Number: 198

Date: 19-Mar-84 17':58':39

Submitter: Sannella.PA

Source: Halasz.pa

Subject: Want a same-machine low-level debugger for DLion

Assigned To: 

Attn: vanMelle.pa

Status: Wish

In/By: 

Problem Type: 

Impact: 

Difficulty: Very Hard

Frequency: 

Priority: Unlikely

System: Language Support

Subsystem: Bootstrapping and Teleraid

Machine: 

Disk: 

Lisp Version: 

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Description: '
Date': 19 Mar 84 14':46 PST'
From': Halasz.pa'
Subject': Lisp': Reflections on using TELERAID on DLions'
To': LispSupport.pa'
cc': '
Lisp-System-Date': 15-Mar-84 00':13':18'
Machine-Type': Dorado'
'
Just thought I''d pass along some reflections on TELERAID on the DLions.   '
'
TeleRAID is a major weakness of the 1108': it is impossible to use efficiently on networked systems and on stand-alone systems it is worse than useless.  '
'
Most important is the stand-alone problem.  If you are running a stand-alone system, the only error indication you get when the system goes into RAID or some other MP error is a single four digit number in the MP and NOTHING ELSE.  There is no way to make sense of this information.  All there is a short information file giving a few cryptic words about the meaning of each MP number.  There is no way to see the msg that would be printed by Raid on a Dolphin/Dorado, there is no way to examine the stack or variable settings.  Basically, there is no way to debug the machine.  YET, Interlisp is designed to pop into a MP error or RAID at the slightest provacation.  The result of this mess is a very, very unpleasant experience for stand-alone DLion users.  At least in the good old days of ABENDS and IEH0023, there was an error manual that expended some effort to explain the meaning of the error numbers.  On stand-alone 1008s, there is nothing at all.'
'
For networked systems the problem is much less severe, since TELERAID does work very well under this conditions.  The problem is that it is a royal pain to use.  One needs two machines to do any debugging using TeleRAID.  This means either dedictating two machines to a single debugging project or running around trying to find a spare every time you pop into TeleRAID.  If the debugging task involves popping into TeleRAID at some regular intervals this can be a real headache.  RAID on the Dolphin/Dorados is infinitely easier to use efficiently since a single machine suffices.'
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I understand the problems of writing a separate adress space debugger on the DLion.  But I just wanted to provide some user feedback that might help set development priorities.'
'
'
Frank'


Workaround: 

Test Case: 

Edit-By: Sannella.pa

Edit-Date: 27-Mar-84  9':50':20