Debugging the 4A with MAME

[+jedimatt42]

I'm trying to debug some interactions with hardware I only have access to through MAME. 

 

I've come to realize at least that the compartmentalized and abstract nature of MAME means the docs are both of those things as well...  I found that the debugger docs do not tell you how to enter the debugger, cause that's a general option. Shortly after figuring that out in the main MAME docs, I got smart and went here:  https://www.ninerpedia.org/wiki/MESS_debugger, but this isn't enough information...

 

I think in order to use the MAME debugger, some knowledge of the emulation architecture for a platform is required... for instance, I open a memory dump window, and it is for the ':maincpu' memory space. And I see lots of references in the generalized docs about debugger commands that understand systems can have multiple cpus... What I can't figure out is how to open a memory dump window for the VDP address space. Is the VDP treated as another processor? If so, is there a way inside the debugger to list the processors? 

 

Anyone feel like sharing some useful commands for discovering the 4A through the MAME debugger? Things like how do view VDP RAM, GROM, break on address read or write, and everything else you might know and find useful when debugging 4A behavior/software in MAME? 

 

-M@

 

 

[HOME AUTOMATION]

Upper right pull down menu?

 

[+mizapf]

10 hours ago, jedimatt42 said:

Anyone feel like sharing some useful commands for discovering the 4A through the MAME debugger? Things like how do view VDP RAM, GROM, break on address read or write, and everything else you might know and find useful when debugging 4A behavior/software in MAME?

 

You can set breakpoints (bpset) in the executed code, and you can set watchpoints (wpset) in the data. Have a look at the "help" pages inside the debugger.

 

The only problem is GPL. There is no way to integrate a disassembler for GPL, and since GPL does not happen on hardware (remember, it is a virtual architecture), there is no way of debugging GPL. You can compile some debug flags into the code that I prepared, and then you can e.g. watch the accessed GROM areas in the system log.

 

[+jedimatt42]

Thanks!  My flavor of Linux hasn't caught up with high res displays yet, so I couldn't see the pull down indicator in the memory dump window... The dust on my screen is larger than the pull down menu icon..

 

---

 

Where are the 'help' pages inside the debugger?  I don't see anything in here about help pages:  https://docs.mamedev.org/debugger/general.html?highlight=debugger

 

How would you go about setting a watchpoint on VDP RAM?  Can you qualify a memory address when specifying wpset? 

 

-M@

 

[+mizapf]

Type "help" in the debugger's command line.

 

I don't think you can set a watchpoint in VDP RAM. Everything related to breakpoints and watchpoints has to do with the memory access of the CPU. The VDP is not implemented as a CPU (while the 9995 in the HX5102 hexbus floppy drive is indeed a second CPU).

 

Out of curiosity, I just tried this: When you run the TI-99/8 with the HX5102, you can switch between the "maincpu" and the "drivecpu" by pressing F6 (Run to other CPU). Then you can set breakpoints and watchpoints for the respective CPU.