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An 80386/80486 Monitor
Any 80386 S-100 board normally needs a built in monitor program to monitor its ability to interact with other S-100 bus boards.  As with our 8086 monitor there are typically no space limitations, so more code can be added to allow much more hardware testing and configuration than you would normally see in  say, a Z80 monitor for example.  That said, it is usually desirable not to have the monitor ROM extend  below the region found in an IBM-PC (F0000-FFFFFH).  For example the PC Video board RAM is at A0000H- BFFFFH (and/or) C7FFFH-EFFFFH. Above F0000H everything is up for grabs for us. We will use this space here for  extensive board system diagnostics, we will write our own code to emulate standard PC calls so the software "thinks" it is talking to an IBM-PC.   To do this we need quite a bit of space. Our 80386 monitor therefore will start at F0000H with much of the code space up to FFFFFH filled with true monitor type commands. 

The basic monitor (in ROMS) will work in "Real Mode" (RM) with any 8088, 8086, 80816 and 80286.  However what is special about this monitor is the Protect Mode (PM) feature of the 80386.    In this mode the CPU utilizes its full 32 bit capacity and can address RAM up to 4GB directly.  This is an enormous amount of RAM, equivalent to that of many mainframes of its day.  Likewise the 32 bit registers provide enormous capacity and capability.  To give you some idea of the size,  a simple DEC  EAX instruction starting with 0FFFFFFFFH at 16 MHz will take over 3 hours to get to zero!

The 80386 is a schizophrenic chip, upon reset it behaves much like your traditional 8086 CPU with its 16 bit segments and 16 bit registers.  In this mode called "Real Mode" (RM),  it is capable of only addressing up to 1MB of RAM.  To switch the CPU into 32 bit "Protected Mode" (PM), there are some fairly complicated operations that must be first carefully carried out.  This is because in PM the CPU exhibits a very sophisticated memory management process which allows sophisticated operation systems to run multiple users and tread operations.

This article is meant to introduce you as to how to program the chip for this purpose and allow you to utilize the full 32 bit power of the 80386 CPU.  Its end point however is still a single user "flat" address space of up to 4GB of RAM.  Even more work is required to implement multi-user and paging systems.

The Segment Registers
In a certain sense you are almost better off not knowing about the segment registers of the 8086 to understand them on the 80386.  For the 80386 in PM, the 16 bit segment registers (CS, SS, DS, ES, FS, GS)  are nothing more than 16 bit pointers to a tables in RAM that describes a region of memory that all the 32 bit 80386 registers in PM will use. This most importantly, includes the 32 bit instruction pointer EIP for the CS.  The table tells the CPU (amongst other things), for example where in the actual physical RAM space the CS starts at.  In other words where in RAM an EIP = 0 actually resides.   Intel calls these tables "Descriptor tables" . So for an EIP = 354H and a CS descriptor table configured with its starting address of say 12000H,  the CPU would actually look at RAM at 12345H. Gone are CS address bit shifts/additions etc.

There has to be a descriptor table for every segment register in RAM before it is used.  Typically there are not many, usually one or two per segment register.   The descriptor tables (for different segments),  are usually all bunched together at one location called the Global Descriptor Table (GDT).  As we will see, each segment table requires 8 bytes of RAM.  So we may have CS = 8H point to that descriptor, DS = 16H point to that descriptor, SS = 20H point to that segments descriptor,  and so on.  Most segment values for 80386 programs have low numbers (unlike 8086 code) because the index into a table (the GDT) is typically small.  For example we might have defined in the GDT #1 with:-

MOV   AX,1
MOV    CS,AX


What you would not normally have is AX = 1200H  as you probably not have a table of 1200H CS descriptor tables.

Clearly the location of this important GDT is very critical to the 80386 when it runs in PM.  Before switching the CPU to PM, a special register (the Global Descriptor Table Register), must be loaded with its location.  This location is defined by another location in RAM that contains just two items, the total size in bytes of the complete GDT, and its location.   The reason for the double pointer is because it easily allows GDT tables to be switched/modified on the fly.  The special 80386 instruction LGDT does this.

Here is a typical code example:-

LGDT [dword CS:GdtDesc]      ;Load the PM GDT     

GdtDesc:
    DW GDT_SIZE - 1                 ;GDT limit
    DD GDT_BASE_ADDRESS     ;GDT base address (Note, relocated to 0D0000H in RAM by the Monitor)


Its important to note that before any protect mode segment register is used in PM (including the SS register) , you must point them to a valid GDT entry.  Its fine (indeed common) for different segment registers to share the same GDT index number.

Let us quickly look at how these segment descriptors are defined.  First they are nothing more that eight consecutive 8 byte memory locations.  Normally all GDP tables are positioned one after the other in RAM. The layout of each 8 byte destructor is a little screwed up in terms of the position/order of the data within them. This is due to the fact that they were built on to the structure of the earlier 16 bit 80286 descriptors.  In order to keep software compatible the extra information required for the 80386 descriptors was tagged on.

Here is an example of the lowest three entries of a typical GDT:-
  
 GDT Table
  
Lets skip the first 8 byte entry in the table for the moment. Each square is a byte of RAM. The positions 0-7 bytes read right to left with the lowest (first) GDT byte being in the lowest right hand corner of the table.  As you can see the CS descriptor starts at byte position #8 in the total GDT. So we would load 08H into the CS register. 

Each descriptor defines where in the 80386's 4GB address space the segment (CS, SS ES, etc) actually starts in physical RAM. Initial entries in the GDT are often 00000000H, but remember it can be any number.  We could have a CS assigned to an absolute RAM location of 123456H yet the ORG  .A86 code can be 0H.  The 80386 will do the address translation of the final EIP on the fly.    We clearly need a 32 bit starting address number. As I said above this number is not linear. Bytes 2-4  contain bits 0-23 of the starting address, byte 7 contains the remaining bits 24-31.

The next thing we need is information to define how much of the 80386's address space is "assigned" to that segment. It can be any number from 1 to 4GB you call, but if your program should go outside of this region you will generate a PM fault (see below) except in very special (defined) situations.
You might think we need another 32 bit number, but the 80386 does a trick, we can define this size in 1 byte or 4K units by the status of a one bit (the granularity bit, see below) thereby reducing the RAM requirement to 2 and 1/2 bytes.  Two of the bytes are the first two bytes (0 & 1) of each descriptor table which are 0-15 bits of the segment limit. The requires next 4 bits (16-19) are shoehorned into the lower 4 bit nibble  of byte 6 (see above). Not pretty but it saves space.
 
So far things are fairly simple and straightforward.  Bytes 5 and 6 are a little bit more complex. These bits have important defined meanings as to how the 80386 will work within that data or code segment.  Working our way through the 12 bits they have the following meanings:-

Byte 5, Bit 0.         The "A" or access bit is seldom used.  It is one of the reasons the GDT is in RAM in most systems. It is usually initialized to 0 but changes to 1 any time the 80386 access the segment.   If it is set back to 0 by software it is reset to one whenever that RAM segment is re-accessed.  Its main use is in multiuser/memory paging operations. We will not use this capability here.

Byte 5, Bits 1-4.      The "Type" bits on the other hand are very important.  They define the nature of the information in that segments RAM. This table shows their meaning
 
 000Data (Read Only)
 001Data (Read & Write)
 010Stack (Read Only)
 011Stack (Read & Write)
 100Code (Execute Only)
 101Code (Execute & Read)
 110Code (Execute only, Conforming)
 111Code (Execute & Read, Conforming)
   
A value of 100 and 001 are by far the most common.  The former tells the 80386 that segments RAM is reserved for program code and will never be altered by that (or another program).  The 001 bit configuration on the other hand is the inverse.  It is reserved for RAM data, can be accessed by most registers and can be altered. The other bit combinations we will skip for now they are used in special Read Only (ROM like) modes or where interrupts/Gates  with different privilege levels are implemented.  For our purposes 001 can be used for all the DS, ES, FS, GS and even SS segments.

Byte 5, Bit 4.        This is the "S" (System) bit and is used in Multiuser/Operating system applications etc. For our use it will always be a 1.

Byte 5, Bits 5,6     These are the "Privilege Level" bits.  The 80386 can run programs at four different privilege levels numbered 0 to 3.  A program in a segment at one privilege level cannot access data or code at a higher privilege level except by using special interrupts and "gates".    This very important function protects one program from overwriting another things for things like a program overwriting the operating system.  These privilege levels are numbered 0 (the highest) to 3 (the lowest).  The levels match exactly bits  5 & 6 of the segment descriptor.   The 80386 comes up in PM at its highest privilege level (level 0).  We will run all our code in the 80386 monitor at the highest Privilege level, level 0.

Byte 5, Bit 7.        This is the "P" (Present) bit and is used for Page mode switching in Multiuser/Operating system applications etc. For our use it will always be a 1.  If it is 0, it tells the CPU that the address range that selector defines is not actually present in physical RAM (is on a disk buffer).

Byte 6, Bit 4.        The "U" or user bit, is as so named. Used by operating systems etc. We will not use it here and is set to 0 

Byte 6, Bit 5.        The "X" is the opposite. It is an Intel Reserved bit and should not be used at all. Is set to 0.

Byte 6, Bit 6        This is the "D" or default code size bit is a very important bit.  If 1 (common for PM), it tells the 80386 that all code and data will be understood by the 80386 to be 32 bit code and treated as such in terms of register usage  UNLESS the special 80386 opcode prefixes (o16 in NASM, 66H) forces code or data in the segment to be interpreted as 16 bit code.   Exactly the opposite if the "D" bit is a 0, in this situation the 80386 assumes by default that all code refers to 16 bit registers.  Again this CAN be overwritten by using a special 80386 opcode prefix (o32 in NASM).

Its very important to understand that the 80386 can interpret SAME opcodes in RAM differently depending on how the segment is configured with this bit.  So the code:-

B8,00,00,00,00 in 32 bit mode will zero the EAX register.    In 16 bit mode if you wanted to zero EAX you would use the 66H prefix opcode. The assembler would write 66,B8,00,00,00,00.

Conversely B8,00,00 in 16 bit mode will zero the AX register.    In 16 bit mode if you wanted to zero EAX you would use the 66H prefix opcode. The assembler would write 66,B8,00,00,00,00.

Likewise for register based addressing.  In this case the byte 67H before an opcode forces/overrides the next opcode addressing bytes to be 16 bits for a 32 bit selector and 32  bits for a 16 bit selector.

Fortunately we don't normally have to worry about things like this because we tell the assembler the type of code we want. 

For NASM we use  [BITS 16], [BITS 32], and  o16, o32  opcode prefixes if needed.  All the above is more or less transparent, but you must be careful to have your selector "D" bit match your [BITS 16] or more common, [BITS 32]

Byte 6, Bit 7        This is the "G" or granularity bit we talked about above. If 0 the 20 bit Segment size limit is measured in 1 byte units. If 1 they are measured in 4K units.

Taking all of the above bit patterns into account the most common values of bytes 5 & 6 for CS segments is 9ACFH and for other segments 92CFH.

We are almost done with the GDT, the only remaining is the very first descriptor in the table -- the first eight bytes.  Intel reserves this descriptor as a special designation to identify an invalid segment. All eight bytes are always set to 0's and while not required,  any unused/invalid segments in your code can be assigned a segment value of 0.

OK, so in our travels of switching the 80386 into protected mode we must first setup (in RM) a GDT in RAM and load the pointer of this table into the 80386 GDT register.  Here for example is the complete GDT of my 80386 monitor.

                                  ;80386 DESCRIPTOR TABLES      
          ALIGN 16                ;More efficient
 

Gdt:      DD    0                 ;GDT[0]: Null entry, never used.
          DD    0
                                  ;GDT[1]:Executable, read-only code, base address of 0, limit FFFFF 
                                  ;granularity bit (G) set (making the limit 4GB)
          DW    0FFFFh            ;Limit[15..0]     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[23..16]     
          DB    10011010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 1 C(0) R(1) A(0)     
          DB    11001111b         ;G(1) D(1) 0 0 Limit[19..16]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24] 

                                  ;GDT[2]: Writable data segment, same address space as GDT[1].     
          DW    0FFFFh            ;Limit[15..0]     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[23..16]     
          DB    10010010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 0 E(0) W(1) A(0)     
          DB    11001111b         ;G(1) B(1) 0 0 Limit[19..16]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24]                              

                                  ;GDT[3]: Executable, read-only 16 bit code, base address of 0, limit FFFF
                                  ;granularity bit (G) set (making the limit 64K)     
          DW    0FFFFh            ;Limit[15..0]     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]        
          DB    BASE_16_BIT       ;Base[23..16]                         (>>>> Note base is @ F000:0H <<<<)     
          DB    10011010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 1 C(0) R(1) A(0)     
          DB    00000000b         ;G(0) D(0) 0 0 Limit[19..16]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24]                                   
 
                                  ;GDT[4]: Writable data segment, 16 bit code, base address of 0, limit of FFFFh. 
          DW    0FFFFh            ;Limit[15..0]     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]     
          DB    BASE_16_BIT       ;Base[23..16]                      (>>>> Note base is @ F000:0H <<<<)     
          DB    10010010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 0 E(0) W(1) A(0)     
          DB    00000000b         ;G(0) B(0) 0 0 Limit[19..16]     
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24]                              

                                  ;GDT[5]:Executable, read-only code, base address for IDT is IDT_BASE
                                  ;granularity bit (G) set (making the limit 4GB)     
          DW    000Fh             ;Limit[15..0] (16*4K)     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]     
          DB    IDT_BASE          ;Base[23..16]     
          DB    10011010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 1 C(0) R(1) A(0)     
          DB    11001111b         ;G(1) D(1) 0 0 Limit[19..16]
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24] 


GDT_SIZE EQU ($ - Gdt)             ;<<<< Size of GDT, in bytes 

GdtDesc:                           ;<<< GDT descriptor >>>     
         DW    GDT_SIZE - 1        ;GDT limit     
         DD    GDT_BASE_ADDRESS    ;GDT base address (Note, relocated to 0D0000H in RAM above)  

Don't worry about some of the later segment descriptors for now they will make more sense later.  We have one more thing to do before we fire up PM. We need to transfer the above table in ROM to RAM not only so that the "A" bit can be set but more importantly so the GDT in RAM can be modified or added to by software.  A typical 8086 string move instruction does this. I place the 8038 Monitor GDT at D0000H in RAM with the following code:-
 
 
         CLD                       ;Clear direction flag
        
CLI                       ;Just in case
        
MOV AX,GDT_SEG            ;Will move the GDT tables to D000:0H in RAM
        
MOV ES,AX
         MOV DI,GDT_OFFSET         ;<----- Will place GDT at 0D0000H in RAM
        
MOV AX,CS                 ;Actually not needed here (CS=DS), but want general case
        
MOV DS,AX
        
MOV SI,Gdt
        
MOV CX,GDT_SIZE
        
INC CX                    ;Move tables to 0D000:0H RAM location

         REP MOVSB                 ;[DS:SI] -> [ES:DI]

 

 Here is how the GDT table appears in RAM:-
    
 GDT Map
     
We now have our complete GDP at location GDT_BASE_ADDRESS (D0000H) in RAM.   We tell the 80386 about this location by loading the GDT register:-
  
          CPU 386                    ;Allow 80386 Opcodes

o32      LGDT   [dword CS:GdtDesc]   ;Initialize GDTR (for GdtDesc, see below)

The 80386 has a special 32 bit register call CR0 which is actually largely unused on the 80386. There are a few bits for use with the math co-processor but it is its bit 0 that is important to us here.  If bit 0 of  register CR0 is 0 the CPU operates in RM. If this bit is changed to 1 the CPU immediately switches to PM.
    
         MOV   EAX,CR0                ;Set to protected mode           
         OR    EAX,1           
         MOV   CR0,EAX                ;<---- GOTO PROTECTED MODE 
                                      ;The CPU is now executing in 16-bit protected mode.
                                      ;Make a far jump in order to load CS with a selector
                                      ;to
our 32-bit executable code descriptor GDT[1] (see above).
                                     
o32
      JMP     dword PM_CS_386:(PM_ROM_BASE+Start32)       ;PM_CS_386=8 in GDT 

         [BITS 32]                   
;<<<<<<< We now need to use 32-bit instructions >>> 

Start32:           
        MOV   AX,PM_DS_386            ;GDT[2]: Writable (0-4GB)           
        MOV   DS,AX           
        MOV   ES,AX           
        MOV   FS,AX           
        MOV   GS,AX                       
        MOV   SS,AX           
        MOV   ESP,STACK_SEG           ;Get real mode current SP to ESP           
        SHL   ESP,4           
        MOV   EBX,STACK_POINTER                 
        ADD   ESP,EBX                 ;Force to 000DFFFCH
       
        MOV   EBX,SMSG_PROTECTED              
        call
  P_SPEAK_STRING          ;Speak out the message "Protected Mode" (32 Bit Code)
        ......

The above code has a lot going on.   Upon switching over to Protected Mode (PM) we immediately do a Far Jump.  This is required to flush out the queue of bytes in the CPU and force a new code segment loading.  We jump to Start32: in RAM.  This is where our descriptor table first comes in.  Rather than having something like a RM JMP dword F000:Start32, where the CS is loaded with F000H the code segment is loaded with just PM_CS_386 which is in our case here is 8. It is the 8th byte in our GDT.   Because we how have the CS with this descriptor we can have in theory code up to 4GB in size.  Because that descriptor is Byte 6, bit 6 set to one the CPU will expect and run the code in 32 bit mode.  Because Byte 5, Bits 5,6 are 0's the code will run at the highest Privilege level with all possible opcodes/operations available to the CPU. 

We use the
o32
opcode prefix before this JMP because the 80386 is currently running in 16 bit mode before it gets to Start32:

Finally we must add the 32 bit PM_ROM_BASE (E0000H) to Start32 because the NASM assembler was setup with an ORG of 0.  This was done so 16 RM and 32 bit PM code an be contained in the same program/ROM.

We next assign segment descriptors to all the other segments.  In our case we will use the same (0-4GB) segment for all segments.  We will hard wire in the ESP so it is the same as the real mode SS:SP.

That's all there is to it!  If you write modules below:
 
          CPU 386                      ;Allow 80386 Opcodes
                  
[BITS 32]                     ;32 Bit code

you can add any amount of code/data you like up to a limit of 4GB.

Interrupts
Such a system is fine if you do not need to use hardware and/or software interrupts.  On the 80386 interrupts are extremely useful.  Not only will they allow you flag the various memory management errors you make but you can use them to single step and debug hardware or software in a manner not available on the previous Intel CPU's.

Real Mode Interrupts.
If you recall the 8086 family ALWAYS set aside RAM from 0 to 3FFH as an interrupt table for the 256 possible Interrupts the CPU could respond to. Hardware (usually one or two 8259A's) or software INT's were spliced together into a Jump table of 4 bytes per interrupt.  The bytes contain the Segment:Offset to a routine for each interrupt.  The routines themselves could be anywhere in the 1MB Address space. 
 
After Reset and in RM, the 80386 follows this format exactly also.  So for example we can load MS-DOS in RM from our 80386 monitor with no changes.

Protect Mode Interrupts.
PM Interrupts are a completely different animal.   In PM, the INT Jump table no longer begins at 0H in RAM.  It can in fact be anywhere in the CPU's 4GB Address space.   All Jumps are sequentially listed in a special table called the "Interrupt Descriptor Table" (IDT).  There is only one IDT and as for the GDT it is located in RAM (or ROM).  Like the GDT,  it is a sequence of 8 bytes, one 8 byte stretch for each of the possible 256 (0FFH) Interrupts.  However the meaning of the bytes is quite different from those in the GDT.  Here is the general layout of the IDT
 
  
 IDT Table
     
  
Bytes 0,1.        These two bytes contain bits 0-15 of the address (using the CS segment) of the interrupt routine for that interrupt.
 
Byte 2,3.         These two bytes contain the descriptor number for the CS segment for that interrupts interrupt routine

Byte  4.           This byte is ignored by the 80386 and is set to 0.

Byte 5.            This byte always has 01110 in bits 0-4.   Bits 5 & 6 are the Privilege levels required to pass through the interrupt to that interrupts routine.  It is not the privilege level of the routine itself. That is determined by the privilege level of the routines CS descriptor.  For this reason it is common to have minimal DPL values (usually 3) so everything passes through.   However since our 80386 monitor does not utilize protection levels,  we will leave the field as 0.   Bit 7 is the "P" or present bit. It is normally 1 indicating the Interrupt routine is available.

Byte 6,7.           These two bytes contain bits 16-31 of the address (using the CS segment) of the interrupt routine for that interrupt.

We normally assign a region of RAM to all Interrupt vector routines (pointed to by the IDT) by giving them their own descriptor and locating the interrupt routines within it.  In my 80386 monitor from the above GDT we have:-

                                  ;GDT[5]:Executable, read-only code, base address for IDT is IDT_BASE
                                  ;granularity bit (G) set (making the limit 4GB)     
          DW    000Fh             ;Limit[15..0] (16*4K)     
          DW    0000h             ;Base[15..0]     
          DB    IDT_BASE          ;Base[23..16]  (Int Routines at F0000-FFFFFH)   
          DB    10011010b         ;P(1) DPL(00) S(1) 1 C(0) R(1) A(0)     
          DB    11001111b         ;G(1) D(1) 0 0 Limit[19..16]
          DB    00h               ;Base[31..24] 

I copy the actual IDT in the ROM to RAM at IDT_BASE (E0100H) with the following  code.
 
                                          ;Next setup the IDT table
        mov bx,IDT_SEG                    ;IDT_SEG starts at D000:100 to D000:900H in RAM
        mov es,bx
        mov bx,IDT_OFFSET                 ;Offset to start of IDT table
        mov cx,100H                       ;All interrupts initially with a default error pointer
        mov di,0

p_fill_ints:                              ;First fill with the default unassigned Int warning
        mov ax,PM_INT_JUMP_TABLE          ;Start of interrupt routines list (6 per int)
        add ax,di
        mov word [es:bx],ax               ;Offset of unassigned int error routine in IDT
        mov word [es:bx+2],PM_IDT_386     ;Protect mode 386 code segment for IDT jump table
        mov byte [es:bx+4],0
        mov byte [es:bx+5],10001110B      ;P=1 (enable), DPL=0, 01110 = 80386 Interrupt Gate (8EH)
        mov word [es:bx+6],0              ;Offset 31...16 (0, because PM_IDT_386 is at start of IDT)

        add bx,8                          ;Point to next int entry
        add di,6                          ;Point to next int error routine (note RM is only 5)
        loop p_fill_ints                  ;Fill in all 256 entries


In the monitor each of the 256 possible Interrupt routines has its own routine. Most revert to a default routine. I will discuss this later. For now, suffice to say,  each interrupt routine is space 6 bytes apart from PM_INT_JUMP_TABLE  in the ROM.  The above code will then build our IDT correctly in RAM at D0100H in RAM.  Here is how the start of IDT table appears in RAM:-
 
 IDT Table Map

We have one final thing to do, we need to let the 80386 know where the IDT is located.  As for the GDT there is a special register and opcode to do this.

o32 LIDT [dword CS:IdtDesc]                ;Initialize the IDTR (at E0100H)

Now whenever an interrupt occurs, the 80386 will go to the above interrupt table, call the appropriate interrupt routine and then return to what it was doing -- just as in RM.

Now let us look at the actual Interrupt routines that the 80386 Monitor uses.   There are 256 of them. Most will be unused.  We need a "Default" routine to handle the case where a rogue interrupt occurred.  We could have them all point to one memory location and use one general routine. However we would have no way of telling which interrupt was triggered.   A non-expensive way, (code wise), to tag each interrupt uniquely is to push a unique byte digit (0-255) on the stack first and then jump to the generalized default routine.  In that routine we pop the unique digit from the stack and display it.

This will require each INT routine to have a default form of:-

Int_X:    Push   (byte) X
             jmp word PM_Default_INT_Routine
Int_Y:    Push   (byte) Y
             jmp word PM_Default_INT_Routine
Int_Z:    Push   (byte) Z
             jmp word PM_Default_INT_Routine
             ......


Here is the relevant section of the 80386's default INT routine:-

PM_Default_INT_Routine:               ;Unless told otherwise all the above Ints will come here
        PUSH EAX                      ;Save what will be changed. Note IRET saves flags
        PUSH EBX
        PUSH EBP
        MOV EBP,ESP                   ;Locate Stack
        MOV EBX,UNASSIGNED_1_INT_MSG  ;"Un-assigned Int #"
        CALL P_PRINT_STRING           ;Note PRINT_STRING always uses the CS: override for the EBX pointer
        MOV EAX,[EBP+12]              ;Interrupt number was passed on stack here
        CALL P_AL_HEXOUT              ;Display Hex value in AL
        MOV EBX,H_MSG_CRLF            ;"H" + CRLF
        POP EBP
P_INT_INFO_DONE:
        CALL P_PRINT_STRING           ;Display message at EBX
        POP EBX
        POP EAX
        ADD ESP,4                     ;Balance up stack, return
        IRET

This is for the unused/unassigned INT's that actually should not happen.  The lower interrupt numbers (0-16) have fixed and well defined uses assigned by Intel.  The behave exactly the same as all other interrupts but each has its own interrupt routine. Here is a list of these interrupts.
 
 Description Int #Return AddressException Type
 Divide error 0 YES FAULT
 Debug exceptions 1NO TRAP
 Breakpoint 3NOTRAP
 Overflow4NOTRAP
 Bounds check  5 YESFAULT
 Invalid op-code 6YES FAULT
 Coprocessor not available7 YESFAULT
 Double fault  8 YES ABORT
 Coprocessor Overrun9 NO ABORT
 Invalid TSS 10YESFAULT
 Segment not present 11 YES FAULT
 Stack exception 12  YESFAULT
 General Protection 13 YES FAULT/ABORT
 Page fault 14YESFAULT
 Reserved    TRAP
Coprocessor error 16 YESFAULT

For cases that are classified as "FAULT" or "ABORT" the CPU ends the routine in a HALT state with the 80386 Monitor. It can go no further and must be reset.  Routines classified as "TRAP"  can recover and will do so if requested by the operator.   There are some subtleties of what is passed on the stack for these routines. Please see the actual code for details.

Note in the 80386 monitor the 8259A PIC hardware interrupts are relocated to INTs  40H-48H in PM.  This is because the IBM-PC locations 8-16 are utilized by the 80386.  The keyboard Interrupt (41H) can be tested in PM using the "L" command. 

Debugging In Protected Mode
One of the main motivations for getting Interrupts working correctly in PM is that you can use the powerful interrupt driven debugging features of the 80386.  There are three features the 80386 comes with to facilitate debugging.

Int 3 Based Debugging
This is the old Intel  single byte "CC debug opcode" debugging option.  If you insert the single byte, 0CCH, anywhere in your code the CPU will immediately do an Interrupt 3.  This option goes back to the early Intel CPU's.  Its was use a lot with software debuggers because you could temporally substitute in a single byte in the code, cause the interrupt, display all the registers etc. and them put back the original code and do the same thing for the next opcode. All the time single stepping the process along.  If you are writing code yourself you can sprinkle the opcode at key points in the code to help you understand where things are going. It's better than just sending a token character to the CRT!  Int 3 is implemented in the 80386 monitor displaying all registers any time it is called.

Trace Flag Based Debugging

Bit 8 of the EFLAGS of the 80386 register is the "Trace Flag".  This flag in normally 0.  If it is changed to 1 then after EVERY complete instruction, the CPU does an immediate INT 1.  This process is independent of any memory management, paging and privilege levels etc. (of course the privilege set for the INT 1 routine itself may prevent its processing).   The code segment and offset address pushed on the stack will point to the next instruction following the one just executed.  If the traced instruction changed the flow of control, the return address will point to the new address not the next one in the code listing.   Because the EFLAGS register is also pushed on the stack its a little tricky to turn off the Trace flag in the INT 1 routine itself.   You must reach up into its stack with something like:-
    
       
AND    BYTE [SS:ESP+9],0EFH
    IRET
 

Int 1 is implemented in the 80386 monitor displaying all registers any time it is called.   There are also two functions to turn off/on the trace mode which can be inserted into debugging code.

The 80386 Debug Registers
For the first time Intel added a true hardware set of Debug registers to the 80386.  One of the problems with the Trace flag approach is that you will find yourself tracing to much of what you have no interest in. For example you typically have no interest in tracing through console or keyboard routines.
The 80386 supports a fairly sophisticated debugging system.   Let us first look at the Debug registers.
There are a total of 8 debug registers numbered DR0 to DR7.   However DR4 and DR5 are unavailable on the 80386 and are reserved for later chips.
  
 Linear Address for Breakpoint 0DR0
 Linear Address for Breakpoint 1 DR1
 Linear Address for Breakpoint 2DR2
 Linear Address for Breakpoint 3DR3
  DR4
  DR5
 B3, B2, B1, B0DR6
 G3,L3  G2,L2  G1,L1  G0,L0DR7
   
  
There are actually much more facilities in the debug control registers (DR7). You can distinguish between code or data access,  1, 2 or 4 byte hits and more. Please consult the
Intel manual for more information.

The last register is the Debug Status Register (DR6).  Most of this register is unused. The lower 4 bits go from 0 to 1 depending which of the DR0-DR3 registers triggered the interrupt.  In other words you use it to identify who called the breakpoint interrupt. 

Here is an example of a display with the debugging menu option "X" being used.

  
 
  
  
The actual code to identify the breakpoint interrupt and suck down from the stack the relevant information is a little tricky. Here is an example from part of the 80386 monitor.
  Please note currently this breakpoint feature is quite rudimentary. The next step will be to include step counts before asking to continue etc.
   
   PM_TRACE_INT_Routine:                         ;>>>>> INT#1, Debug trace mode <<<<<<<
        CALL    P_DISPLAY_80386_REGISTERS     ;Display Protect Mode Registers
        PUSH    EAX                          
        PUSH    EBX
        PUSH    ECX
        PUSH    EBP
        MOV     EBP,ESP
        MOV     EBX,IP_ADDRESS_MSG            ;IP=
        CALL    P_PRINT_STRING
        MOV     EAX,[EBP+20]                  ;Get return IP address on stack
        CALL    P_EAX_HEXOUT                  ;Display HEX value in EAX
       
        MOV     EAX,DR6                       ;Find out if a DR0-3 register triggered the INT
        AND     EAX,1                         ;Was it DR0
        JNZ     NOT_DR0
        AND     EAX,0FFFFFFFEH                ;Clear the bit 0
        MOV     DR7,EAX
        XOR     EAX,EAX
        MOV     DR0,EAX                       ;Clear DR0 Just in case
        JMP     P_DR_RESET
NOT_DR0:
        AND     EAX,2                         ;Was it DR1
        JNZ     NOT_DR1
        AND     EAX,0FFFFFFFDH                ;Clear the bit 1
        MOV     DR7,EAX
        XOR     EAX,EAX
        MOV     DR1,EAX                      
        JMP     P_DR_RESET
NOT_DR1:
        AND     EAX,4                         ;Was it DR2
        JNZ     NOT_DR2
        AND     EAX,0FFFFFFFBH                ;Clear the bit 2
        MOV     DR7,EAX
        XOR     EAX,EAX
        MOV     DR2,EAX                      
        JMP     P_DR_RESET
NOT_DR2:
        AND     EAX,8                         ;Was it DR3
        JNZ     P_DR_RESET
        AND     EAX,0FFFFFFF7H                ;Clear the bit 3
        MOV     DR7,EAX
        XOR     EAX,EAX
        MOV     DR3,EAX                      
        JMP     P_DR_RESET
 
P_DR_RESET:
        MOV     EBX,TRACE_CONTINUE_MSG        ;"H,CR,LF,Continue to trace ?"
        CALL    P_PRINT_STRING
        CALL    P_CICO                        ;Get keyboard character and echo it
        CMP     AL,'Y'
        JZ      P_MORE_TRACE
        CMP     AL,SPACE                      ;For speed, allow space bar as well
        JZ      P_MORE_TRACE
        CMP     AL,ESC
        JZ      Start32                       ;Reload everything Stack may be bad
        AND     word [EBP+28],0FEFFH          ;Clear Trace Flag
        CALL    P_CRLF
        JMP     P_FINISH_TRACE
P_MORE_TRACE:
        OR      word [EBP+28],0100H           ;Turn ON trace Bit
P_FINISH_TRACE:
        POP     EBP
        POP     ECX
        POP     EBX
        POP     EAX
        ADD     ESP,4                         ;Balance up stack, return
        IRET                                 

  
Switching Back To Real Mode

To allow flexibility with the monitor its useful to be able to go back and forth between real and protected modes.  Going back to real mode from protected mode is essentially an unwinding of the above getting into protected mode process.   You cannot however simply flip the CR0 bit 0 switch.  This is because the CPU is in 32 bit mode and possibly currently above the 8086 address space.  We must first assign segments that do not extend past 1MG.  We must also reassign the interrupt table to its real mode 0-3FFH in RAM location.  The code below is the relevant portion of the 80386 monitor that accomplishes that.  The descriptors RM_DS_386 and RM_CS_386 are the two remaining entries in our GDT we talked about above.
P_GOTO_REAL_MODE:
        cli                            ;Just in case, disable interrupts.
                                       ;Need 16-bit Protected Mode GDT entries!
        mov     eax,RM_DS_386          ;16-bit Protected Mode data selector, GDT[4]: Writable (0-64KB)
        mov     ds, eax
        mov     es, eax
        mov     fs, eax
        mov     gs, eax
        mov     ss, eax
        
        DB      0EAH
        DW      AtRealMode
        DW      0H
        DW      RM_CS_386              ;<<<<< JMP 0F000H (or 0E000H base for debug mode)
        
        [BITS 16]                       ;<<<< We now need 16-bit instructions here >>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
AtRealMode:
        mov     eax,cr0                ;Set real mode flag
        dec     eax
        mov     cr0,eax
 
        JMP     word  ROM_BASE:AtRealMode2  ;Note "regular" FAR Jump 
        
AtRealMode2:
o32     LIDT    [dword CS:ridt]        ;Initilize IDT back to real mode.
        
        CPU 8086                       ;Allow 8086 Opcodes only
        
        mov     ax,ROM_BASE            ;Reset segment registers to 0.
        mov     ds,ax
        mov     es,ax
        mov     fs,ax
        mov     gs,ax
        mov     ax,STACK_SEG           ;<<<< Note we assume we have RAM at this location >>> 
        mov     ss,ax                  ;Normally SP is at E000:FFFCH
        mov     SP,STACK_POINTER       ;E000:FFFCH, Assume we have RAM immediatly below this PROM
        mov     BP,BASE_POINTER
               
        mov     bx,SIGNON              ;Signon notice
        call    PRINT_STRING           ;Note up until now stack was not used
        
        mov     bx,SMSG_REAL   
        call    SPEAK_STRING           ;Speak out the message "Real Mode"
 
        mov     bx,SHOWSTACK           ;Show current stack position
        call    PRINT_STRING           ;Note up until now stack was not used
        MOV     AX,SS
        CALL    AX_HEXOUT
        MOV     CL,':'
        CALL    CO
        MOV     AX,SP
        CALL    AX_HEXOUT
        CALL    CRLF
 
        JMP     WARM_INIT              ;Back to start of monitor in real mode       


80386 Monitor Menu Commands
Many of the 80386 monitor menu commands are the same as the 8086 monitor.  In fact you can use the RM parts of this monitor with the 8088, 8086 and 80286 boards. So if the monitor is located in the MS-DOS Support board one set of ROMS can be configured to work with all boards.  It's fine to have the MS-DOS Support board EPROMS "on all the time" (Jumper K7, 1-2) and use the jumper on the CPU board (Jumper K3) to decide if the local or MS-DOS board will be used for the boot monitor.

The monitor is over 15,000 lines of NASM code so it takes a little time to get used to all its options. That said the menu commands should be familiar to anybody that has used a typical microprocessor monitor in the past.

Here is the initial signon monitor using the "K" command to display the top level commands
  
  Main 80386 menu
  
  
The "W" command may not be too obvious.  This command allows you to download a XModem binary file from say a PC and via the Serial IO Board  load it anywhere in RAM (up to 1M in RM, up to 4GB in PM).  Here is how the "W" menu option appears.
   
  W-Command
    
The "N" command brings up a sub menu containing an extensive list of menu options to utilize the Dual IDE controller board.  This also include the ability to boot MS-DOS from a CF-CARD (or  old fashioned Hard Disk).  Here is how the "N" sub-menu appears.
  
  N-Command

  
The "X" command brings up an extensive list of options to test and debug the IBM-PC/MS-DOS BIOS functions.  In particular it tests your interrupt hardware (hard & soft) is working correctly.  Here is how the "X" sub-menu appears.
   
  X-Command

Finally the "O" command launches the 80386 into a sub-menu of PM commands.  Here is how the menu appears.
  
  PM-Menu

You can go back and forth between real and protected modes by continuously pressing the "O" option.  Many of the menu items are just the PM versions of the RM. For example here is the PM memory map ("A" Command) showing 4MG of RAM in the system.
 
  PM_MEMMAP

The "W" command in PM can be used to load a binary file directly into the 80386's 4GB address space  (We have yet to make these high capacity DRAM boards!).  I must say it is impressive to move very large blocks of RAM (> 64K) around with a one line command.  The "V" command likewise confirms they are the same.  The "X" command allows you to setup four  distinct code breakpoints.  Should the CPU run into these locations it will dump all registers as it single steps from there on.


About the 80386 Monitor Itself
The monitor consists of 4 main sections.  Sections 1,2,& 3 will work with any 8086 style CPU. Section 4 assumes an 80386
Section 1. This is a classical monitor. Display, change RAM/ports etc.

Section 2. This is a self-contained set of routines run diagnostic tests on the S100Computers IDE board.

Section 3. This fairly complex section. It emulates most of the IBM-PC ROM BIOS interrupts (hard & soft) such that MS-DOS  (V4.01)/FreeDOS can be run on the system - without any DOS modifications.  

Section 4. This is a section written in 32 bit code. It requires an 80386 to run in Protected mode and has 0-4GB RAM addressing capability as well as interrupt processing (IDT table). The code runs at privilege level 0 with no assigned tasks.

In general the 32 bit specific routines for the 80386 all start with "P_" (e.g. P_EAX_HEXOUT). These must be used when  the CPU is in protected mode. The most common error is calling a 16 bit routine instead of the equivalent 32 bit one when the CPU is in protected mode. This will usually result in a FAULT interrupt.

The final monitor in an EEPROM it will be placed at F000:0000H the stack is at D000:FFFCH & IDE Board RAM buffers/BP at D000:E000H.
For debugging/testing this monitor will reside in RAM at E000:0000H (the stack is still at D000:FFFCH & IDE RAM buffer/BP at D000:E000H).
I place the stack an BP there so that test versions of the monitor can be uploaded to E0000H by the monitor "W" command without overwriting the stack.   For mode (PM), the GDT is at D0000H and the IDT is at D0100-D08FFH.

The monitor needs a valid stack in RAM. It first checks if there is valid RAM in high memory below the ROM (The EEROM is usually at F000:0000H). If so it will set the SS to D000H and the SP to FFFCH. This puts it out of the way of everything in low RAM. If it does not detect RAM there, it will search for a valid segment from there in RAM downwards and  put the stack at the first "top of RAM" available.

That is the only RAM the main PM monitor needs. However the IDE drive diagnostic routines require much more (sector buffers etc.) I have set the BP to E000H. We use SS:BP throughout to access that RAM for the IDE Board diagnostic section.

Remember also, that RAM 0-3FFH can be initialized to trap all interrupts in RM. If you want this, activate the  SETUP_INT_TABLE routine at the start of the code. Otherwise they are not used/activated unless you use the "L" and "I" commands. In PM the ints are always active and will trap most errors and can be used for single stepping debugging etc.

Most monitor commands are modeled after the old TDL/Zapple/Z80 commands. Because we are now dealing with potentially up to 4GB of RAM for many commands, the start, end RAM locations etc. can take up to 8 digits!  In Protected mode/80386, the actual span/range for any command is NOT limited to 64K as for the 8086 monitor. In real mode however the limit is still 64K.
 
The following example fills RAM with 76H from 1A000H to 21234H.
F100000,200000,7676
Of course for the lowest 64K of RAM the "normal" 4,3,2 or 1 byte formats can be used
F123,456,76

In general hitting the ESC key will abort any long display/command function.
In all cases, to accept data, finish the entry with a CR.
So if the display says "xxxxH" you enter up to 4 hex digits than a CR (No "H" is required).

To test/load the monitor...
There are a number of ways to test/run this monitor. Until you actually have this monitor in EEPROM, you can assemble it with a origin in low RAM (say MonitorORG = 2000H). Until you have a working version you should have your 80386 (or 8086) after reset jump to the debugging monitor in low RAM. Click on PCLOAD to see how to do this.

The debugging version can be anywhere in RAM but the easiest location is something like 2000H. It needs to be well above 100H, because the Stack & Data areas are BELOW the ORG or the final EPROM code. These may have to be assigned different locations in the equates below if you don't have RAM at 0D0000H.

Assemble to a binary file with the excellent/free MSDOS/FreeDOS, NASM.EXE Assembler

NASM -f bin 8086.A86 -o 8086.bin -l 8086.lst


This will make a 8 bit format .bin file

Move it across to your CPM80 disk file system (Telnet/Modem/serial connection), whatever. I use my program PCLOAD.COM.  This is a small CPM program that takes an XModem file format data from a PC (the above .bin file) via a serial port and places it in the S100 bus RAM anywhere from 1000H up to 1MG. For locations greater than 64K it assumes a S100Computers Z80 CPU S100 board.   This board has a 16K window capability to access RAM > 64K. PCLOAD.COM can be downloaded from this web site.

After switching to your 8086/80386 Board (IN port EDH), the CPU starting up initially from an reset will begin at FFFF0H (F000:FFF0H) in RAM:. There you should have code to jump to the start of the monitor.  If for example it resides in RAM at 2000H you should have the bytes:- EA 00 20 00 00.

BTW, in the monitor code before such a jump, there is a small piece of code that reads bits 7 & 6 of the IOPORT  and IF 0's just outputs a character on the Console. This is a useful hardware test when you are first building a board or testing hardware. See the end of the code here for more info. However you don't need this code if you are doing things by hand i.e. jumping to the start of the monitor in low RAM.  Finally (if installed in hardware), some diagnostic LED's can be turned on as the monitor loads. Again not necessary, but useful.

Later when you have the EPROM monitor working, you can use the "Y" command will move the code from low RAM (100H-E000H) up to E000:0000H (assuming you have RAM there) and jump to the monitor at that location automatically. This saves a lot of time if you are rewriting the monitor. However if you have the S100Computers Z80 board you don't need to do this the CPM PCLOAD program will place the code anywhere you want it.  Once you have the Monitor itself working its own "W" command will read a modem serial port and upload a test version of the monitor into RAM (currently) configured to start at E0000H. You don't need CPM or the Z80 card. When done, use the Master Z80 monitor "W" command to activate the 80386 board (not the "O" command) if your code is in RAM.

Note in the code there are a few FAR JMP's in the code, and in PM there are critical tables that must be positioned carefully. Be sure the equates near the start of the code have the correct values.

That said,  the whole monitor fits easily within one 8086 style segment. So for example it will run unchanged in RM at say: F000:0000H, E000:0000H, 1000:0000H.... etc. just make sure you have RAM below it configured for a stack. PM mode requires careful positioning of the GDP and IDE tables.

As soon as you get things going, burn a EEPROM version that resides at F000:0000H. After switching to your 80386/8086 Board (IN port EDH, Master Z80 monitor "W" or in this case "O" command), the Monitor should immediately come up.

Remember the Console OUT routines CAN be different, The "Normal" monitor and IDE diagnostic sections ALWAYS go through the Propeller driven (or any serial type) Console out routine (CO: etc.). This by default is also the case when the IBM-BIOS sections are activated. However if the Console output is redirected to the CGA/VGA/Lava-10 board (INT 10H etc.),  then CO: is not used. Instead CO: goes to the IBM BIOS video board output. This is controlled by the [CONSOLE_FLAG] byte in low RAM.

Likewise, the Console IN routines CAN be different. The "Normal" monitor and IDE diagnostic sections ALWAYS go through the Propeller driven (or any serial type) Console IN routine (CI:, CICO, etc.). However when the IBM BIOS section is active (X Menu command, booting up MSDOS etc.), Keyboard input is ALWAYS interrupt driven, and requires the 8259A PIC etc. It uses the input from the propeller board, but each key press interrupt places the data in the IBM-PC style RAM buffer for later retrieval. If the 8259A interrupt functions are not working this section it will hang! You can use the 8259A diagnostics command (Main menu, "L" command) to debug this section beforehand.


Burning EPROMS
The monitor ROMs for the 80386 and 80486 boards can reside as a pair of ROMs on the MSDOS Support board or as a single ROM on the 80486 Board.
  

For the MSDOS Support board:-
Load the file 80386.BIN with the following settings:

For the "LOW/EVEN" ROM:-
For File Mode use "Normal" and Clear Buffer Options = 0x00
Set the "To Buffer Address (HEX) as 0000
Set the "File Address(Hex) as 0000
For "Auto Format Detect" use Intel
Set the File size (for a 28C256) to 8000

Program ("Burn" ) the above ROM code.


For the "HIGH/ODD" ROM:-
For File Mode use "Normal" and Clear Buffer Options = 0x00
Set the "To Buffer Address (HEX) as 0000
Set the "File Address(Hex) as 0000
For "Auto Format Detect" use Intel
Set the File size (for a 28C256) to 8000



For the Baby 80486 board its easiest to use a Greenliant 29EE010  (128KX8) chip.

For File Mode use "Normal" and Clear Buffer Options = 0x00
Set the "To Buffer Address (HEX) as 1000
Set the "File Address(Hex) as 0000
For "Auto Format Detect" use Intel
Set the File size (for a 28C256) to 2000



Note, it may change over time and may not correlate exactly with the text in the article above.
For further reading I recommend the book "Advanced 80386 Programming Techniques" by James L. Turley (Osborne McGraw-Hill)

Intel 80386 Programmers Reference Manual
 (1M File)

MOST CURRENT VERSION .PDF FILE OF THE 80386/80486 MONITOR   (V1.74   9/15/2019)
MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THE 80386/80486 MONITOR .ZIP File   
(V1.74  9/15/2019)

NASM Assembler and Documentation   (2/8/2013)

MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THE 80386 MONITOR (Text file)               
 (V2.0  6/12/2024)

MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THE 80386 MONITOR V2.2
 (.ZIP File)     (V2.0  6/12/2024)

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