Table of Contents
Summary of Contents for American Megatrends AMIDebug Rx
- Page 1 AMIDebug™ Rx – User Manual Document Revision 1.43 April 27 , 2017 Public Document Copyright 2017 American Megatrends, Inc. 5555 Oakbrook Parkway Suite 200 Norcross, GA 30093 (USA) All Rights Reserved Property of American Megatrends, Inc.
- Page 2 Call American Megatrends, Inc. at 1-800-828-9264 for additional information. Limitations of Liability In no event shall American Megatrends be held liable for any loss, expenses, or damages of any kind whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential, arising from the design or use of this product or the support materials provided with the product.
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
OVERVIEW ..................................5 ................................5 NTRODUCTION ................................5 EATURES ................................... 6 EFERENCES ............................6 OCUMENT HANGE ISTORY GETTING STARTED WITH AMIDEBUG RX ......................7 ’ ? ..............................7 S IN THE AMID ..............................7 EBUG AYOUT AMID ..............................8 SING EBUG USING AMIDEBUG RX FOR BIOS CHECKPOINTS.................... - Page 4 TERMINAL OUTPUT EXAMPLES ........................... 29 ) ................29 XAMPLE TRING ABLE USING OWNLOAD ISPLAY OMMAND ) ............... 32 XAMPLE ESSION UTPUT USING OWNLOAD ISPLAY OMMAND LIMITED HARDWARE WARRANTY ........................36 Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 4 of 36...
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Page 5: Overview
USB 2.0 EHCI controllers. Based on patent-pending technology, AMIDebug Rx is designed as replacement for the PCI POST Checkpoint Card, which is becoming less useful in the PC market as newer systems omit PCI expansion slots. -
Page 6: References
Updated for v2.3.6 firmware. Updated VCOM terminal help text to match new entries. 2014-08-04 1.41 Updated link for downloading of VCP driver 2015-02-11 1.42 Update link for downloading of VCP Driver 2017-04-27 1.43 Updated for v3.4.1 firmware. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 6 of 36... -
Page 7: Getting Started With Amidebug Rx
– Used in menus to select previous entry, also used in checkpoint mode to navigate buffer OPTION SWITCH – Used to select debug mode (LEFT) or checkpoint mode (RIGHT). Center position is reserved for future use. FEATURE CONNECTOR – Reserved for future use Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 7 of 36... -
Page 8: Using Amidebug Rx
AMIDebug™ Rx – User Manual Using AMIDebug Rx AMIDebug Rx has three basic usage models … 1. Connect AMIDebug Rx to a system under test (SUT) at boot up to view BIOS checkpoints, capture UEFI debug strings and store checkpoint sessions to local memory. -
Page 9: Using Amidebug Rx For Bios Checkpoints
Turn off the system under test (SUT). Set the OPTION SWITCH to checkpoint mode (RIGHT) and connect the AMIDebug Rx to the USB debug port on the SUT. Turn on the SUT. AMIDebug Rx will power on and start displaying data sent to the USB debug port. By default POST checkpoints are displayed in a right justified format. -
Page 10: Viewing Checkpoint History
Viewing Checkpoint History Checkpoints in a current session are viewed using the UP/DOWN buttons (/). Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 10 of 36... -
Page 11: Amidebug Rx Menu Reference
Use the MENU key to exit any sub-menu Menu Structure Exit Menu The option is used to exit the menu and return to the current checkpoint session. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 11 of 36... -
Page 12: Start New Session
& display terminal commands. UEFI debug strings from a saved session can only be viewed using the download & display terminal commands. Load Session The menu allows the user to load a previously saved checkpoint session. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 12 of 36... -
Page 13: Erase Session
Note: Erasing a session already containing data will prompt the user to confirm the erase operation. Select ‘Y’ to continue or ‘N’ to cancel the operation. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 13 of 36... -
Page 14: Info
“Terminal Commands” section of this manual. With the option, AMIDebug Rx will use BIOS data to determine the correct checkpoint table. The option will force checkpoint string lookups to use Aptio 4.x data (string table 1) Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. - Page 15 The option will disable the displaying of the sign on message. Save Settings The option will store user preferences in the Settings menu ( & ) for use at the next device power-on. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 15 of 36...
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Page 16: Using Amidebug Rx Vcom Functionality
Using AMIDebug Rx VCOM Functionality USB Virtual COM (VCOM) Terminal AMIDebug Rx uses a text terminal interface to retrieve stored data and configure the device. This interface allows flexible configuration options without the need for specialized software. The VCOM Terminal is enabled when the OPTION SWITCH is set to checkpoint mode (RIGHT position). -
Page 17: Configuring The Terminal
Enter “help <command>” for further information. Upload The upload command uses the XMODEM protocol to upload a custom string table to the device’s local memory. The uploaded file is in ASCII TXT format. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 17 of 36... -
Page 18: Download
After issuing the upload command in the terminal, an XMODEM “send” transfer must be initiated to transfer the text file to the AMIDebug Rx device. This is initiated from the terminal program used to access AMIDebug Rx via the VCOM terminal. - Page 19 After issuing the download command in the terminal, an XMODEM “receive” transfer must be initiated to transfer the text file from the AMIDebug Rx device. This is initiated from the terminal program used to access AMIDebug Rx via the VCOM terminal.
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Page 20: Display
For an example of the output generated by the display command, please refer to the “Terminal Output Examples” section at the end of this document. Erase The erase command removes a stored session or string table from the device’s local memory. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 20 of 36... -
Page 21: Info
Info The info command displays information about the AMIDebug Rx device, such as the unit serial number, hardware version and firmware version. The info command has no input parameters. info AMI Debug Rx (C)Copyright 2017, American Megatrends, Inc. -
Page 22: Device Firmware Update
Start an XMODEM “send” transaction from the terminal program to transfer the new firmware file to the device as a “User ROM”. The User ROM is loaded into a special buffer in the AMIDebug Rx on-board memory. The LCD screen will show the following message while the file is being transferred …... -
Page 23: Troubleshooting
USB1). If the computer connected to AMIDebug Rx is powered off, then the device will shutdown. AMIDebug Rx can draw power from the USB0 & USB1 connectors at the same time. If one of the connectors is attached to a running system then power will not be lost of the other system is turned off. - Page 24 String table 3 is set aside for custom checkpoint string tables. AMIDebug Rx Does Not Work Using USB Hub AMIDebug Rx will only work when directly connected to the USB debug port on the system under test. A USB hub cannot be used with the USB debug port.
- Page 25 Ayera TeraTerm Does Not Recognize Ports above COM4 The USB VCOM port produced by AMIDebug Rx may be mapped to a high COM port address (example: COM5, COM10). The Ayera TeraTerm program will only work with COM1-4 by default. The TeraTerm configuration file can be modified to resolve this problem.
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Page 26: Debug Mode Functionality
Note that checkpoint display is disabled in this mode. AMI Debug Unlock Code The AMIDebug Rx product can be used as a “debug transport” to connect a system under test with debug host software (AMIDebug for UEFI and AMIDebug for AMIBIOS8). This feature is disabled by default but can be unlocked by customers licensing AMIDebug software from AMI. -
Page 27: W Indows K Ernel D Ebugging
C:\>bcdedit /dbgsettings USB TARGETNAME:usb Set the OPTION SWITCH to debug mode (LEFT) and connect the host and target to the AMIDebug Rx via the USB debug port. WINDBG must then be started on the host, with the correct “usb targetname”... - Page 28 AMIDebug™ Rx – User Manual The debug host must use the USB 2.0 Debug Connection Device driver supplied with WINDBG, not the PLX debug driver supplied with AMIDebug Rx. PCI bus/device/function numbers are in hexadecimal format for Microsoft Windows Vista, but are in decimal format for Microsoft Windows 7.
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Page 29: Terminal Output Examples
POST-MEM NB INIT POST-MEM NB INIT POST-MEM NB INIT POST-MEM NB INIT POST-MEM SB INIT POST-MEM SB INIT POST-MEM SB INIT POST-MEM SB INIT OEM POST-MEM INIT OEM POST-MEM INIT Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 29 of 36... - Page 30 RESERVED AMI DXE RESERVED AMI DXE RESERVED AMI DXE RESERVED AMI DXE RESERVED AMI DXE RESERVED AMI DXE OEM DXE INIT OEM DXE INIT OEM DXE INIT OEM DXE INIT Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 30 of 36...
- Page 31 AMI RESERVED AMI RESERVED AMI RESERVED AMI RESERVED OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT OEM BDS INIT Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 31 of 36...
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Page 32: E Xample S Ession O Utput ( Using D Ownload /D Isplay C Ommand )
AMI Debug Rx Output for Session#1 =============================================================================== Session Start Time 06/10/2009 15:16:44 Total Checkpoints Duration of last boot : 23,703ms BIOS Tag 0ABFL032 BIOS Type Aptio 4.x BIOS Build Time 05/11/2009 17:00:07 Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 32 of 36... - Page 33 READY TO BOOT EVENT 0x00AE 23,705ms LEGACY BOOT EVENT Debug String Output ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [AmiDbg]Register PPI Notify: 36164812-a023-44e5-bd85-05bf3c7700aa [AmiDbg]Notify: PPI Guid: 36164812-a023-44e5-bd85-05bf3c7700aa, Peim notify entry point: fffe7810 [AmiDbg]PeiDebugSupport.Entry(FFFBD42C) [AmiDbg]Register PPI Notify: f894643d-c449-42d1-8ea8-85bdd8c65bde Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 33 of 36...
- Page 34 : Addr = 046C => Val = 00 [AmiDbg] TCO_MESSAGE2 : Addr = 046D => Val = 00 [AmiDbg] TCO_WDCNT : Addr = 046E => Val = 00 Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 34 of 36...
- Page 35 Example session is for an Aptio 4.x BIOS with UEFI debug strings enabled. Some debug strings were removed to make the example output shorter. The debug strings will typically not be present on a production BIOS. Copyright ©2017 American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document Page 35 of 36...
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Page 36: Limited Hardware Warranty
AMIDebug™ Rx – User Manual Limited Hardware Warranty This Limited Warranty is extended by American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) only to the original purchaser of the accompanying AMI microcomputer hardware product (the "Product") and is not assignable to any other person.