Documentation/x86/earlyprintk.txt - linux - Git at Google


 Mini-HOWTO for using the earlyprintk=dbgp boot option with a
 USB2 Debug port key and a debug cable, on x86 systems.

 You need two computers, the 'USB debug key' special gadget and
 and two USB cables, connected like this:

   [host/target] <-------> [USB debug key] <-------> [client/console]

 1. There are a number of specific hardware requirements:

  a.) Host/target system needs to have USB debug port capability.

  You can check this capability by looking at a 'Debug port' bit in
  the lspci -vvv output:

  # lspci -vvv
  ...
  00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
          Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T61
          Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
          Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
          Latency: 0
          Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 19
          Region 0: Memory at fe227000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
          Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
                  Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                  Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME+
          Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0
                             ^^^^^^^^^^^ <==================== [ HERE ]
 	 Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
          Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
  ...

 ( If your system does not list a debug port capability then you probably
   won't be able to use the USB debug key. )

  b.) You also need a NetChip USB debug cable/key:

         http://www.plxtech.com/products/NET2000/NET20DC/default.asp

      This is a small blue plastic connector with two USB connections;
      it draws power from its USB connections.

  c.) You need a second client/console system with a high speed USB 2.0
      port.

  d.) The NetChip device must be plugged directly into the physical
      debug port on the "host/target" system.  You cannot use a USB hub in
      between the physical debug port and the "host/target" system.

      The EHCI debug controller is bound to a specific physical USB
      port and the NetChip device will only work as an early printk
      device in this port.  The EHCI host controllers are electrically
      wired such that the EHCI debug controller is hooked up to the
      first physical port and there is no way to change this via software.
      You can find the physical port through experimentation by trying
      each physical port on the system and rebooting.  Or you can try
      and use lsusb or look at the kernel info messages emitted by the
      usb stack when you plug a usb device into various ports on the
      "host/target" system.

      Some hardware vendors do not expose the usb debug port with a
      physical connector and if you find such a device send a complaint
      to the hardware vendor, because there is no reason not to wire
      this port into one of the physically accessible ports.

  e.) It is also important to note, that many versions of the NetChip
      device require the "client/console" system to be plugged into the
      right hand side of the device (with the product logo facing up and
      readable left to right).  The reason being is that the 5 volt
      power supply is taken from only one side of the device and it
      must be the side that does not get rebooted.

 2. Software requirements:

  a.) On the host/target system:

     You need to enable the following kernel config option:

       CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK_DBGP=y

     And you need to add the boot command line: "earlyprintk=dbgp".

     (If you are using Grub, append it to the 'kernel' line in
      /etc/grub.conf.  If you are using Grub2 on a BIOS firmware system,
      append it to the 'linux' line in /boot/grub2/grub.cfg. If you are
      using Grub2 on an EFI firmware system, append it to the 'linux'
      or 'linuxefi' line in /boot/grub2/grub.cfg or
      /boot/efi/EFI/<distro>/grub.cfg.)

     On systems with more than one EHCI debug controller you must
     specify the correct EHCI debug controller number.  The ordering
     comes from the PCI bus enumeration of the EHCI controllers.  The
     default with no number argument is "0" or the first EHCI debug
     controller.  To use the second EHCI debug controller, you would
     use the command line: "earlyprintk=dbgp1"

     NOTE: normally earlyprintk console gets turned off once the
     regular console is alive - use "earlyprintk=dbgp,keep" to keep
     this channel open beyond early bootup. This can be useful for
     debugging crashes under Xorg, etc.

  b.) On the client/console system:

     You should enable the following kernel config option:

       CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_DEBUG=y

     On the next bootup with the modified kernel you should
     get a /dev/ttyUSBx device(s).

     Now this channel of kernel messages is ready to be used: start
     your favorite terminal emulator (minicom, etc.) and set
     it up to use /dev/ttyUSB0 - or use a raw 'cat /dev/ttyUSBx' to
     see the raw output.

  c.) On Nvidia Southbridge based systems: the kernel will try to probe
      and find out which port has a debug device connected.

 3. Testing that it works fine:

    You can test the output by using earlyprintk=dbgp,keep and provoking
    kernel messages on the host/target system. You can provoke a harmless
    kernel message by for example doing:

      echo h > /proc/sysrq-trigger

    On the host/target system you should see this help line in "dmesg" output:

      SysRq : HELP : loglevel(0-9) reBoot Crashdump terminate-all-tasks(E) memory-full-oom-kill(F) kill-all-tasks(I) saK show-backtrace-all-active-cpus(L) show-memory-usage(M) nice-all-RT-tasks(N) powerOff show-registers(P) show-all-timers(Q) unRaw Sync show-task-states(T) Unmount show-blocked-tasks(W) dump-ftrace-buffer(Z)

    On the client/console system do:

        cat /dev/ttyUSB0

    And you should see the help line above displayed shortly after you've
    provoked it on the host system.

 If it does not work then please ask about it on the linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
 mailing list or contact the x86 maintainers.

	Mini-HOWTO for using the earlyprintk=dbgp boot option with a
	USB2 Debug port key and a debug cable, on x86 systems.

	You need two computers, the 'USB debug key' special gadget and
	and two USB cables, connected like this:

	[host/target] <-------> [USB debug key] <-------> [client/console]

	1. There are a number of specific hardware requirements:

	a.) Host/target system needs to have USB debug port capability.

	You can check this capability by looking at a 'Debug port' bit in
	the lspci -vvv output:

	# lspci -vvv
	...
	00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T61
	Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
	Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
	Latency: 0
	Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 19
	Region 0: Memory at fe227000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
	Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
	Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME+
	Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0
	^^^^^^^^^^^ <==================== [ HERE ]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
	...

	( If your system does not list a debug port capability then you probably
	won't be able to use the USB debug key. )

	b.) You also need a NetChip USB debug cable/key:

	http://www.plxtech.com/products/NET2000/NET20DC/default.asp

	This is a small blue plastic connector with two USB connections;
	it draws power from its USB connections.

	c.) You need a second client/console system with a high speed USB 2.0
	port.

	d.) The NetChip device must be plugged directly into the physical
	debug port on the "host/target" system. You cannot use a USB hub in
	between the physical debug port and the "host/target" system.

	The EHCI debug controller is bound to a specific physical USB
	port and the NetChip device will only work as an early printk
	device in this port. The EHCI host controllers are electrically
	wired such that the EHCI debug controller is hooked up to the
	first physical port and there is no way to change this via software.
	You can find the physical port through experimentation by trying
	each physical port on the system and rebooting. Or you can try
	and use lsusb or look at the kernel info messages emitted by the
	usb stack when you plug a usb device into various ports on the
	"host/target" system.

	Some hardware vendors do not expose the usb debug port with a
	physical connector and if you find such a device send a complaint
	to the hardware vendor, because there is no reason not to wire
	this port into one of the physically accessible ports.

	e.) It is also important to note, that many versions of the NetChip
	device require the "client/console" system to be plugged into the
	right hand side of the device (with the product logo facing up and
	readable left to right). The reason being is that the 5 volt
	power supply is taken from only one side of the device and it
	must be the side that does not get rebooted.

	2. Software requirements:

	a.) On the host/target system:

	You need to enable the following kernel config option:

	CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK_DBGP=y

	And you need to add the boot command line: "earlyprintk=dbgp".

	(If you are using Grub, append it to the 'kernel' line in
	/etc/grub.conf. If you are using Grub2 on a BIOS firmware system,
	append it to the 'linux' line in /boot/grub2/grub.cfg. If you are
	using Grub2 on an EFI firmware system, append it to the 'linux'
	or 'linuxefi' line in /boot/grub2/grub.cfg or
	/boot/efi/EFI/<distro>/grub.cfg.)

	On systems with more than one EHCI debug controller you must
	specify the correct EHCI debug controller number. The ordering
	comes from the PCI bus enumeration of the EHCI controllers. The
	default with no number argument is "0" or the first EHCI debug
	controller. To use the second EHCI debug controller, you would
	use the command line: "earlyprintk=dbgp1"

	NOTE: normally earlyprintk console gets turned off once the
	regular console is alive - use "earlyprintk=dbgp,keep" to keep
	this channel open beyond early bootup. This can be useful for
	debugging crashes under Xorg, etc.

	b.) On the client/console system:

	You should enable the following kernel config option:

	CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_DEBUG=y

	On the next bootup with the modified kernel you should
	get a /dev/ttyUSBx device(s).

	Now this channel of kernel messages is ready to be used: start
	your favorite terminal emulator (minicom, etc.) and set
	it up to use /dev/ttyUSB0 - or use a raw 'cat /dev/ttyUSBx' to
	see the raw output.

	c.) On Nvidia Southbridge based systems: the kernel will try to probe
	and find out which port has a debug device connected.

	3. Testing that it works fine:

	You can test the output by using earlyprintk=dbgp,keep and provoking
	kernel messages on the host/target system. You can provoke a harmless
	kernel message by for example doing:

	echo h > /proc/sysrq-trigger

	On the host/target system you should see this help line in "dmesg" output:

	SysRq : HELP : loglevel(0-9) reBoot Crashdump terminate-all-tasks(E) memory-full-oom-kill(F) kill-all-tasks(I) saK show-backtrace-all-active-cpus(L) show-memory-usage(M) nice-all-RT-tasks(N) powerOff show-registers(P) show-all-timers(Q) unRaw Sync show-task-states(T) Unmount show-blocked-tasks(W) dump-ftrace-buffer(Z)

	On the client/console system do:

	cat /dev/ttyUSB0

	And you should see the help line above displayed shortly after you've
	provoked it on the host system.

	If it does not work then please ask about it on the linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
	mailing list or contact the x86 maintainers.