AMD SimNow Simulator 4.4.4 User manual

AMD SimNow™ Simulator
4.4.4
User’s Manual
Revision
Date
2.00
September 2008
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
One AMD Place
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
[e-mail]

AMD
AMD Confidential
© 2004-2008 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
The Contents of this document are provided in connection with Advanced
Micro Devices, Inc. (“AMD”) products. AMD makes no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this
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Trademarks
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, AMD Opteron and combinations thereof,
SimNow, 3DNow!, AMD-8111, AMD-8131, AMD-8132 and AMD-8151 are trademarks
of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
HyperTransport is a trademark of the HyperTransport Technology Consortium.
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Sysmark is a registered trademark of Business Applications Performance Corp.
MMX is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
Other product names used in this publication are for identification purposes only and may
be trademarks of their respective companies.

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User Manual September 12th, 2008
Contents iii
Contents
Figures................................................................................................................................ ix
Tables.................................................................................................................................xi
1 Overview..................................................................................................................... 1
2 Installation................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 System Requirements.......................................................................................... 3
2.2 Installation Procedure ......................................................................................... 3
2.3 Directory Structure and Executable.................................................................... 4
2.4 Setting up Linux for the Simulator ..................................................................... 4
2.5 Configuration File............................................................................................... 5
2.6 Updates and Questions........................................................................................ 6
3 Graphical User Interface............................................................................................. 7
3.1 Tool Bar Buttons................................................................................................. 7
3.2 Device Window .................................................................................................. 9
3.2.1 Add a New Device.................................................................................... 10
3.2.2 Workspace Popup Menu........................................................................... 10
3.2.2.1 Add Connection.............................................................................. 11
3.2.2.2 Configure Device............................................................................ 12
3.2.2.3 Disconnect Device ......................................................................... 12
3.2.2.4 Delete Device.................................................................................. 13
3.2.3 Example Computer Description................................................................ 13
3.2.4 Device Window –Quick Reference ......................................................... 15
3.3 Device Groups .................................................................................................. 15
3.3.1 Terms ........................................................................................................ 16
3.3.2 Concept Diagrams..................................................................................... 17
3.3.3 Working with Device Groups.................................................................... 18
3.3.4 Shell Automation Commands for Device Groups.................................... 19
3.3.4.1 Device Tree..................................................................................... 19
3.3.4.2 Enabled vs. Disabled vs. Mixed................................................... 20
3.3.5 Device Group Examples........................................................................... 20
3.3.5.1 Example: 1GB DDR2 memory..................................................... 21
3.3.5.2 Example: Quad-Core Node.......................................................... 22
3.3.5.3 Example: SuperIO device............................................................. 24
3.3.6 Creating a Device Group .......................................................................... 24
3.4 Main Window ................................................................................................... 24
3.4.1 SimStats and Diagnostic Ports.................................................................. 24
3.4.2 CPU-Statistics Graphs .............................................................................. 25
3.4.2.1 Translation Graph........................................................................... 25
3.4.2.2 Real MIPS Graph........................................................................... 25
3.4.2.3 Invalidation Rate Graph ................................................................ 26
3.4.2.4 Exception Rate Graph................................................................... 26
3.4.2.5 PIO Rate Graph.............................................................................. 26
3.4.2.6 MMIO Rate Graph.......................................................................... 27

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iv Contents
3.4.3 Simulated Video........................................................................................ 27
3.4.4 Hard Disk and Floppy Display ................................................................. 27
3.4.5 Using Hard Drive, DVD-/CD-ROM and Floppy Images......................... 28
3.4.6 Registry Window...................................................................................... 28
3.4.7 Help, Problems and Bug Reports.............................................................. 29
4 Disk Images .............................................................................................................. 31
4.1 Creating A Blank Hard-Drive Image................................................................ 31
5 Running the Simulator.............................................................................................. 35
5.1 Command-Line Arguments .............................................................................. 35
5.1.1 Open a Simulation Definition File............................................................ 36
5.2 Installing an Operating System......................................................................... 38
5.2.1 Assigning Disk-Images............................................................................. 38
5.2.2 Run The Simulation.................................................................................. 40
5.2.3 Interaction with the Simulated Machine................................................... 41
5.2.4 Simulation Reset....................................................................................... 41
5.3 Multi-Machine Support..................................................................................... 41
6 Create a Simulated Computer................................................................................... 45
6.1 BSD Files.......................................................................................................... 45
6.2 Device Placement.............................................................................................. 45
6.3 Solo.bsd Device Configuration......................................................................... 47
6.4 Save and Run .................................................................................................... 48
7 Device Configuration................................................................................................ 49
7.1 AweSim Processor Device................................................................................ 51
7.2 Debugger Device .............................................................................................. 54
7.3 DIMM Device................................................................................................... 55
7.4 Emerald Graphics Device................................................................................. 61
7.5 Matrox MGA-G400 PCI/AGP.......................................................................... 65
7.6 Super IO Devices: Winbond W83627HF SIO / ITE 8712 SIO........................ 74
7.7 Memory Device ................................................................................................ 77
7.8 PCA9548 SMB Device..................................................................................... 80
7.9 PCA9556 SMB Device..................................................................................... 81
7.10 AMD 8th Generation Integrated Northbridge Device...................................... 82
7.11 AMD-8111™ Southbridge Devices – IO Hubs................................................ 86
7.12 PCI BUS Device............................................................................................... 92
7.13 AMD-8131™ PCI-X®Controller..................................................................... 94
7.14 AMD-8132™ PCI-X®Controller..................................................................... 95
7.15 PCI-X Test Device............................................................................................ 97
7.16 AMD-8151™ AGP Bridge Device................................................................... 98
7.17 Raid Device: Compaq SmartArray 5304........................................................ 100
7.18 SMB Hub Device............................................................................................ 101
7.19 AT24C Device................................................................................................ 103
7.20 EXDI Server Device....................................................................................... 104
7.21 USB Keyboard and USB Mouse Devices....................................................... 105
7.22 XTR Device.................................................................................................... 106
7.22.1 Using XTR.............................................................................................. 107
7.22.1.1 Recoding XTR Trace................................................................... 107

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Contents v
7.22.1.2 Stop XTR Record......................................................................... 107
7.22.1.3 XTR Playback............................................................................... 107
7.22.1.4 Stop XTR Playback...................................................................... 108
7.22.2 XTR Structure......................................................................................... 110
7.22.2.1 XML Structure............................................................................... 110
7.22.2.2 XTR Binary File Contents ........................................................... 112
7.22.3 ModeFlags............................................................................................... 112
7.22.4 Limitations.............................................................................................. 113
7.22.5 Example XTR XML File........................................................................ 113
7.23 JumpDrive Device .......................................................................................... 119
7.24 E1000 Network Adapter Device..................................................................... 120
7.24.1 Simulated Link Negotiation.................................................................... 121
7.24.2 The Mediator Daemon............................................................................ 122
7.24.3 MAC Addresses for use with the Adapter.............................................. 123
7.24.4 Example Configurations ......................................................................... 123
7.24.4.1 Absolute NIC................................................................................. 123
7.24.4.2 Client-Server simulated network................................................ 124
7.24.4.3 Isolated Client-Server simulated network (Same process) ... 124
7.24.5 Visibility Diagram .................................................................................. 125
7.25 Plug and Play Monitor Device........................................................................ 126
7.26 ATI SB400/SB600/SB700 Southbridge Devices............................................ 128
7.27 ATI RS480/RS780/RD790/RD890 Northbridge Devices.............................. 130
7.28 AMD “Istanbul” Device ................................................................................. 131
7.29 AMD “Sao Paulo” Device .............................................................................. 132
7.30 AMD “Magny-Cours” Device ........................................................................ 133
8 PCI Configuration Viewer...................................................................................... 135
8.1 Scanning PCI Buses........................................................................................ 136
8.2 Modifying the PCI Configuration contents..................................................... 136
9 Logging................................................................................................................... 137
9.1 Message Log................................................................................................... 137
9.2 Error Log......................................................................................................... 139
9.3 I/O Logging..................................................................................................... 140
10 CPU Debugger.................................................................................................... 143
10.1 Using the CPU Debugger................................................................................ 143
10.1.1 Setting a Breakpoint................................................................................ 143
10.1.2 Single Stepping the Simulation............................................................... 144
10.1.3 Stepping Over an Instruction.................................................................. 144
10.1.4 Skipping an Instruction........................................................................... 145
10.1.5 Viewing a Memory Region..................................................................... 145
10.1.6 Reading PCI Configuration Registers..................................................... 146
10.1.7 Reading CPU MSR Contents.................................................................. 146
10.1.8 Find Pattern in Memory.......................................................................... 147
10.2 Debugger Command Reference...................................................................... 147
11 Debug Interface................................................................................................... 151
11.1 Kernel Debugger............................................................................................. 151
11.2 GDB Interface................................................................................................. 152

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vi Contents
11.2.1 Simple Approach .................................................................................... 152
11.2.2 Alternate Approach................................................................................. 153
11.2.3 Using Another Port on the Same Machine ............................................. 153
11.2.4 Using Two Separate Machines ............................................................... 153
11.3 Linux Host Serial Port Communication.......................................................... 153
12 Command API .................................................................................................... 155
13 DiskTool ............................................................................................................. 157
13.1 Command-Line Mode..................................................................................... 157
13.2 GUI Mode....................................................................................................... 158
14 BIOS Developer‟s Quick Start Guide................................................................. 163
14.1 Loading a BIOS Image ................................................................................... 163
14.2 Changing DRAM Size.................................................................................... 163
14.3 Changing SPD Data........................................................................................ 164
14.4 Clearing CMOS .............................................................................................. 165
14.5 Logging PCI Configuration Cycles ................................................................ 165
14.6 Logging CPU Cycles ...................................................................................... 166
14.7 Creating a Floppy-Disk Image........................................................................ 167
15 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ................................................................... 169
A Appendix................................................................................................................. 183
A.1 Format of Floppy and Hard-Drive Images...................................................... 183
A.2 Bill of Material................................................................................................ 184
A.2.1 Computer Platform Files (BSD) ............................................................. 184
A.2.2 Device Files (*.BSL) .............................................................................. 184
A.2.3 Product Files (*.ID) ................................................................................ 185
A.2.4 Image Files (*.HDD, *.FDD, *.ROM, *.SPD, *.BIN)........................... 185
A.2.4.1 Hard-Disk Image Files........................................................................ 185
A.2.4.2 Memory SPD Files.............................................................................. 186
A.3 Supported Guest Operating Systems .............................................................. 187
A.4 CPUID............................................................................................................. 188
A.4.1 CPUID Standard Feature Support (Standard Function 0x01)................. 188
A.4.2 CPUID AMD Feature Support (Extended Function 0x80000001)......... 189
A.5 Known Issues.................................................................................................. 190
A.5.1 FSAVE/FRSTOR and FSTENV/FLDENV............................................ 190
A.5.2 Triple Faulting ........................................................................................ 190
A.5.3 Performance-Monitoring Counter Extensions........................................ 190
A.5.4 Microcode Patching................................................................................ 190
A.5.5 Instruction Coherency............................................................................. 190
A.6 Instruction Reference...................................................................................... 192
A.6.1 Notation................................................................................................... 192
A.6.1.1 Mnemonic Syntax............................................................................... 192
A.6.1.2 Opcode Syntax.................................................................................... 194
A.6.2 General Purpose Instructions.................................................................. 195
A.6.3 System Instructions................................................................................. 223
A.6.3.1 INT –Interrupt to Vector.................................................................... 225
A.6.3.2 IRET –Return from Interrupt............................................................. 225
A.6.4 Virtualization Instruction Reference....................................................... 226

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Contents vii
A.6.5 64-Bit Media Instruction Reference........................................................ 226
A.6.6 3DNow!™ Instruction Set ...................................................................... 226
A.6.7 Extension to the 3DNow! Instruction Set............................................... 227
A.6.8 Prescott New Instructions....................................................................... 227
A.6.8.1 MONITOR –Setup Monitor Address................................................. 228
A.6.8.2 MWAIT –Monitor Wait..................................................................... 229
A.7 Automation Commands.................................................................................. 230
A.7.1 Shell ........................................................................................................ 231
A.7.2 IDE.......................................................................................................... 235
A.7.3 USB......................................................................................................... 236
A.7.4 CMOS..................................................................................................... 237
A.7.5 ACPI ....................................................................................................... 237
A.7.6 Floppy..................................................................................................... 237
A.7.7 Debug...................................................................................................... 237
A.7.8 AMD-8151™ AGP Bridge ..................................................................... 238
A.7.9 VGA........................................................................................................ 238
A.7.10 Serial....................................................................................................... 238
A.7.11 HyperTransport™ Technology Configuration ....................................... 240
A.7.12 8th Generation Northbridge..................................................................... 241
A.7.13 DBC ........................................................................................................ 241
A.7.14 AMD-8111™ Device.............................................................................. 241
A.7.15 EHC......................................................................................................... 242
A.7.16 Journal..................................................................................................... 242
A.7.17 CPU......................................................................................................... 242
A.7.17.1 Profiling in SimNow™ Technology............................................... 242
A.7.17.2 CPU Code Generator Commands................................................... 244
A.7.18 Emerald Graphics.................................................................................... 244
A.7.19 Matrox MGA-G400 Graphics................................................................. 245
A.7.20 PCI Bus................................................................................................... 245
A.7.21 SIO.......................................................................................................... 245
A.7.22 Memory Device ...................................................................................... 246
A.7.23 Raid......................................................................................................... 247
A.7.24 DIMM ..................................................................................................... 248
A.7.25 Keyboard and Mouse.............................................................................. 249
A.7.26 JumpDrive............................................................................................... 250
A.7.27 E1000...................................................................................................... 253
A.7.28 XTR......................................................................................................... 253
A.7.29 ATI SB400/SB600/SB700...................................................................... 254
A.7.30 ATI RS480.............................................................................................. 254
A.7.31 ATI RS780.............................................................................................. 255
A.7.32 ATI RD790/RD780/RX780.................................................................... 255
A.7.33 ATI RD890S/RD890/RD780S/RX880................................................... 255
Index ............................................................................................................................... 257

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User Manual September 12th, 2008
Figures ix
Figures
Figure 3-1: Main Window (In Simulation)......................................................................... 7
Figure 3-2: Device Window................................................................................................ 9
Figure 3-3: Workspace Popup Menu................................................................................ 11
Figure 3-4: Add Connection Dialog of Device Properties Window................................. 12
Figure 3-5: Computer Simulation in “cheetah_1p.bsd” File ............................................ 13
Figure 3-1: Device group: BSD with one machine group and three child devices........... 17
Figure 7-2: Device group (different conceptual view –devices are inside groups)......... 17
Figure 7-3: Device Group (2 group devices 1 library device).......................................... 18
Figure 3-6: Modify Group ................................................................................................ 18
Figure 3-7: Device Group................................................................................................. 18
Figure 3-8: Example DIMM Device Group...................................................................... 21
Figure 3-9: Created DIMM Device Group ....................................................................... 21
Figure 3-10: Children of DIMM Device Group ............................................................... 22
Figure 3-11: Console Window.......................................................................................... 24
Figure 3-12: Progress Meter and Diagnostic Ports........................................................... 25
Figure 3-13: CPU Translation Graph................................................................................ 25
Figure 3-14: CPU Real MIPS Graph................................................................................ 26
Figure 3-15: CPU Invalidation Graph............................................................................... 26
Figure 3-16: CPU Exception Rate Graph ......................................................................... 26
Figure 3-17: CPU PIO Rate Graph................................................................................... 27
Figure 3-18: CPU MMIO Rate Graph.............................................................................. 27
Figure 3-19: Primary, Secondary, and Floppy Displays................................................... 28
Figure 3-20: Registry Window ......................................................................................... 29
Figure 4-1: DiskTool Dialogue Window.......................................................................... 32
Figure 4-2: DiskTool Shell Window................................................................................. 32
Figure 4-3: New Image Size............................................................................................. 33
Figure 4-4: Create Blank Image........................................................................................ 33
Figure 4-5: DiskTool Operation Successful ..................................................................... 34
Figure 5-1: Main Window (No BSD Loaded).................................................................. 35
Figure 5-2: Main Window (BSD Loaded)........................................................................ 37
Figure 5-3: Device Window.............................................................................................. 38
Figure 5-4: Installing WindowsXP................................................................................... 40
Figure 6-1: Solo.bsd Configuration .................................................................................. 45
Figure 6-2: Connections Tab of Device Properties Window............................................ 46
Figure 6-3: PCI Bus Configuration dialog window.......................................................... 48
Figure 7-4: AweSim Processor-Type Properties .............................................................. 52
Figure 7-5: AweSim Processor Logging Properties Dialog ............................................. 53
Figure 7-6: AMD Opteron™ Processor Virtual Bank-Select Line Configuration........... 56
Figure 7-7: AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor Bank-Select Line Configuration .................... 56
Figure 7-8: DIMM-Bank Options Properties Dialog........................................................ 58
Figure 7-9: DIMM Module Properties Dialog.................................................................. 59
Figure 7-10: Graphics-Device VGA Sub Device Properties Dialog................................ 62
Figure 7-11: Graphics Device Frame Buffer SubDevice Properties ................................ 63

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User Manual September 12h, 2008
xFigures
Figure 7-12: Matrox G400 Block Diagram ...................................................................... 65
Figure 7-13: Matrox G400 Information Property Dialog................................................. 67
Figure 7-14: Matrox G400 Configuration Properties ....................................................... 68
Figure 7-15: Enable Full Hardware Acceleration on WindowsXP guest......................... 73
Figure 7-16: Super IO Properties Dialog: Winbond W83627HF..................................... 75
Figure 7-17: Memory Configuration Properties Dialog ................................................... 78
Figure 7-18: PCA9548 SMB Configuration Properties Dialog........................................ 80
Figure 7-19: PCA9556 SMB Configuration Properties Dialog........................................ 81
Figure 7-20: Northbridge Logging Capabilities Properties Dialog .................................. 83
Figure 7-21: Northbridge HT Link Configuration Properties Dialog............................... 83
Figure 7-22: Northbridge DDR2 Training Properties Dialog........................................... 84
Figure 7-23: USB Properties Dialog (AMD-8111™ Southbridge) .................................. 87
Figure 7-24: CMOS Properties Dialog (AMD-8111™ Southbridge) .............................. 88
Figure 7-25: HDD Primary Channel Properties Dialog (AMD-8111 Southbridge)......... 89
Figure 7-26: Device Options Properties Dialog (AMD-8111 chipset)............................. 90
Figure 7-27: Logging Options Properties Dialog (AMD-8111 chipset)........................... 91
Figure 7-28: PCI Bus Properties Dialog........................................................................... 93
Figure 7-29: AMD-8131™ Device Hot Plug Configuration............................................ 94
Figure 7-30: AMD-8132™ Device Hot Plug Configuration............................................ 95
Figure 7-31: AMD-8132 Properties Dialog...................................................................... 96
Figure 7-32: AMD-8151™ Device Properties Dialog...................................................... 98
Figure 7-33: SMB Hub Properties Dialog...................................................................... 102
Figure 7-34: AT24C Device Configuration.................................................................... 103
Figure 7-35: Communication via Mediator .................................................................... 120
Figure 7-36: Multi-Machine Communication without a Mediator................................. 121
Figure 7-37: Visibility Diagram...................................................................................... 125
Figure 7-38: Plug and Play Monitor Device Configuration............................................ 127
Figure 7-39: ATI SB600 SATA Configuration Dialog .................................................. 129
Figure 8-1: PCI Configuration Viewer........................................................................... 135
Figure 9-1: Message Log................................................................................................ 138
Figure 9-2: Error Log...................................................................................................... 139
Figure 9-3: I/O Logging Dialog...................................................................................... 140
Figure 10-1: CPU Debugger Window ............................................................................ 143
Figure 13-1: DiskTool Shell Window............................................................................. 159
Figure 13-2: DiskTool GUI Window.............................................................................. 160
Figure 13-3: DiskTool Drive Information ...................................................................... 160
Figure 13-4: DiskTool Progress Window....................................................................... 161
Figure 14-1: Memory Configurator................................................................................ 164
Figure 14-2: Diagnostics Display ................................................................................... 165
Figure 14-3: Message Log Window ............................................................................... 166
Figure 15-1: Console Window........................................................................................ 230

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User Manual September 12th, 2008
Tables xi
Tables
Table 1-1: Feature Overview Public Release versus Full Release ..................................... 2
Table 2-1: Software and Hardware Requirements.............................................................. 3
Table 3-1: Cheetah_1p.bsd Devices ................................................................................. 15
Table 3-2: Device Window - Quick Reference................................................................. 15
Table 3-3: Image Types.................................................................................................... 28
Table 5-1: Command-Line Arguments............................................................................. 36
Table 5-2: Newmachine Command Arguments ............................................................... 42
Table 7-1: Supported Devices........................................................................................... 50
Table 7-2: Supported Standard VESA Modes.................................................................. 63
Table 7-3: Supported Custom VESA Modes.................................................................... 64
Table 7-4: Matrox G400 VESA Modes............................................................................ 71
Table 7-5: Supported Resolutions in Power Graphics Mode............................................ 71
Table 7-6: Supported Guest Operating Systems............................................................... 72
Table 7-7: Execution Control Flags................................................................................ 112
Table 7-8: Internal Execution Control Flags .................................................................. 113
Table 7-9: Mediator Command Line Switches............................................................... 123
Table 7-10: MAC Address Assignments........................................................................ 124
Table 7-11: Client-Server: Simulator Server.................................................................. 124
Table 7-12: Client-Server: Simulator Client 1................................................................ 124
Table 7-13: Isolated Client-Server: Simulator Server .................................................... 124
Table 7-14: Isolated Client-Server: Simulator Client 1.................................................. 125
Table 10-1: Debugger Breakpoint Command Examples................................................ 144
Table 10-2: Debugger Memory Dump Command Examples......................................... 146
Table 10-3: Debugger Pacifica Memory Dump Command Examples........................... 146
Table 10-4: MSR Read Examples................................................................................... 147
Table 10-5: MSR Write Example................................................................................... 147
Table 10-6: Find Pattern Example.................................................................................. 147
Table 10-7: Debugger Commands and Definitions........................................................ 150
Table 15-1: Computer Platform Files (BSD).................................................................. 184
Table 15-2: Product Files................................................................................................ 185
Table 15-3: Hard-Disk Images........................................................................................ 186
Table 15-4: Memory SPD Files...................................................................................... 186
Table 15-5: Supported Guest Operating Systems........................................................... 187
Table 15-6: CPUID Standard Feature implementation................................................... 189
Table 15-7: CPUID Extended Feature implementation.................................................. 189
Table 15-8: General-Purpose Instruction Reference....................................................... 223
Table 15-9: System Instruction Reference...................................................................... 225
Table 15-10: 3DNow!™Instruction Reference ............................................................. 227
Table 15-11: Extension to 3DNow! Instruction Reference ............................................ 227
Table 15-12: Prescott New Instruction Reference.......................................................... 228
Table 15-13: CodeGen Command Overview ................................................................. 244
Table 15-14: Prefix Sequences (keyboard.text).............................................................. 250

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xii Figures

AMD Confidential
User Manual September 12th, 2008
Chapter 1: Overview 1
1 Overview
The AMD SimNow™ simulator is an AMD64 technology-compatible x86 platform
simulator for AMD's family of processors. It is designed to provide an accurate model of
a computer system from the program, OS, and programmer's point of view. It allows fast
simulation of an entire computer system, plus standard debugging features such as break-
pointing, memory-viewing, and single-stepping. The simulator allows such work as BIOS
and OS development, memory-parameter tuning, and multi-processor system simulation.
Section 2.1, “System Requirements”, on page 3 describes supported host Operating
Systems. Section A.3, “Supported Guest Operating Systems”, on page 186 describes
supported guest Operating Systems.
The simulator has between a 10:1 and 100:1 slowdown rate from the host CPU,
depending on whether the workload is in the CPU core or accessing simulated devices
intensively.
The simulator is designed to create an accurate model of a system from the program‟s
view. Device models contain all the program-visible state but the actual functionality is
abstracted. In many cases only the functionality needed to satisfy the software is
implemented. Software may be run on the simulator in an unmodified form. This includes
BIOS, drivers, O/S, and applications.
The simulator has a concept of time, but it is not a cycle-accurate simulator. The basic
timing mechanism is an instruction; all instructions execute in the same amount of time
and are one tick in length. This "tick" time is scaled and used by the rest of the system.
Long-latency events, like disk or floppy access, have some minimum latency built in
because we found legacy software that relied on the physical latency of these peripherals.
The simulator contains all the classic pieces of a PC system (CPU, memory, Northbridge,
Southbridge, display, IDE drives, floppy, keyboard, and mouse support). Images (hard
disk, DVD/CD-ROM, and floppy) can be created in custom sizes with the DiskTool
program (Section 13, “DiskTool”, on page 157) that is provided with the simulator. A
simulation can be saved at any point in the simulation to a media file, from which the
simulation can be re-run at a later time.
A simple diagnostic port model (known as "Port80" device) displays values written by
the BIOS in a pane of the simulator's main window. Other panes display guest (simulated
machine) and simulator host processor times. The simulator requires several files to be
specified. Binary files containing the BIOS and disk images are stored in the images
directory. The simulator home directory stores “*.bsd” files which contain the
configuration of the system (how models are connected together and their settings) and
the logical state of all the devices in the simulator. When starting a simulation from reset,
the “*.bsd” file is rather small and only contains the configuration information. When the
simulation starts, the simulated memory is allocated. When the simulation is halted and

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User Manual September 12h, 2008
2 Chapter 1: Overview
saved, the “*.bsd” file will have grown significantly, slightly larger than the size of
simulated memory.
The graphics device supplied with the simulator is a 2D and 3D graphics card with linear
frame buffer and DirectX 6 support. AMD currently plans to provide a graphics model
with the simulator which will also have modern 3D hardware acceleration, including
Microsoft® DirectX 9/10 support.
The simulator is available in two versions: Public Release and Full Release. Table 1-1
shows the detailed feature matrix:
Feature
Public Release
Full Release
DIMM configuration
Limited
No 4 Gb limitation of simulated memory
Available devices
Limited
Available platform definition files (BSDs)
Limited
Devices can be added and removed from platform definition files
Connecting and disconnecting devices
Ships with a variety of different CPU cores (Product Files)
Full product support
Limited
Analyzer support
Support of simulated multi-processor systems (up to 16 CPUs)
1
Table 1-1: Feature Overview Public Release versus Full Release
To get more information about how to obtain the full release version of the simulator
please send an email to [email protected].
1Support of up to two cores.

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User Manual September 12th, 2008
Chapter 2: Installation 3
2 Installation
2.1 System Requirements
The AMD SimNow™simulator runs on both Linux 64 for AMD systems and
Windows® for 64-bit AMD systems.
The requirements for each system are as follows:
Linux 64 for AMD64
Windows®XP 64Bit Edition for
AMD64
OS Distribution
Any of the following 64-Bit
Linux distributions for AMD64.
SuSE 9 Pro and newer
RedHat 64Bit Enterprise 3
and above
Fedora Core 2 and newer.
Windows XP x64 Edition or
Windows Server 2003 x64
Edition for AMD64.
Recommended
SuSE 9.1 or newer for AMD64.
Build 1218 or newer.
Memory
Approx. 64MB of memory, plus
Approx. 150 MB of memory for each simulated processor, plus the
amount of simulated RAM.
Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64 or AMD Opteron™.
Hard Disk Space
1 Gigabyte of free hard disk space for the simulator and devices
plus 3 Gigabytes free space for disk file images.
Other Hardware
3.5-inch, 1.44-MB floppy drive.
CD-ROM Drive.
Table 2-1: Software and Hardware Requirements
Running the simulator on a Linux kernel prior to version 2.6.10 may cause the simulator
to malfunction. The bug is in the 64-bit path only, and the symptom is in signals that are
not associated with "system calls" still being treated as "system calls" as they go back to
user space, i.e. in certain cases it tries to restart the "system call" even when it did not
come from a "system call". Updating the Linux kernel to kernel version 2.6.10 or later
resolves this problem.
The simulator may stress the system more than most applications, including the base
operating system. AMD has received reports that the simulator has caused some systems
to crash, and in general this has been traced to unstable hardware. Hardware instability
can also crash applications or operating systems inside the simulator.
2.2 Installation Procedure
Insert the CD-ROM into your system's CD-ROM drive, or download the simulator
program and its data files from http://developer.amd.com/simnow.aspx. Browse to the
root directory of the CD or to the path where the downloaded simulator is stored, and

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4 Chapter 2: Installation
begin the installation, as follows. To install under Windows, double-click on the self-
extracting executable. To install under Linux, extract the zipped tar file as shown below:
tar –xzf Simnow-Linux64-<version>.tar.gz
2.3 Directory Structure and Executable
After the opening screen and license agreement are displayed, you will be prompted to
choose an installation directory. When you select this, the install program will copy the
executable files and device models to the selected directory and setup the registry entries
necessary to run the simulator.
The install program will create the following subdirectories under the install directory:
1 Under Windows each model is a Windows DLL. Under Linux each model is a Linux library. Each model has a ".bsl"
extension.
2.4 Setting up Linux for the Simulator
Make a file: "/etc/sysctl.conf" (or add to the existing one)
# This is here to make sure we get enough "mmap"able virtual address
# space, in 4K pages. It defaults to 65536, which is generally
# too small.
vm.max_map_count = 1048576
# This line doesn't need to be here for newer Linux kernels, but some
# early AMD64 Linux kernels would log SEGVs even if a process had a
# handler for them, which is what SimNow does.
debug.exception-trace = 0
Example 2-1: Setting up Linux for the Simulator
Then run "sysctl -p", or make sure the boot sequence does this if you don't want to run it
at each reboot.
Newer Linux distributions may set a per-process memory limit by default. SimNow
allocates a large amount of memory that is never touched. This untouched memory will
not be backed by DRAM or swap, but Linux counts it against SimNows process memory
limit when it comes to resource limits.
Contains the simulator’s executable, DiskTool, libraries, and BSD files.
analyzers Contains CPU analyzers.
devices Contains the simulator's device models.1
help Contains the simulator’s help files.
icons Contains icons used by the simulator’s GUI components.
images Contains image files.
productfile Contains processor-id files.
reg Contains register script files used to register simulator components.
devel Contains the Emerald BIOS changes and analyzer header files.
tools Contains utilities used to prepare images and register components for the simulation.
doc Contains the latest versions of the simulator documentation.

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Chapter 2: Installation 5
You can unset the per-process memory limits by running the following commands as
root.
ulimit -m unlimited
ulimit -v unlimited
2.5 Configuration File
The simulator's configuration file is a text file that may be edited and that is stored in
different locations depending on which host OS you are using.
If you are using Windows as host operating system the configuration file is located in:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\simnowrc
If you are using Linux as host operating system the configuration file is located in:
$HOME/.qt/simnowrc
Here is an example of the contents of this file, with an explanation:
[General]
[UserKeys]
CTL-ESC=Sends a CTL-ESC to the application,1D 01 81 9D
ALT-F4=Sends an ALT-F4 to the application,38 3e be b8
[UserBottons]
BUTTON0=”MyIconPath\MyIcon.png”,“cpu.name”
The configuration file is divided into sections, with each section title enclosed in square
brackets. This particular example includes three sections, named [General], [UserKeys]
and [UserBottons].
All user key definitions are stored in the [UserKeys] section. Each user key definition is
defined by a single line. This example defines two user keys. The string to the left of the
equal sign is the string that will be placed in the menu. To the right of the equal sign are
two strings, separated by a comma. The first string is the text that is displayed when the
user clicks on the "What's This" help button, and the second string is the list of scan codes
that are sent when this menu item is selected.
The two examples shown are merely duplicates of the normal "CTL-ESC" and "ALT-F4"
menu items on the "Special Keyboard" menu.
All user button definitions are stored in the [UserButtons] section. Each user button
definition is defined by a single line. This example defines one user button (BUTTON0).
The string to the left of the equal sign is the path including the file name of the icon that
will be placed in the toolbar menu. To the right of the equal sign is the string that
represents the automation command (please refer to Section A.7, “Automation

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6 Chapter 2: Installation
Commands”, on page 230) that will be executes when the user clicks on the defined user
button.
Note that minimal parsing of the text is done, so it is important that no spaces exist
around the separating comma.
2.6 Updates and Questions
Please refer to the Release Notes located at "SimNow\docs" to obtain the latest
information about the simulator. If you have any question regarding the simulator please
refer to Section 15, “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)”, on page 169 or contact your
AMD account representative.
Appendixes are provided that describe:
Format of Floppy and Hard-Drive Images, page 183
Bill of Material, page 184
Supported Guest Operating Systems, page 186
CPUID, page 188
Known Issues, page 190
Instruction Reference, page 192
Automation Commands, page 230

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Chapter 3: Graphical User Interface 7
3 Graphical User Interface
The simulator has a cross-platform GUI that uses the Qt toolkit. We welcome bug reports
and usability feedback on the simulator.
Figure 3-1: Main Window (In Simulation)
3.1 Tool Bar Buttons
The Tool Bar shown in Figure 3-1 contains up to eleven control buttons.
The simulation can be started by clicking on the “Play” button ( ).
The simulation can be stopped by clicking on the “Stop”button ( ). To reset the entire
simulator, stop the simulation first by clicking on the “Stop” button and then click on the
“Reset” button ( ).
Numeric Display
Components
Simulation Display
Area
Main Window
Menu Bar
Simulator status
Tool Bar
2D Engine
Color Space
Conversion
(CSC)
Video Scaling
Unit
MAFC Port
Primary CRTC
Programmable
Ultra-pipelined
Floating Point Setup Engine
CPU Graph Area

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8 Chapter 3: Graphical User Interface
The power-management “Soft Power” button ( ) and “Soft Sleep” button ( ) are
available only on simulated systems that have an Advanced Configuration and Power
Interface (ACPI) BIOS.
Clicking on the “Soft Power” button puts the simulated system in a very low power
consumption mode. The working context can be restored if it is stored on nonvolatile
media. The simulated system appears to be off.
Clicking on the “Soft Sleep” button simulates a power-consumption reduction. The power
consumption is reduced to one of several levels, depending on how the system is to be
used. The lower the level of power consumption, the more time it takes the system to
return to the working state.
To close a previously loaded system simulation definition file click on the “Close BSD”
button ( ). This button is only enabled when a system definition file has been loaded or
created earlier. Please make sure you save any changes that you make to the system
configuration before clicking on the “Close BSD” button ( ) to close the system
definition file. Otherwise all changes will be lost.
The “Save BSD” button ( ) is only enabled/active when a system definition (BSD file)
has been loaded or created. To save your current system definition click on the “Save
BSD” button ( ) or click on the "File" menu item and select "Save BSD".
To open a system definition file (BSD file) click on the “Open BSD” button ( ) and
select the desired BSD file from the Open File Dialog Window. The "Open BSD" button
is only enabled/active when no other system definition file has been open yet.
To create a blank or new system definition file click on the “New BSD” button ( ). This
button is disabled when a system definition file has been loaded or created earlier. In this
case you must close your current system definition file, click on the “Close BSD” button
( ) or click on the "File" menu item and select "Close BSD". Please make sure you save
any changes that have been made to the system definition file before you click on the
“Close BSD” button ( ). Note, when closing the BSD file all changes will be lost.
If you want to modify the current system definition use the “Show Device Window”
button ( ) to display the current system configuration. The “Show Device Window”
button is disabled when the simulation is currently running. To stop the simulation click
on the “Stop Simulation” button ( ).
To open the simulator's integrated debugger click on the “Show Debugger”button ( ).
The “Show Debugger” button is disabled when the simulation is currently running. To
stop the simulation click on the “Stop Simulation” button ( ).