Can't get F12 to work

[Kevlar]

I'm running on a Dell T5400. Its running XP sp2 (natively)
The hardware is:
dual Xeon E5410
4GB ram
Nvidia 9800 GX2 (no drivers installed for it)

Originally, I was getting an error #31, but adding /nopae and /
noexecute=alwaysoff to the boot.ini allowed it to load successfully.
It then tells me to press F12, but when I do, nothing displays on the
screen (the mouse froze once however).

I've tried to debug it over the COM port (which I verified working via
hyperterminal), but I haven't been able to see any output. I've tried
booting into linux and getting the video address from lspci, and
building with #define video_address_manual, but still nothing when I
press F12.

Let me know if there is any other information which would be useful.

[Aristide Fattori]

Hi Kevin,

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 4:18 AM, Kevlar <kevinl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Originally, I was getting an error #31, but adding /nopae and /
> noexecute=alwaysoff to the boot.ini allowed it to load successfully.
> It then tells me to press F12, but when I do, nothing displays on the
> screen (the mouse froze once however).

Ok, the keyboard problem may be due to some different issues, could
you please give us more information so that we can help you?
We should need to know:
* which version of HyperDbg are you currently using? A precompiled
one or one that you built from the svn code?
* which kind of keyboard is installed on your machine? Being a laptop
it is probably controlled by an USB controller, could you check which
controller is it (UHCI, EHCI)? Or are you using an esternal keyboard?
* could you please install this windows log viewer:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896647.aspx and send
us the log messages that are printed during the installation of
HyperDbg? Please note, however, that this will work only if you
compiled HyperDbg with DEBUG enabled, otherwise nothing will be shown.
Pre-compiled versions of HyperDbg come with disabled debug :( . Please
be sure also that the option "Capture kernel" under the menu "Capture"
is checked when you load HyperDbg.

> I've tried to debug it over the COM port (which I verified working via
> hyperterminal), but I haven't been able to see any output.

This is probably due to the fact that you are loading a version with
DEBUG disabled :-)

One first thing that you could try before gathering all the info that
we requested is to disable all your cores but one. Since we currently
do not support multicore architecture the problem may be due to that.
Here you can find an easy procedure to disable your cores:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/616-multicore-cpu-how-to-disable-a-core#procedure-when-using-windows-vista-7-and-xp

Thank you for trying HyperDbg, please let us know something more :-)
Cheers,
Aristide

--
GnuPG Key on keyserver.pgp.com ID 0x25578128
http://security.dico.unimi.it/~joystick/

[kevin larson]

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 1:50 AM, Aristide Fattori <aristid...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Kevin,

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 4:18 AM, Kevlar <kevinl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Originally, I was getting an error #31, but adding /nopae and /
> noexecute=alwaysoff to the boot.ini allowed it to load successfully.
> It then tells me to press F12, but when I do, nothing displays on the
> screen (the mouse froze once however).

Ok, the keyboard problem may be due to some different issues, could
you please give us more information so that we can help you?
We should need to know:
 * which version of HyperDbg are you currently using? A precompiled
one or one that you built from the svn code? 

I used the source package in the downloads section.

 * which kind of keyboard is installed on your machine? Being a laptop
it is probably controlled by an USB controller, could you check which
controller is it (UHCI, EHCI)? Or are you using an esternal keyboard?

It is not a laptop (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/precn/topics/en/us/precn_t5400_t7400_landing?c=us&l=en), and I am using a ps2 mouse and keyboard.

 * could you please install this windows log viewer:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896647.aspx and send
us the log messages that are printed during the installation of
HyperDbg? Please note, however, that this will work only if you
compiled HyperDbg with DEBUG enabled, otherwise nothing will be shown.
Pre-compiled versions of HyperDbg come with disabled debug :( . Please
be sure also that the option "Capture kernel" under the menu "Capture"
is checked when you load HyperDbg.

I compiled my own version from the source (see below about DEBUG), which I found on the downloads tab.  I just noticed the svn repo, and can try the log viewer and the svn version  tomorrow morning.

> I've tried to debug it over the COM port (which I verified working via
> hyperterminal), but I haven't been able to see any output.

This is probably due to the fact that you are loading a version with
DEBUG disabled :-)

I think I do have it enabled.  I'm using the #define in config.h.  Is this the wrong place to enable the debug?

One first thing that you could try before gathering all the info that
we requested is to disable all your cores but one. Since we currently
do not support multicore architecture the problem may be due to that.
Here you can find an easy procedure to disable your cores:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/616-multicore-cpu-how-to-disable-a-core#procedure-when-using-windows-vista-7-and-xp

I had only looked for disabling options in the BIOS, but I will definitely try this tomorrow.

Thank you for trying HyperDbg, please let us know something more :-)
Cheers,
Aristide

--
GnuPG Key on keyserver.pgp.com ID 0x25578128
http://security.dico.unimi.it/~joystick/

Thanks for the quick response.  If you have any other ideas for things to try tomorrow (I don't have access to the machine right now), please let me know.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Aristide Fattori]

Hi,

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 9:19 AM, kevin larson <kevinl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/precn/topics/en/us/precn_t5400_t7400_landing?c=us&l=en),
> and I am using a ps2 mouse and keyboard.

My fault, I assumed it was a laptop, sorry about that. However, this
greatly reduces the range of problems.

> I think I do have it enabled.  I'm using the #define in config.h.  Is this
> the wrong place to enable the debug?

It's the right place so it may be an issue in the COM handling, I will
check as soon as possible.

> Thanks for the quick response.  If you have any other ideas for things to
> try tomorrow (I don't have access to the machine right now), please let me
> know.

So far the multicore issue is the only thing that we know to give
problem with a PS/2 keyboard. Just to be sure that it is not a video
issue, if you download the svn version, you can use the compile
options "xpvideo" that will automatically get your resolution and the
framebuffer address. By using this option you will be able to see with
DbgView if HyperDbg has been able to find your video card. But if you
already tried manually hardcoding the framebuffer address into the
code and since you are not using any accelerated driver, I would be
inclined to exclude a video issue.

Thanks,

[kevin larson]

Hey,
Disabling the cores got it working.  I'm going to build the svn as well.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Aristide Fattori]

Hi,

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 6:07 PM, kevin larson <kevinl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey,
> Disabling the cores got it working.  I'm going to build the svn as well.

Cool! I will put a note into the wiki suggesting to disable all cores
but one when trying HyperDbg.

Thanks ;-)

Aristide