Subject: Device drivers and kernel debugging
To: None <netbsd-help@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Avneesh Sachdev <asachdev@ISI.EDU>
List: netbsd-help
Date: 05/25/1995 16:09:39
Hi, 

Some time back I had posted the following request for help on the 
mailing group and have got nothing in response. Does anyone out 
there have an idea of what would be a good place to look for an 
answer.


Thanks

Avneesh



>Hi,



>I have an i486 on which was recently upgraded from NetBSD 0.9 to 1.0.
>It has a custom card installed for which a 0.9 kernel had been compiled
>with its device driver.
>
>I made a few superficial changes to the device driver code  and the 
>config files to compile a kernel for the 1.0 version. (since 
>some formats and structures have been changed). The system 
>boots up to a particular point in the process and then goes back to 
>the start of the boot process again.
>
>I have some questions regarding the same :
>1. What could be the reasons for such behavior on part of the kernel?
>  ( e.g. could an incorrect board address cause  this ?)
>
>2. Would compiling the kernel in debug mode (with the DDB option) in the
>   config file help in determining the cause ? Is there any documentation
>   on how to use the kernel debugger?
>
>3. Are the changes in the kernel structures documented somewhere?
>   ( e.g. there seems to be cfdriver structure used in place of 
>    the isa_driver structure.
>   Also the config files no longer specify  the "vector"s.
>  )
>
>
>
>
>I am new to device drivers (but I hope to learn) so kindly bear with
>my questions. Also, please suggest some good books on the subject.
>
>
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Avneesh