Debugging with Intel® Distribution for GDB* on Linux* OS Host

Tutorial

  • 2022.2
  • 04/11/2022
  • Public Content
Contents

Tutorial: Debugging with Intel® Distribution for GDB* on Linux* OS Host

This tutorial describes basic scenarios of debugging applications on a CPU, GPU, and an FPGA emulator using Intel® Distribution for GDB*.

Prerequisites

Check the Get Started Guide and complete all setup steps depending on whether you aim at debugging on a CPU or a GPU.

Debugging a Kernel on CPU and GPU: Major Differences

The behavior and commands of Intel® Distribution for GDB* are very close to the standard GDB*. CPU debugging experience is almost the same, however, there are differences in GPU debugging, coming from the architecture.
In comparison to debugging on a CPU, debugging a kernel on a GPU has a few differences:
Aspect
Description
CPU
GPU
Threads and single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) lanes
When the code is vectorized,
threads
 process vectors of data elements in parallel.
SIMD lane
 is a logical unit of execution for accessing data elements within an instruction.
The debugger does not support SIMD lanes. Even if your code is vectorized, you cannot switch context to a non-default SIMD lane.
The debugger supports threads and SIMD lanes. You can switch the context to a particular thread or SIMD lane during debugging. When kernels are compiled in debug mode, most SIMD instructions have 8 lanes (i.e. execution channels). To refer to a particular SIMD lane of a thread, use a SIMD lane identifier in the format
thread ID:lane
. To learn more about debugging programs with multiple threads, refer to Chapter 4.10 of Intel® Distribution for GDB* User Guide.
Inferior calls
Inferior calls are calls to kernel functions from inside the debugger as part of expression evaluation.
Inferior calls are supported.
Inferior calls are not supported.
The following commands behave differently during GPU debugging:
Command
Description
Modification
Example
disassemble
Disassemble the current function.
GEN instructions and registers are shown.
N/A
  • step
  • stepi
  • next
  • Single-step a source line, stepping into function calls.
  • Single-step a machine instruction.
  • Single-step a source line, stepping over function calls.
SIMD lanes are supported and SIMD lane switches can occur.
next
[Switching to SIMD lane0]
thread
Switch context to the SIMD lane of the specified thread.
SIMD lanes are supported.
thread 2.5:1
thread apply
Apply a command to the specified SIMD lane of the thread.
SIMD lanes are supported.
thread apply 2.3:* print element
 prints the value of the
element
 variable for each active lane of thread 2.3. Useful for inspecting vectorized values.
info threads
Display information about threads with ID, including their active SIMD lanes.
SIMD lanes are supported.
N/A
commands
Specify a list of commands to execute when your program stops due to a particular breakpoint.
SIMD lanes are supported. With the
/a
 modifier, breakpoint actions apply to all SIMD lanes that match the condition of the specified breakpoint.
commands /a
print element
end
 prints the
element
 value for all SIMD lanes that match the condition of the specified breakpoint.
break
Create a breakpoint at a specified line.
  • SIMD lanes are supported. You can create a breakpoint at a special lane.
  • You can specify a breakpoint for a particular inferior.
  • break 56 thread 2:3
     triggers the break only for thread 2 if lane 3 is active.
  • break 56 inferior 2
     triggers the break only for inferior 2.
To start debugging, refer to the following sections:

Product and Performance Information

1

Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.