[OpenBIOS] Sparc64 OpenBIOS

[Nick Couchman]

>>> On 2009/11/14 at 12:33, Tarl Neustaedter <Tarl.Neustaedter at Sun.COM> wrote:
> Nick Couchman wrote:
>> I have a pretty old version of the Solaris Nevada code that I tried to boot, 
> and I got a different error: open isn't unique.  I'll post actual output here 
> in a little while.
>>   
> 
> Hmm. That's interesting. I wonder if we're getting a conflict between 
> packages in openbios and what the boot blocks are creating. You might 
> find it easier to debug the Solaris Nevada version, depending on just 
> how old it is. Among other things, under OpenSolaris you can find the 
> code for the boot blocks (which changed drastically from Solaris 10 to 
> Nevada), so you aren't quite struggling in the dark.
> 
> Also, the Nevada version of the bootblocks responds to the "-H" 
> argument, indicating that after loading the filesystem into /packages, 
> it returns to the OK prompt rather than immediately trying to do the 
> boot itself. That lets you set up breakpoints in the filesystem code 
> before executing them.

I grabbed the newest Nevada ISO (b127) and tried to boot off that - the error is the same as Solaris 10:

0 > boot cdrom 
[sparc64] Booting file 'cdrom' with parameters ''
Not a bootable ELF image
Not a Linux kernel image
Not a bootable a.out image
Loading FCode image...
Loaded 7120 bytes
entry point is 0x4000
Evaluating FCode...

seek failed

Can't mount root

byte-load: exception caught!
 ok


I also tried the "boot -H" option and I get the following:
0 > boot -H cdrom 
[sparc64] Booting file '-H' with parameters 'cdrom'
 ok


I assume this is the point where I really need the debugger and the breakpoints so that I can step through the rest of the boot process piece-by-piece.

-Nick


>> I'm pretty new to Qemu and OpenBIOS - what's the best way to go about 
> debugging this?  GDB?  Qemu's built-in debugging?
>>   
> 
> Probably best to wait for the forth debugger that is being discussed. 
> Without breakpoints, you need to basically patch in breakpoints, which 
> is doable but time-consuming.



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