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Lab 1- Introduction to DEBUG & DEBUGX

Lab 1- Introduction to DEBUG &
DEBUGX
What is DebugX?
DEBUG, supplied by MS-DOS, is a program that traces the 8086

instructions. Using DEBUG, you can easily enter 8086 machine code

program into memory and save it as an executable MS- DOS file (in

.COM/.EXE format). DEBUG can also be used to test and debug 8086

and 8088 programs. The features include examining and changing

memory and register contents including the CPU register. The

programs may also be single- stepped or run at full speed to a break

point.

You will be using DEBUGX which is a program similar to DEBUG but

offers full support for 32-bit instructions and addressing. DEBUGX

includes the 80x86 instructions through the Pentium instructions.

Instal ling DosBox and DebugX
Note: While using IPC labs you can skip the installation as the software’s are already
installed on PCs.

To install the software which are prerequisites for x86

programming, follow the link below and these steps:-.

Link:- https://bitsiotlab.com/mup-lab-content/

[For Windows]

1. On the above page, click on “Link to DosBox” installer, and

install DosBox (There should be an icon on the desktop after this).

2. Now, click on the “ Link to MASM”, and extract the MASM611

folder.

3. Copy the MASM611 folder directly in the 'D' drive (Remember the

drive, this will be important later)

4. Make sure "debugx" is present in the MASM611→BIN folder.

5. You don't need to install anything from/within MASM611 folder

(Everything is already pre-compiled in the folder)

How to Start DebugX
Once you have all the software installed, this is the procedure you’ll

need to follow to start DebugX. In short, we need to mount the drive

where the MASM611 folder is stored (D Drive here).

Click on the DosBox icon on your desktop (This opens two windows, you only

need to focus on the one with the command prompt).

. The command prompt will read ‘Z:\>’, type in “mount d:

d:\masm611\bin” (If successful you should get a message ‘Drive D is
mounted as local directory’)
. Now type “d:” to change the command prompt to ‘D:\>’
. Type “debugx” to start the program

Great! You are ready to go. To check if everything worked, type

(Register command) in DEBUGX to see all the registers.

To quit DosBox, you can use “q” (Quit command)

DebugX Basic Conventions
DebugX is NOT case sensitive.

DEBUGX recognizes ONLY Hexadecimal numbers (without a

trailing ‘H’ by default, so ‘11’ is interpreted as seventeen, not

eleven!!)

DEBUGX displays a list of the commands and their parameters

by entering a "?" at the command prompt.

Segment and offset are specified as Segment: Offset

Spaces in commands are only used to indicate separate parameters

List of DebugX Commands
These are some vital commands you will use in DEBUGX, to perform tasks

such as viewing the registers, to executing and verifying your assembling

language programs.

We recommend you to try out these commands, in the following tasks, to get

accustomed to using DEBUGX. More details on the commands will be shared in

the upcoming lab sessions.

Vital DEBUG Commands
A: Assemble
The Assemble command (A) is used to enter assembly mode. In

assembly mode, DEBUG prompts for each assembly language

statement and that

is then . The optional start address specifies the

address at which to assemble the first instruction. The default start

address is 100h. A blank line entered at the prompt causes DEBUG

to exit assembly mode.

Syntax: A [address]

D: Dump
The Dump command (D), when used without a parameter, causes

DEBUG to

starting at CS:IP if a target program is loaded, or starting at

CS:100h if no target program is loaded. The optional range parameter

can be used to specify a starting address, or a starting and ending

address, or a starting address and a length. Subsequent Dump

commands without a parameter cause DEBUG to display the

contents of the 128-byte block of memory following the block

displayed by the previous Dump command.

Syntax: D [range]
R: Register
The Register command (R), when used without a parameter, causes

DEBUG to

. The optional register parameter will cause DEBUG to

display the contents of the register and prompt for a new value.

Syntax: R [register] Syntax: R

[register] [value]

T: Trace
The Trace command (T), when used without a parameter, causes

DEBUG to . Before the

instruction is executed, the contents of the register variables are

copied to the actual CPU registers. After the instruction has

executed, and updated the actual CPU registers (including IP), the

contents of the actual CPU registers are copied back to the register

variables and the contents of these variables are displayed. The

optional address parameter can be used to specify the starting

address. The optional count parameter can be used to specify the

number of instructions to execute. To differentiate the address

parameter from the count parameter, the address parameter must be

preceded with an "=". Note that the first byte at the specified address

must be the start of a valid instruction.

Syntax: T [=address] [number]

Tasks to be Completed
1. Using three addressing modes (Immediate, Register,

Register-Indirect), write instructions to

Move the value 1133H into the register AX.

Swap the lower and higher bytes in AX and move them into BX (If

AX is pqrs, BX should be rspq)

Move the value in BX to the memory location at an offset of 20

(from BX)

Note down the machine code equivalents of the four MOV

statements.

( You need to use the following commands- A to write the

instructions, and U to view the machine code and unassembled

instructions, T to execute and D to view the memory location)

2. Move the first letter of your name (ASCII Character) to the

location DS:0120

( : Recall the rules for the Immediate addressing mode)

3. Fill 32 (decimal) bytes of the Extra Segment with ASCII

characters for the first two letters of your name. (Like

“ABABAB…”)
( Use the F (Fill) command to fill a memory region with a byte

pattern

To fill, for example, the first 8000h bytes of the current data

segment with pattern 55:

0 L 8000 55

[Syntax: <start-address> L <range> <pattern>])