |
c906108c SS |
139 | source for the Binary File Descriptor library |
140 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 141 | `gdb-5.0/config*' |
c906108c SS |
142 | script for configuring GDB, along with other support files |
143 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 144 | `gdb-5.0/gdb' |
c906108c SS |
145 | the source specific to GDB itself |
146 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 147 | `gdb-5.0/include' |
c906108c SS |
148 | GNU include files |
149 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 150 | `gdb-5.0/libiberty' |
c906108c SS |
151 | source for the `-liberty' free software library |
152 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 153 | `gdb-5.0/mmalloc' |
c906108c SS |
154 | source for the GNU memory-mapped malloc package |
155 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 156 | `gdb-5.0/opcodes' |
c906108c SS |
157 | source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers |
158 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 159 | `gdb-5.0/readline' |
c906108c | 160 | source for the GNU command-line interface |
7a292a7a SS |
161 | NOTE: The readline library is compiled for use by GDB, but will |
162 | not be installed on your system when "make install" is issued. | |
c906108c | 163 | |
aba7b4b6 | 164 | `gdb-5.0/sim' |
c906108c SS |
165 | source for some simulators (ARM, D10V, SPARC, M32R, MIPS, PPC, V850, etc) |
166 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 167 | `gdb-5.0/intl' |
c906108c SS |
168 | source for the GNU gettext library, for internationalization. |
169 | This is slightly modified from the standalone gettext | |
170 | distribution you can get from GNU. | |
171 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 172 | `gdb-5.0/texinfo' |
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173 | The `texinfo.tex' file, which you need in order to make a printed |
174 | manual using TeX. | |
175 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 176 | `gdb-5.0/etc' |
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177 | Coding standards, useful files for editing GDB, and other |
178 | miscellanea. | |
179 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 180 | `gdb-5.0/utils' |
c906108c SS |
181 | A grab bag of random utilities. |
182 | ||
c63ce875 EZ |
183 | Note: the following instructions are for building GDB on Unix or |
184 | Unix-like systems. Instructions for building with DJGPP for | |
185 | MS-DOS/MS-Windows are in the file gdb/config/djgpp/README. | |
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186 | |
187 | The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure' | |
188 | from the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory, which in this example | |
aba7b4b6 | 189 | is the `gdb-5.0' directory. |
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190 | |
191 | First switch to the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory if you are | |
192 | not already in it; then run `configure'. | |
193 | ||
194 | For example: | |
195 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 196 | cd gdb-5.0 |
c906108c SS |
197 | ./configure |
198 | make | |
199 | ||
200 | Running `configure' followed by `make' builds the `bfd', | |
201 | `readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself. | |
202 | The configured source files, and the binaries, are left in the | |
203 | corresponding source directories. | |
204 | ||
205 | `configure' is a Bourne-shell (`/bin/sh') script; if your system | |
206 | does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell, | |
207 | you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly: | |
208 | ||
209 | sh configure | |
210 | ||
211 | If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
212 | directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-5.0' |
213 | source directory for version 5.0, `configure' creates configuration | |
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214 | files for every directory level underneath (unless you tell it not to, |
215 | with the `--norecursion' option). | |
216 | ||
217 | You can run the `configure' script from any of the subordinate | |
218 | directories in the GDB distribution, if you only want to configure that | |
219 | subdirectory; but be sure to specify a path to it. | |
220 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 221 | For example, with version 5.0, type the following to configure only |
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222 | the `bfd' subdirectory: |
223 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 224 | cd gdb-5.0/bfd |
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225 | ../configure |
226 | ||
227 | You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However, | |
228 | you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL' | |
229 | environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the | |
230 | shell to start your program--some systems refuse to let GDB debug child | |
231 | processes whose programs are not readable. | |
232 | ||
233 | ||
234 | Compiling GDB in another directory | |
235 | ================================== | |
236 | ||
237 | If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines, | |
238 | you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and | |
239 | target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to | |
240 | generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in | |
241 | the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH' | |
242 | feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should), | |
243 | running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program | |
244 | specified there. | |
245 | ||
246 | To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the | |
247 | `--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need | |
248 | to specify a path to find `configure' itself from your working | |
249 | directory. If the path to `configure' would be the same as the | |
250 | argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it | |
251 | will be assumed.) | |
252 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 253 | For example, with version 5.0, you can build GDB in a separate |
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254 | directory for a Sun 4 like this: |
255 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 256 | cd gdb-5.0 |
c906108c SS |
257 | mkdir ../gdb-sun4 |
258 | cd ../gdb-sun4 | |
aba7b4b6 | 259 | ../gdb-5.0/configure |
c906108c SS |
260 | make |
261 | ||
262 | When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source | |
263 | directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure | |
264 | (and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In | |
265 | the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the | |
266 | directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'. | |
267 | ||
268 | One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate | |
269 | directories is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on | |
270 | one machine--the host--while debugging programs that run on another | |
271 | machine--the target). You specify a cross-debugging target by giving | |
272 | the `--target=TARGET' option to `configure'. | |
273 | ||
274 | When you run `make' to build a program or library, you must run it | |
275 | in a configured directory--whatever directory you were in when you | |
276 | called `configure' (or one of its subdirectories). | |
277 | ||
278 | The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory | |
279 | also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such | |
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280 | as `gdb-5.0' (or in a separate configured directory configured with |
281 | `--srcdir=PATH/gdb-5.0'), you will build all the required libraries, | |
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282 | and then build GDB. |
283 | ||
284 | When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate | |
285 | directories, you can run `make' on them in parallel (for example, if | |
286 | they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere | |
287 | with each other. | |
288 | ||
289 | ||
290 | Specifying names for hosts and targets | |
291 | ====================================== | |
292 | ||
293 | The specifications used for hosts and targets in the `configure' | |
294 | script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short | |
295 | predefined aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes | |
296 | three pieces of information in the following pattern: | |
297 | ||
298 | ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OS | |
299 | ||
300 | For example, you can use the alias `sun4' as a HOST argument or in a | |
301 | `--target=TARGET' option. The equivalent full name is | |
302 | `sparc-sun-sunos4'. | |
303 | ||
304 | The `configure' script accompanying GDB does not provide any query | |
305 | facility to list all supported host and target names or aliases. | |
306 | `configure' calls the Bourne shell script `config.sub' to map | |
307 | abbreviations to full names; you can read the script, if you wish, or | |
308 | you can use it to test your guesses on abbreviations--for example: | |
309 | ||
310 | % sh config.sub sun4 | |
311 | sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1 | |
312 | % sh config.sub sun3 | |
313 | m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1 | |
314 | % sh config.sub decstation | |
315 | mips-dec-ultrix4.2 | |
316 | % sh config.sub hp300bsd | |
317 | m68k-hp-bsd | |
318 | % sh config.sub i386v | |
319 | i386-pc-sysv | |
320 | % sh config.sub i786v | |
321 | Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized | |
322 | ||
323 | `config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory | |
aba7b4b6 | 324 | (`gdb-5.0', for version 5.0). |
c906108c SS |
325 | |
326 | ||
327 | `configure' options | |
328 | =================== | |
329 | ||
330 | Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are | |
331 | most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other | |
332 | options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does, | |
333 | for a full explanation of `configure'. | |
334 | ||
335 | configure [--help] | |
336 | [--prefix=DIR] | |
337 | [--srcdir=PATH] | |
338 | [--norecursion] [--rm] | |
339 | [--enable-build-warnings] | |
340 | [--target=TARGET] | |
341 | [--host=HOST] | |
342 | [HOST] | |
343 | ||
344 | You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you | |
345 | prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'. | |
346 | ||
347 | `--help' | |
348 | Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'. | |
349 | ||
350 | `-prefix=DIR' | |
351 | Configure the source to install programs and files under directory | |
352 | `DIR'. | |
353 | ||
354 | `--srcdir=PATH' | |
355 | *Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make' | |
356 | that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.* | |
357 | Use this option to make configurations in directories separate | |
358 | from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use | |
359 | this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously, | |
360 | in separate directories. `configure' writes configuration | |
361 | specific files in the current directory, but arranges for them to | |
362 | use the source in the directory PATH. `configure' will create | |
363 | directories under the working directory in parallel to the source | |
364 | directories below PATH. | |
365 | ||
366 | `--norecursion' | |
367 | Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed; | |
368 | do not propagate configuration to subdirectories. | |
369 | ||
370 | `--rm' | |
371 | Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify. | |
372 | ||
373 | `--enable-build-warnings' | |
374 | When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any | |
375 | code which looks even vaguely suspicious. You should only using | |
376 | this feature if you're compiling with GNU CC. It passes the | |
377 | following flags: | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
378 | -Wimplicit |
379 | -Wreturn-type | |
380 | -Wcomment | |
381 | -Wtrigraphs | |
382 | -Wformat | |
383 | -Wparentheses | |
c906108c | 384 | -Wpointer-arith |
c906108c SS |
385 | |
386 | `--target=TARGET' | |
387 | Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified | |
388 | TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs | |
389 | that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself. | |
390 | ||
391 | There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available | |
392 | targets. | |
393 | ||
394 | `--host=HOST' | |
395 | Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST. | |
396 | ||
397 | There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available | |
398 | hosts. | |
399 | ||
400 | `HOST ...' | |
401 | Same as `--host=HOST'. If you omit this, GDB will guess; it's | |
402 | quite accurate. | |
403 | ||
404 | `configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring | |
405 | other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect | |
406 | GDB or its supporting libraries. | |
407 | ||
408 | ||
409 | Languages other than C | |
410 | ======================= | |
411 | ||
412 | See the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo) for information on this. | |
413 | ||
414 | ||
415 | Kernel debugging | |
416 | ================= | |
417 | ||
6736fc7b | 418 | Remote debugging over serial lines works fine, but the kernel |
aba7b4b6 | 419 | debugging code in here has not been tested in years. Van Jacobson has |
c906108c SS |
420 | better kernel debugging, but the UC lawyers won't let FSF have it. |
421 | ||
422 | ||
423 | Remote debugging | |
424 | ================= | |
425 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
426 | The files m68k-stub.c, i386-stub.c, and sparc-stub.c are examples |
427 | of remote stubs to be used with remote.c. They are designed to run | |
428 | standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly | |
429 | with the remote.c stub over a serial line. | |
c906108c | 430 | |
aba7b4b6 | 431 | The directory gdb/gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that |
c906108c | 432 | allows remote debugging for Unix applications. gdbserver is only |
aba7b4b6 AC |
433 | supported for some native configurations, including Sun 3, Sun 4, and |
434 | Linux. | |
c906108c | 435 | |
aba7b4b6 | 436 | There are a number of remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM |
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437 | monitors and other hardware: |
438 | ||
439 | remote-adapt.c AMD 29000 "Adapt" | |
440 | remote-array.c Array Tech RAID controller | |
441 | remote-bug.c Motorola BUG monitor | |
c906108c SS |
442 | remote-e7000.c Hitachi E7000 ICE |
443 | remote-eb.c AMD 29000 "EBMON" | |
444 | remote-es.c Ericsson 1800 monitor | |
445 | remote-est.c EST emulator | |
446 | remote-hms.c Hitachi Micro Systems H8/300 monitor | |
447 | remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol | |
448 | remote-mm.c AMD 29000 "minimon" | |
449 | remote-nindy.c Intel 960 "Nindy" | |
450 | remote-nrom.c NetROM ROM emulator | |
451 | remote-os9k.c PC running OS/9000 | |
452 | remote-rdi.c ARM with Angel monitor | |
453 | remote-rdp.c ARM with Demon monitor | |
454 | remote-sds.c PowerPC SDS monitor | |
455 | remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol | |
456 | remote-st.c Tandem ST-2000 monitor | |
457 | remote-udi.c AMD 29000 using the AMD "Universal Debug Interface" | |
458 | remote-vx.c VxWorks realtime kernel | |
459 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
460 | Remote-vx.c and the vx-share subdirectory contain a remote |
461 | interface for the VxWorks realtime kernel, which communicates over TCP | |
462 | using the Sun RPC library. This would be a useful starting point for | |
463 | other remote- via-ethernet back ends. | |
c906108c | 464 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
465 | Remote-udi.c and the 29k-share subdirectory contain a remote |
466 | interface for AMD 29000 programs, which uses the AMD "Universal Debug | |
467 | Interface". This allows GDB to talk to software simulators, | |
468 | emulators, and/or bare hardware boards, via network or serial | |
469 | interfaces. Note that GDB only provides an interface that speaks UDI, | |
470 | not a complete solution. You will need something on the other end | |
471 | that also speaks UDI. | |
c906108c SS |
472 | |
473 | ||
474 | Reporting Bugs | |
475 | =============== | |
476 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
477 | The correct address for reporting bugs found in gdb is |
478 | "bug-gdb@gnu.org". Please email all bugs, and all requests for help | |
479 | with GDB, to that address. Please include the GDB version number | |
480 | (e.g., gdb-5.0), and how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 | |
c906108c | 481 | host, i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many |
aba7b4b6 AC |
482 | different configurations, it is important that you be precise about |
483 | this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner that | |
484 | GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual configure | |
485 | command that you used when configuring GDB. | |
c906108c | 486 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
487 | For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the GDB |
488 | Bugs section of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo) or the | |
489 | gdb/CONTRIBUTE file. | |
c906108c SS |
490 | |
491 | Known bugs: | |
492 | ||
493 | * Under Ultrix 4.2 (DECstation-3100) or Alphas under OSF/1, we have | |
494 | seen problems with backtraces after interrupting the inferior out | |
495 | of a read(). The problem is caused by ptrace() returning an | |
496 | incorrect value for the frame pointer register (register 15 or | |
497 | 30). As far as we can tell, this is a kernel problem. Any help | |
498 | with this would be greatly appreciated. | |
499 | ||
500 | * Under Ultrix 4.4 (DECstation-3100), setting the TERMCAP environment | |
501 | variable to a string without a trailing ':' can cause GDB to dump | |
502 | core upon startup. Although the core file makes it look as though | |
503 | GDB code failed, the crash actually occurs within a call to the | |
504 | termcap library function tgetent(). The problem can be solved by | |
505 | using the GNU Termcap library. | |
506 | ||
507 | Alphas running OSF/1 (versions 1.0 through 2.1) have the same buggy | |
508 | termcap code, but GDB behaves strangely rather than crashing. | |
509 | ||
510 | * On DECstations there are warnings about shift counts out of range in | |
511 | various BFD modules. None of them is a cause for alarm, they are actually | |
512 | a result of bugs in the DECstation compiler. | |
513 | ||
514 | * Notes for the DEC Alpha using OSF/1: | |
515 | The debugging output of native cc has two known problems; we view these | |
516 | as compiler bugs. | |
517 | The linker miscompacts symbol tables, which causes gdb to confuse the | |
518 | type of variables or results in `struct <illegal>' type outputs. | |
519 | dbx has the same problems with those executables. A workaround is to | |
520 | specify -Wl,-b when linking, but that will increase the executable size | |
521 | considerably. | |
522 | If a structure has incomplete type in one file (e.g., "struct foo *" | |
523 | without a definition for "struct foo"), gdb will be unable to find the | |
524 | structure definition from another file. | |
525 | It has been reported that the Ultrix 4.3A compiler on decstations has the | |
526 | same problems. | |
527 | ||
528 | * Notes for Solaris 2.x, using the SPARCworks cc compiler: | |
529 | You have to compile your program with the -xs option of the SPARCworks | |
530 | compiler to be able to debug your program with gdb. | |
531 | Under Solaris 2.3 you also need patch 101409-03 (Jumbo linker patch). | |
532 | Under Solaris 2.2, if you have patch 101052 installed, make sure | |
533 | that it is at least at revision 101052-06. | |
534 | ||
535 | * Under Irix 5 for SGIs, you must have installed the `compiler_dev.hdr' | |
536 | subsystem that is on the IDO CD, otherwise you will get complaints | |
537 | that certain files such as `/usr/include/syms.h' cannot be found. | |
538 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
539 | * Under Irix 6 you must build with GCC. The vendor compiler reports |
540 | as errors certain assignments that GCC considers to be warnings. | |
541 | ||
542 | GDB can produce warnings about symbols that it does not understand. | |
543 | By default, these warnings are disabled. You can enable them by | |
544 | executing `set complaint 10' (which you can put in your ~/.gdbinit if | |
545 | you like). I recommend doing this if you are working on a compiler, | |
546 | assembler, linker, or GDB, since it will point out problems that you | |
547 | may be able to fix. Warnings produced during symbol reading indicate | |
548 | some mismatch between the object file and GDB's symbol reading code. | |
549 | In many cases, it's a mismatch between the specs for the object file | |
550 | format, and what the compiler actually outputs or the debugger | |
551 | actually understands. | |
552 | ||
553 | ||
554 | Graphical interface to GDB -- X Windows, MS Windows | |
555 | ========================== | |
c906108c | 556 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
557 | Several graphical interfaces to GDB are available. You should |
558 | check: | |
c906108c | 559 | |
aba7b4b6 | 560 | http://sourceware.cygnus.com/gdb/#gui |
c906108c | 561 | |
aba7b4b6 | 562 | for an up-to-date list. |
c906108c | 563 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
564 | Emacs users will very likely enjoy the Grand Unified Debugger mode; |
565 | try typing `M-x gdb RET'. Those interested in experimenting with a | |
566 | new kind of gdb-mode should load gdb/gdba.el into GNU Emacs 19.25 or | |
567 | later. Comments on this mode are also welcome. | |
c906108c SS |
568 | |
569 | ||
570 | Writing Code for GDB | |
571 | ===================== | |
572 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 573 | There is a lot of information about writing code for GDB in the |
c906108c SS |
574 | internals manual, distributed with GDB in gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo. You |
575 | can read it by hand, print it by using TeX and texinfo, or process it | |
576 | into an `info' file for use with Emacs' info mode or the standalone | |
577 | `info' program. | |
578 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 579 | If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially |
c906108c SS |
580 | take note of the information about copyrights in the node Submitting |
581 | Patches. It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so | |
582 | we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are | |
583 | planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you | |
584 | think you will be ready to submit the patches. | |
585 | ||
586 | ||
587 | GDB Testsuite | |
588 | ============= | |
589 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
590 | Included with the GDB distribution is a DejaGNU based testsuite |
591 | that can either be used to test your newly built GDB, or for | |
592 | regression testing a GDB with local modifications. | |
593 | ||
594 | Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU, | |
595 | which is generally available via ftp. The directory | |
596 | ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent | |
597 | snapshot. Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of | |
598 | the following ways: | |
c906108c | 599 | |
aba7b4b6 AC |
600 | (1) cd gdb-5.0 |
601 | make check-gdb | |
602 | ||
603 | or | |
c906108c | 604 | |
aba7b4b6 | 605 | (2) cd gdb-5.0/gdb |
c906108c SS |
606 | make check |
607 | ||
608 | or | |
609 | ||
aba7b4b6 | 610 | (3) cd gdb-5.0/gdb/testsuite |
c906108c SS |
611 | make site.exp (builds the site specific file) |
612 | runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate) | |
613 | ||
aba7b4b6 AC |
614 | The last method gives you slightly more control in case of problems |
615 | with building one or more test executables or if you are using the | |
616 | testsuite `standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree. | |
c906108c SS |
617 | |
618 | See the DejaGNU documentation for further details. | |
619 | ||
620 | \f | |
621 | (this is for editing this file with GNU emacs) | |
622 | Local Variables: | |
623 | mode: text | |
624 | End: |