Files
bfe-core1106-sdk/qemu/README.md
T
NoahandClaude Fable 5.1 bda6c6c633 qemu: two tests the review pass left on disk
tests/scripts/fullscreen-toggle-tracks-real-state.txt pins the debug
channel's `fullscreen toggle` deciding from the dashboard's real state
rather than a private flag that `home` and a real tap left stale (rig:
14 ok). tests/test-ui-drive-rs485.sh runs offline with a fake run.sh and
socat and proves ui-drive.sh --rs485-devices fails closed when the
socket, pty or control socket never appears, dumps mbsim.log on failure,
and kills a simulator that ignores SIGTERM. README lists both.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01N3G6m9Aw5RyVY4ZowtKzEj
2026-09-09 13:54:35 -06:00

128 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown

# The Device Simulator
A QEMU virtual machine that boots the real forward-ported kernel and real
userspace: the 86 Panel (init, daemons, networking, OTA, watchdog, display)
developed and tested with no board attached. The third simulator in the stack
(three-way split: root README), deliberately not named "sim": it runs the
whole machine above the kernel entry point on real binaries: bring your own,
or drop prebuilt payloads in `payload/`. Decision record: ADR-0006.
## The Boundary
There is no RV1106 machine model in QEMU and everything below the kernel is
closed rkbin blobs plus mask ROM, so the VM **enters at `-kernel zImage`** on
`-M virt,highmem=off` (single Cortex-A7, 256M: the RV1106G3's shape).
| Emulated / substituted | Not emulated (stays bench / `sim/` territory) |
|---|---|
| Kernel boot, init ordering, switch_root | BootROM, idblock/DDR-init, SPL, U-Boot |
| A/B *outcome* (`warden.slot=` cmdline) | Real BCB A/B selection, bootcount auto-revert |
| Storage: virtio-blk with the device's exact `blkdevparts=` layout + `/dev/block/by-name/` contract | eMMC controller itself |
| Network: virtio-net (slirp, hostfwd 22/80/28443) | GMAC, AIC8800 wifi, usb0 gadget |
| Display: virtio-gpu 720x720 via fbdev emulation | VOP/RGB666 pipeline, CH32V003 panel init, RGA blits |
| Touch: virtio-tablet (QMP `input-send-event`) | GT911 on I2C3 |
| Watchdog: i6300esb (PCI), `-action watchdog=reset` | DW watchdog @0xff5a0000, HPMCU supervisor |
| RS485: pci-serial chardev bridged to `sim/`'s `ModbusSlave` | Real UART4 timing/electrical behavior |
| RTC: PL031 (`--rtc` reproduces the no-RTC 2021-clock incident class) | The unpopulated backup-cell reality |
**"Boots/works under emulation" is never evidence of "works on silicon."**
The VM narrows which claims need a panel; on-device claims still need
on-device evidence. Conversely, the VM is the first environment that runs
production binaries on a non-RV1106 memory map: it found flare-edge #106
(fatal SIGBUS in flared's HPMCU probe) and #107 (Y2038 time_t truncation)
on its first two boots of real userspace.
Documented guest deviations from production, set by stage-2 init:
`WARDEN_FLARE_INSECURE=1` (the desk mock portal is plain HTTP) and
`WARDEN_HPMCU=0` (no mailbox SRAM on virt; flared >= flare-edge#106 fix
required, or the daemon dies of SIGBUS).
**The VM's kernel is ahead of the panels' in one way that shows in the UI.**
It is built from `build/warden_defconfig` plus `configs/virt.fragment`, so it
has `CONFIG_BRIDGE`; the vendor 5.10 kernel most panels still run does not.
A Client-mode access point is bridged to the wired uplink and needs that, so
the Wi-Fi page offers it in the VM and says "Needs Router mode: this kernel
cannot bridge" on a 5.10 panel. Both are correct for the kernel underneath.
The difference disappears as panels move to the 6.18 build, but until then a
screenshot from here is not evidence about a 5.10 panel's Wi-Fi page.
## Quick Start
```sh
# 1. kernel: canonical build boots the VM as-is; the fragment variant adds
# the scenario devices (PCI serial, watchdog, WireGuard, virtio-gpu/input)
WORK=$HOME/kbuild-out CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- \
WARDEN_KCONFIG_FRAGMENT=qemu/configs/virt.fragment bash build/build-kernel.sh
# 2. initramfs (sha256-pinned static busybox + qemu/rootfs/) and A/B disk
bash qemu/mkinitramfs.sh
bash qemu/mkimage.sh # options: --portal-url --state K=V --fw-version
# 3. run (see run.sh header for all flags)
bash qemu/run.sh --kernel $HOME/kbuild-out/linux-6.18.46/arch/arm/boot/zImage --shell
```
Payload: drop static musl armv7 binaries into `qemu/payload/` (see its
README). Stage-2 init starts every panel daemon it finds, in the panel's own
S-number order (`warden-ai`, `warden-automation`, `warden-modbus`,
`warden-mikrotik`, `warden-asic`, `warden-starlink`, `warden-stratum`,
`warden-flared`), then `warden-ui` (the LVGL fbdev+evdev build from
flare-edge `tools/build-ui-vm.sh`). The quickest faithful payload is the
daemons a bench panel already runs: flare-edge `tools/rig-pull-daemons.sh
--host <panel>` copies them in. The RS485 UART is always present (a null
chardev without `--rs485`), so `warden-modbus` polls a port with nothing on
it, as on a panel with an empty header, and never the control channel.
The VT cursor is kept off (`vt.global_cursor_default=0`): fbcon shares the
virtio-gpu framebuffer with warden-ui and its blinking cursor would otherwise
show up in screendumps at random (issue #18).
The guest carries the panel's own `/etc/passwd`, `/etc/shadow` and
`/etc/group` (root's md5-crypt of the documented default password), so a
screen that verifies the root password against `/etc/shadow` behaves as it
does on a panel instead of rejecting every attempt.
## Scenarios
All take the virt-fragment `<zImage>`; `FLARE_EDGE=<checkout>` where noted.
| Scenario | Needs | Proves |
|---|---|---|
| `boot-smoke.sh` | - | sentinel-asserting boot; runs in CI inside kernel-build |
| `portal-scenario.sh` | `FLARE_EDGE` | real flared against the desk mock portal: authenticated check-in, desired-state pull, signed tier-1 `.wfw` download; verify/stage/APPLYING as a dry run (no `WARDEN_FW_ALLOW_APPLY`) |
| `ota-apply.sh` | `FLARE_EDGE` | the FULL apply: the `.wfw`'s bootable rootfs payload is written to rootfs_b (`run.sh --allow-apply` gates it per boot), the AvbABData in `misc` flips, and slot `_b` boots the applied version |
| `ui-shot.sh` | - | display+touch, headless: QMP-screendumps the 720x720 UI, taps the Metrics tab via `input-send-event`, asserts the frame changed (`qmp.py` is the QMP client) |
| `ui-drive.sh <script>` | - | the same rig for a SEQUENCE: boots once, runs a `qmp.py drive` script of taps/swipes/screenshots in panel pixels, and FAILS if warden-ui died on the way (stage-2 init announces the exit on the console). `tests/scripts/nav-stress.txt` is the navigation regression: it reproduces the s_row_left overflow that segfaulted the UI on returning to Settings > Apps; `tests/scripts/home-leaves-fullscreen.txt` proves the `home` verb clears dashboard fullscreen, the state a hardware wake tap leaves behind (flare-edge #176); `tests/scripts/fullscreen-toggle-tracks-real-state.txt` proves a `fullscreen toggle` right after `home` (or a real tap) reads the dashboard's actual state rather than a belief `home` bypassed -- `test_qmp_drive.py`'s `FullscreenToggleTracksRealState` pins the same contract offline |
| `real-image-boot.sh` | matched `rootfs.img` + `oem.img` | an ACTUAL flare-edge build (placed by `mkimage.sh --rootfs-image/--oem-image`) boots its own init chain to getty; binaries predating known fixes reproduce their bugs faithfully, a time machine for field issues |
| `test-ui-drive-rs485.sh` | - | offline, no VM: a fake `run.sh` and (for one case) a fake `socat` stand in so `ui-drive.sh --rs485-devices`'s startup fails closed instead of printing a false "== rs485 simulator: ..." over a bus nothing is serving, for each of a qemu rs.sock that never appears, a socat that never links rs.pty, and an mbsim.py that dies before opening rs.ctl; also proves `cleanup()` escalates to SIGKILL for a sim process that ignores SIGTERM |
| watchdog (`run.sh --watchdog`) | - | arm `/dev/watchdog`, don't pet: the VM resets ~30 s later (verified) |
Scenario fine print:
- OTA: the BCB slot CHOICE and the physical reset stay emulated by the
harness (ADR-0006 boundary); the VM exports `WARDEN_HARD_RESET=0` so
flared's post-apply reset surfaces as a reported error, not a /dev/mem
fault.
- Touch injection holds 200 ms: an instantaneous press+release lands inside
one LVGL poll and never clicks.
- Watchdog + a flared payload don't mix: flared pets only while the UI
heartbeat is fresh.
## Gotchas
- AF_UNIX socket paths cap at ~108 chars; keep `--rs485`/`--qmp` paths short.
- A serial port that is closed discards incoming bytes: hold ONE fd open
across write and read when scripting the guest side of the RS485 bridge.
- `highmem=off` and `-global virtio-mmio.force-legacy=false` are required
(32-bit ECAM reach; virtio-1-only gpu/input); both live ONLY in run.sh,
which every script (boot smoke included) delegates to.
- Never pass `earlyprintk`: DEBUG_UART_PHYS is the RV1106's 0xff4c0000.
## Requirements
`qemu-system-arm` (Debian 13 ships QEMU 10), `curl`, `cpio`, `mkfs.ext4`,
`gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf` (kernel build), `python3` (+`cryptography` for the
portal scenario's `.wfw` signing). CI: the hosted `qemu-tools` job builds the
tooling; the boot smoke runs inside the (also hosted, dispatch-only)
`kernel-build` job, which apt-installs its own toolchain and qemu (ADR-0007).