DDB? Debugging kernel?

[John]

On Sat, Jan 29, 2005 at 07:53:27AM +1030, Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:
> On Thursday, 27 January 2005 at 22:39:05 -0600, John wrote:
> > OK, folks - I've looked in the Handbook, and I've looked in
> > _The Complete FreeBSD_ and I just get more confused.
> >
> > Is the option DDB gone? 
> 
> In -CURRENT, yes.
> 
> > If so, how do you get ddb functions like db_readline into the
> > kernel?  _The Complete FreeBSD_ still describes it, but the handbook
> > doesn't mention it, and a "grep -i ddb *" in the conf directory
> > comes up empty.
> 
> As Giorgos says, with KDB--*if* you're using -CURRENT..  But first we
> need to know what version of FreeBSD you're running.  If it's
> -CURRENT, you should be tracking the current@ mailing list and asking
> questions (after much research :-) there, not here.
> 
> > The handbook still talkes about "makeoptions DEBUG=-g", but there's
> > no such thing in NOTES or any other file in the conf directory.
> 
> From the -CURRENT version of /usr/src/sys/i386/conf/GENERIC:
> 
> makeoptions	DEBUG=-g		# Build kernel with gdb(1) debug symbols
> 
> > I'm going to try putting in the "makeoptions DEBUG=-g", though it
> > may do nothing.
> 
> I'm a little confused where you got a configuration file that doesn't
> already contain it.
> 
> > The NOTES file also includes a somewhat cryptic remark about the
> > intel acpi code:
> >
> > ...  (Note that the Intel code must also have USE_DEBUGGER
> > # defined when it is built).
> >
> > I tried making that a kernel option, but config says it is not
> > defined.
> 
> This looks like something to do with building the ACPI code, not the
> kernel itself.
>
> Greg
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Sorry, Greg - I should have given the version.  It is 5.3-STABLE
as of January 9 at about 01:00 GMT.

I actually did find references to KDB, DDB, and DEBUG=-g in
/usr/src/sys/conf/NOTES, but was confused because I was actually
looking at /usr/src/sys/i386/conf/NOTES - the name and location
similarity fooled me into thinking I was looking at all I needed
to see.

Actually, I was trying to create a debugging kernel in support of
debugging ACPI problems, and I should have been more clear about
that, too - as it was, my message sort of slopped over into both
areas of expertise and authority.
-- 

John Lind
john at starfire.MN.ORG