Intel processor architectures provide debug facilities for use in debugging code and monitoring system behaviors. Such a debug support is accessed using debug registers (DR0 through DR7), and handled by a dedicated exception routine.
Debug registers (Dr0~DR3) hold the addresses of memory and I/O locations called breakpoints. Breakpoints are user selected locations in a program, a data-storage area in memory, or specific I/O ports. They are set where a programmer or system designer wishes to halt execution of a program and examine the state of the processor by invoking debugger software. A debug exception (#DB, vector = 1) is generated when a memory or I/O access is made to a breakpoint address.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Multiboot Specification and limitations (Bootloader -> OS)
Typically in a computer system, the boot sequence is like this: firmware -> bootloader -> Operating System. The problem is that nowadays we have the largest variety of operating systems, boot loaders, and firmwares (UEFI/Legacy), and even some of them are proprietary software that are not public. So, the interaction might be a problem if the interface is not well-defined.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)