Linux Nerd Demonstration

[muman613]

Just posted a screen-grab of a demonstration of the microcode debugger I maintain at work. I work with embedded linux systems and support the debugger and probe applications used by the microcode developers.

Most users will not now what the heck is going on in this video. But those who work in the field of embedded development may understand what is being demonstrated. I recommend viewing the video in HD otherwise it is hard to make out what is being done...

Basically I am using a scripting system I wrote for my division which brings-up the target platform. Once the target is up and running I establish a terminal to it and enter the command to run the rmfp player application. The microcode has a debugging trap embedded in the start-up which waits for the debugger to connect. I run the debugger in an Oracle VirtualBox virtual machine running Windows XP, my host system being a Ubuntu 10.04 operating system. The debugger connects to the target and loads the microcode assembly information. When I hit run in the debugger it hits the 'hard-coded' startup breakpoint at which I can set my own breakpoints. In this demo I set the breakpoint in the mpeg2 sequence header parsing microcode... When I hit continue this break-point is hit, then I step through the next few instructions noting that the registers window reflects the changes which are being stepped through. After this I clear the breakpoint and continue which allows the input video to play to the end, at which point i stop the debugger and disconnect.

[White Israelite]

Careful muman, sometimes work related items are considered proprietary especially if under a NDA. Just giving you a heads up.

[muman613]

Careful muman, sometimes work related items are considered proprietary especially if under a NDA. Just giving you a heads up.

I know about NDA (Non Disclosure Agreements) and yes, I signed one when I started work here. But what I am demonstrating is not proprietary. The entire development system uses Linux, an open source system, so the company must provide source-code to all who ask for it (The GPL license). What I write is not the proprietary microcode, the debugger and my script system are basically standard tools used by any embedded linux system (such as our SOC [system on a chip]) solutions.

The DSP is proprietary but the code cannot be used by anyone elses system.

Thank you for the heads up, but I am pretty confident that whatever is in my video is not proprietary information. The techniques I use are also standard techniques used by developers in the Linux open source development community...

And the short little portion where I step through the code is simply part of any MPEG2 decoder. A decoder must parse the sequence headers of each GOP (Group of Pictures). MPEG2 is also a decoder which many people first learn about when learning video decoding...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpeg2

MPEG-2 (aka H.222/H.262 as defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information".[1] It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpl

The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or GPL) is the most widely used[5] free software license, which guarantees end users (individuals, organizations, companies) the freedoms to use, study, share (copy), and modify the software. Software that ensures that these rights are retained is called free software. The license was originally written by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project.

The GPL grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the Free Software Definition[6] and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved whenever the work is distributed, even when the work is changed or added to. The GPL is a copyleft license, which means that derived works can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD licenses are the standard examples. GPL was the first copyleft license for general use.

[angryChineseKahanist]

I've been hearing a lot of noise about
http://www.raspberrypi.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/7513051848_9a6ef2feb8_o-1024x682.jpg

[angryChineseKahanist]

what would be like raspberry pi but with built in wireless?