Re: Some Questions about GDB

[Jim Blandy <jimb at cygnus dot com>]

> Hi there,

Hi!  The best place for questions like this is
gdb@sourceware.cygnus.com.


>     I am trying to find out if it is possible to debug an embedded
> program with gdb running on a workstation.

It certainly is.  Most of the contracts Cygnus took were to support
embedded systems of some sort or another.  (We expect things to remain
the same under the Red Hat name.)

>    * which distribution of gdb is needed ?

Any distribution of GDB should work.  Certainly the ones available
from the FSF or from sourceware.cygnus.com do.

>    * what is the protocol used ? Serial line ? TCP/IP ?

There are many protocols supported.  GDB can talk over a serial line
or to an arbitrary host and TCP port.  GDB has its own remote
protocol, which works fine, which is fully documented in the GDB
manual.  Also, GDB knows how to talk to many different kinds of ROM
monitors --- as far as the monitor is concerned, GDB is just a very
fast typist.

>    * what is the program (or piece of code) that has to run on the
>      target machine ?

You'll either need a ROM monitor GDB knows how to talk to, or you can
write a simple stub.  The GDB distribution includes several sample
stubs you can modify to suit your needs.  All this is described in the
GDB manual.

(Gosh, I love questions like that.)