How to disassemble 16-bit x86 boot sector code in GDB with "x/i $pc"? It gets treated as 32-bit

Question

For example, with a boot sector that BIOS prints a to the screen main.asm:

org 0x7c00
bits 16
cli
mov ax, 0x0E61
int 0x10
hlt
times 510 - ($-$$) db 0
dw 0xaa55

Then:

nasm -o main.img main.asm
qemu-system-i386 -hda main.img -S -s &
gdb -ex 'target remote localhost:1234' \
    -ex 'break *0x7c00' \
    -ex 'continue' \
    -ex 'x/3i $pc'

I get:

0x7c00:      cli    
0x7c01:      mov    $0x10cd0e61,%eax
0x7c06:      hlt

So it looks like the mov ax, 0x0E61 was interpreted as a 32-bit mov %eax and ate up the next instruction int 0x10 as data.

How can I tell GDB that this is 16-bit code?

TL;DR

When in real-mode qemu will negotiate the wrong architecture (i386), you need to override it:

Download the description file - target.xml (gist)
Launch gdb and connect to your target (target remote ...)
Set the target architecture using the description file - set tdesc filename target.xml

Setting architecture on gdb

Normally when you debug an ELF, PE or any other object file gdb can infer the architecture from the file headers. When you debug a bootloader there is no object file to read so you can tell gdb the architecture yourself (In the case of a bootloader arch will be i8086):

set architecture <arch>

Note: When attaching to a qemu VM there is actually no need to tell gdb the desired architecture, qemu will negotiate this information for you over the qXfer protocol.

Overriding the target architecture

As mentioned above when debugging qemu VMs qemu will actually negotiate its architecture to gdb, when targeting 32bit x86 the architecture is probably i386, which is not the architecture we want for real-mode.

Currently there seem to be an issue in gdb that causes it to choose the most "featureful compatible architecture" between the target's architecture (i386) and the user provided architecture (i8086). Because gdb sees i386 as a proper super set of i8086 it uses it instead. Choosing i386 causes all operands to default to 32 bits (instead of 16), this what causes the disassembler errors.

You can override the target architecture by specifying a target.xml description file:

set tdesc filename <file>

I made this description file from the qemu sources and changed the architecture to i8086.

11 revs, 2 users 99% · Answer

As Jester correctly pointed out in a comment, you just need to use set architecture i8086 when using gdb so that it knows to assume 16-bit 8086 instruction format. You can learn about the gdb targets here.

I'm adding this as an answer because it was too hard to explain in a comment. If you assemble and link things separately you can generate debug information that can then be used by gdb to provide source level debugging even when done remotely against 16-bit code. To do this we modify your assembly file slightly:

;org 0x7c00    - remove as it may be rejected when assembling
;                with elf format. We can specify it on command
;                line or via a linker script.
bits 16

; Use a label for our main entry point so we can break on it
; by name in the debugger
main:
    cli
    mov ax, 0x0E61
    int 0x10
    hlt
    times 510 - ($-$$) db 0
    dw 0xaa55

I've added some comments to identify the trivial changes made. Now we can use commands like these to assemble our file so that it contains debug output in the dwarf format. We link it to a final elf image. This elf image can be used for symbolic debugging by gdb. We can then convert the elf format to a flat binary with objcopy

nasm -f elf32 -g3 -F dwarf main.asm -o main.o
ld -Ttext=0x7c00 -melf_i386 main.o -o main.elf
objcopy -O binary main.elf main.img

qemu-system-i386 -hda main.img -S -s &
gdb main.elf \
        -ex 'target remote localhost:1234' \
        -ex 'set architecture i8086' \
        -ex 'layout src' \
        -ex 'layout regs' \
        -ex 'break main' \
        -ex 'continue'

I've made some minor changes. I use the main.elf file (with symblic information) when starting up gdb.

I also add some more useful layouts for assembly code and the registers that may make debugging on the command line easier. I also break on main (not the address). The source code from our assembly file should also appear because of the debugging information. You can use layout asm instead of layout src if you prefer to see the raw assembly.

This general concept can work on other formats supported by NASM and LD on other platforms. elf32 and elf_i386 as well as the debugging type will have to be modified for the specific environment. My sample targets systems that understand Linux Elf32 binaries.

Debugging 16-bit real mode bootloader with GDB/QEMU

Unfortunately by default gdb doesn't do segment:offset calculations and will use the value in EIP for breakpoints. You have to specify breakpoints as 32-bit addresses (EIP).

When it comes to stepping through real mode code it can be cumbersome because gdb doesn't handle real mode segmentation. If you step into an interrupt handler you'll discover gdb will display the assembly code relative to EIP. Effectively gdb will be showing you disassembly of the wrong memory location since it didn't account for CS. Thankfully someone has created a GDB script to help. Download the script to your development directory and then run QEMU with something like:

qemu-system-i386 -hda main.img -S -s &
gdb -ix gdbinit_real_mode.txt main.elf \
        -ex 'target remote localhost:1234' \
        -ex 'break main' \
        -ex 'continue'

The script takes care of setting the architecture to i8086 and then hooks itself into gdb. It provides a number of new macros that can make stepping through 16 bit code easier.

break_int : adds a breakpoint on a software interrupt vector (the way the good old MS DOS and BIOS expose their APIs)

break_int_if_ah : adds a conditional breakpoint on a software interrupt. AH has to be equals to the given parameter. This is used to filter service calls of interrupts. For instance, you sometimes only wants to break when the function AH=0h of the interruption 10h is called (change screen mode).

stepo : this is a kabalistic macro used to 'step-over' function and interrupt calls. How does it work ? The opcode of the current instruction is extracted and if it is a function or interrupt call, the "next" instruction address is computed, a temporary breakpoint is added on that address and the 'continue' function is called.

step_until_ret : this is used to singlestep until we encounter a 'RET' instruction.

step_until_iret : this is used to singlestep until we encounter an 'IRET' instruction.

step_until_int : this is used to singlestep until we encounter an 'INT' instruction.

This script also prints out addresses and registers with segmentation calculated in. Output after each instruction execution looks like:

---------------------------[ STACK ]---
D2EA F000 0000 0000 6F62 0000 0000 0000
7784 0000 7C00 0000 0080 0000 0000 0000
---------------------------[ DS:SI ]---
00000000: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 C3 E2 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S.......S...
00000010: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S...S...S...
00000020: A5 FE 00 F0 87 E9 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0  ........v...v...
00000030: 76 D6 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0 57 EF 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0  v...v...W...v...
---------------------------[ ES:DI ]---
00000000: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 C3 E2 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S.......S...
00000010: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S...S...S...
00000020: A5 FE 00 F0 87 E9 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0  ........v...v...
00000030: 76 D6 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0 57 EF 00 F0 76 D6 00 F0  v...v...W...v...
----------------------------[ CPU ]----
AX: AA55 BX: 0000 CX: 0000 DX: 0080
SI: 0000 DI: 0000 SP: 6F2C BP: 0000
CS: 0000 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 SS: 0000

IP: 7C00 EIP:00007C00
CS:IP: 0000:7C00 (0x07C00)
SS:SP: 0000:6F2C (0x06F2C)
SS:BP: 0000:0000 (0x00000)
OF <0>  DF <0>  IF <1>  TF <0>  SF <0>  ZF <0>  AF <0>  PF <0>  CF <0>
ID <0>  VIP <0> VIF <0> AC <0>  VM <0>  RF <0>  NT <0>  IOPL <0>
---------------------------[ CODE ]----
=> 0x7c00 <main>:       cli
   0x7c01:      mov    ax,0xe61
   0x7c04:      int    0x10
   0x7c06:      hlt
   0x7c07:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al
   0x7c09:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al
   0x7c0b:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al
   0x7c0d:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al
   0x7c0f:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al
   0x7c11:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al

Kirill Spitsyn · Answer

The target description file seems to changed in qemu, so the linked xml from Matan Shahar's answer doesn't work anymore. But you can do something like this:

$ echo '<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "gdb-target.dtd"><target><architecture>i8086</architecture><xi:include href="i386-32bit.xml"/></target>' > target.xml
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qemu/qemu/master/gdb-xml/i386-32bit.xml

And then:

(gdb) target remote localhost:26000
[...]
Breakpoint 1, 0x00007c00 in ?? ()
(gdb) x /5i 0x7c24
   0x7c24:      cli    
   0x7c25:      cld    
   0x7c26:      mov    eax,0xc08e0050
   0x7c2b:      xor    ebx,ebx
   0x7c2d:      mov    al,0x2
(gdb) set tdesc filename target.xml 
warning: A handler for the OS ABI "GNU/Linux" is not built into this configuration
of GDB.  Attempting to continue with the default i8086 settings.

(gdb) x /5i 0x7c24
   0x7c24:      cli    
   0x7c25:      cld    
   0x7c26:      mov    ax,0x50
   0x7c29:      mov    es,ax
   0x7c2b:      xor    bx,bx

Side note: set debug remote-packet-max-chars 2000 and set debug remote 1 gdb commands were useful to debug this.

muhua · Answer

2020 12 24 Update

tested on gdb-9.2.0 Ubuntu20.04

the following target.xml from @Kirill Spitsyn

$ echo '<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "gdb-target.dtd"><target><architecture>i8086</architecture><xi:include href="i386-32bit.xml"/></target>' > target.xml
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qemu/qemu/master/gdb-xml/i386-32bit.xml

the following gdbinit based on gdb_init_real_mode.txt and renamed as gdb.txt

ADD the following line in gdb.txt under the # Real Mode section

set tdesc filename target.xml

after edit gdb.txt

# Real mode
set architecture i8086
set tdesc filename target.xml

then build and test:

main.asm:

bits 16

; Use a label for our main entry point so we can break on it
; by name in the debugger
main:
    cli
    mov ax, 0x0E61
    int 0x10
    hlt
    times 510 - ($-$$) db 0
    dw 0xaa55

compile.fish:

nasm -f elf32 -g3 -F dwarf main.asm -o main.o
ld -Ttext=0x7c00 -melf_i386 main.o -o main.elf
objcopy -O binary main.elf main.img
qemu-system-i386 -hda main.img -S -s &
gdb --nx -ix gdb.txt main.elf \
        -ex 'target remote localhost:1234'

Result:

real-mode-gdb$ b main  
Breakpoint 1 at 0x7c00: file main.asm, line 6.  
real-mode-gdb$ c   
Continuing.  
---------------------------[ STACK ]---  
D002 F000 0000 0000 6F5E 0000 8016 0000   
8057 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 8016 0000   
---------------------------[ DS:SI ]---  
00000000: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 C3 E2 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S.......S...  
00000010: 53 FF 00 F0 54 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...T...S...S...  
00000020: A5 FE 00 F0 87 E9 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0  ........B...B...  
00000030: 42 D4 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0 57 EF 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0  B...B...W...B...  
---------------------------[ ES:DI ]---  
00000000: 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 C3 E2 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...S.......S...  
00000010: 53 FF 00 F0 54 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0 53 FF 00 F0  S...T...S...S...  
00000020: A5 FE 00 F0 87 E9 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0  ........B...B...  
00000030: 42 D4 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0 57 EF 00 F0 42 D4 00 F0  B...B...W...B...  
----------------------------[ CPU ]----  
AX: AA55 BX: 0000 CX: 0000 DX: 0080  
SI: 0000 DI: 0000 SP: 6F00 BP: 0000  
CS: 0000 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 SS: 0000  
  
IP: 7C00 EIP:00007C00  
CS:IP: 0000:7C00 (0x07C00)  
SS:SP: 0000:6F00 (0x06F00)  
SS:BP: 0000:0000 (0x00000)  
OF <0>  DF <0>  IF <1>  TF <0>  SF <0>  ZF <0>  AF <0>  PF <0>  CF <0>  
ID <0>  VIP <0> VIF <0> AC <0>  VM <0>  RF <0>  NT <0>  IOPL <0>  
---------------------------[ CODE ]----  
=> 0x7c00 <main>:       cli  
   0x7c01:      mov    ax,0xe61  
   0x7c04:      int    0x10  
   0x7c06:      hlt  
   0x7c07:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
   0x7c09:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
   0x7c0b:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
   0x7c0d:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
   0x7c0f:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
   0x7c11:      add    BYTE PTR [bx+si],al  
  
Breakpoint 1, main () at main.asm:6  
6           cli

note:

it is strange that the target specification needs both

set architecture i8086

and

set tdesc filename target.xml
to handle the INT instruction, use stepo before execute or add breakpoint after the INT code.

How to disassemble 16-bit x86 boot sector code in GDB with "x/i $pc"? It gets treated as 32-bit

Tags:

qemu

x86

assembly

gdb

disassembly

Ciro Santilli 新疆再教育营六四事件法轮功郝海东

4 Answers

TL;DR

Setting architecture on gdb

Overriding the target architecture

Matan Shahar

Debugging 16-bit real mode bootloader with GDB/QEMU

11 revs, 2 users 99%

Kirill Spitsyn

muhua

Recent Activity

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How to disassemble 16-bit x86 boot sector code in GDB with "x/i $pc"? It gets treated as 32-bit

Tags:

qemu

x86

assembly

gdb

disassembly

Ciro Santilli 新疆再教育营六四事件法轮功郝海东

4 Answers

TL;DR

Setting architecture on gdb

Overriding the target architecture

Matan Shahar

Debugging 16-bit real mode bootloader with GDB/QEMU

11 revs, 2 users 99%

Kirill Spitsyn

muhua

Related questions

Recent Activity

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