Some Intel processors implement a Branch Trace Store (BTS) which GDB
uses for reverse execution support via the "record btrace bts"
command.
I have been unable to find a description of a similar feature in a
recent (April 2020) AMD64 architecture reference:
https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/40332.pdf
While it is the case that AMD processors have an LBR (last branch
record) bit in the DebugCtl MSR, it seems that it affects only four
MSRs when enabled. The names of these MSRs are LastBranchToIP,
LastBranchFromIP, LastIntToIP, and LastIntFromIP. I can find no
mention of anything more extensive. While looking at an Intel
architecture document, I noticed that Intel's P6 family from the
mid-90s had registers of the same name.
Therefore...
This commit disables "record btrace bts" support in GDB for AMD
processors.
Using the test case from gdb.base/break.exp, the sessions
below show the expected behavior (run on a machine with an
Intel processor) versus that on a machine with an AMD processor.
The AMD processor in question is reported as follows by "lscpu":
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 16-Core Processor . Finally, I'll
note that the AMD machine is actually a VM, but I see similar
behavior on both the virtualization host and the VM.
Intel machine - Desired behavior:
[kevinb@mohave gdb]$ ./gdb -q testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break
Reading symbols from testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401179: file /home/kevinb/sourceware-git/native-build/bld/../../binutils-gdb/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c, line 43.
Starting program: /home/kevinb/sourceware-git/native-build/bld/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffd748, envp=0x7fffffffd758)
at /home/kevinb/sourceware-git/native-build/bld/../../binutils-gdb/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c:43
43 if (argc == 12345) { /* an unlikely value < 2^16, in case uninited */ /* set breakpoint 6 here */
(gdb) record btrace
(gdb) b factorial
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40121b: file /home/kevinb/sourceware-git/native-build/bld/../../binutils-gdb/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c, line 63.
(gdb) c
Continuing.
Breakpoint 2, factorial (value=6)
at /home/kevinb/sourceware-git/native-build/bld/../../binutils-gdb/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c:63
63 if (value > 1) { /* set breakpoint 7 here */
(gdb) info record
Active record target: record-btrace
Recording format: Branch Trace Store.
Buffer size: 64kB.
Recorded 768 instructions in 22 functions (0 gaps) for thread 1 (process 19215).
(gdb) record function-call-history
13 do_lookup_x
14 _dl_lookup_symbol_x
15 _dl_fixup
16 _dl_runtime_resolve_xsavec
17 atoi
18 strtoq
19 ____strtoll_l_internal
20 atoi
21 main
22 factorial
(gdb) record instruction-history
759 0x00007ffff7ce0917 <____strtoll_l_internal+647>: pop %r15
760 0x00007ffff7ce0919 <____strtoll_l_internal+649>: retq
761 0x00007ffff7cdd064 <atoi+20>: add $0x8,%rsp
762 0x00007ffff7cdd068 <atoi+24>: retq
763 0x00000000004011b1 <main+75>: mov %eax,%edi
764 0x00000000004011b3 <main+77>: callq 0x401210 <factorial>
765 0x0000000000401210 <factorial+0>: push %rbp
766 0x0000000000401211 <factorial+1>: mov %rsp,%rbp
767 0x0000000000401214 <factorial+4>: sub $0x10,%rsp
768 0x0000000000401218 <factorial+8>: mov %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
AMD machine - Wrong behavior:
[kev@f32-1 gdb]$ ./gdb -q testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break
Reading symbols from testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401179: file /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f32-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c, line 43.
Starting program: /mesquite2/sourceware-git/f32-master/bld/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/break/break
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffd5b8, envp=0x7fffffffd5c8)
at /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f32-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c:43
43 if (argc == 12345) { /* an unlikely value < 2^16, in case uninited */ /* set breakpoint 6 here */
(gdb) record btrace
(gdb) b factorial
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40121b: file /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f32-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c, line 63.
(gdb) c
Continuing.
Breakpoint 2, factorial (value=6)
at /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f32-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/break.c:63
63 if (value > 1) { /* set breakpoint 7 here */
(gdb) info record
Active record target: record-btrace
Recording format: Branch Trace Store.
Buffer size: 64kB.
warning: Recorded trace may be incomplete at instruction 7737 (pc = 0x405000).
warning: Recorded trace may be incomplete at instruction 7739 (pc = 0x0).
Recorded 7740 instructions in 46 functions (2 gaps) for thread 1 (process 1402911).
(gdb) record function-call-history
37 ??
38 values
39 some_enum_global
40 ??
41 some_union_global
42 some_variable
43 ??
44 [decode error (2): unknown instruction]
45 ??
46 [decode error (2): unknown instruction]
(gdb) record instruction-history
7730 0x0000000000404ff3: add %al,(%rax)
7731 0x0000000000404ff5: add %al,(%rax)
7732 0x0000000000404ff7: add %al,(%rax)
7733 0x0000000000404ff9: add %al,(%rax)
7734 0x0000000000404ffb: add %al,(%rax)
7735 0x0000000000404ffd: add %al,(%rax)
7736 0x0000000000404fff: .byte 0x0
7737 0x0000000000405000: Cannot access memory at address 0x405000
Lastly, I'll note that I see a lot of gdb.btrace failures without
this commit. Worse still, the results aren't always the same which
causes a lot of noise when comparing test results.
gdbsupport/ChangeLog:
* btrace-common.h (btrace_cpu_vendor): Add CV_AMD.
gdb/ChangeLog:
* nat/linux-btrace.c (btrace_this_cpu): Add check for AMD
processors.
(cpu_supports_bts): Add CV_AMD case.
This is a helper library that is used by gdb and gdbserver.
To send patches, follow the gdb patch submission instructions in
../gdb/CONTRIBUTE. For maintainers, see ../gdb/MAINTAINERS.
a51951c258