Hi Gilboa and others; On Thu, 2008-02-21 at 15:22 +0200, Gilboa Davara wrote: > On Wed, 2008-02-20 at 11:41 -0500, William Case wrote: [snip] > Bill, > > This is not a memory allocation table - it's a stack trace. I understand that. I just used the term 'memory allocation table' in an effort to explain what I was looking for. > Kernel stack traces can be generated when a certain kernel > process/function calls the dump_stack() function. (Or when something > dies/OOPs.) > Yes > Other then that, a user may trigger such a stack by using the magic > SysRQ [1] key combination. Fascinating. I had always been told that the SysRQ key didn't have a use on a desktop PC. (I went to the Wiki page cited below) > > If you're looking for information about kernel space, I'd start by > googling for "Linux Device Drivers" and "Understanding The Linux > Kernel" (Both can be downloaded in PDF form) > I have "The Linux Kernel Primer" here (for the 2.6 kernel) and I have read it. I also have two books on Computer Organization and Architecture. So I will be more specific about my question. In the text books I have, memory allocation is shown diagrammatically as a column with broad representational divisions. Example: _______ Ox000000000 | | | | --------- | | BIOS | | --------- | | | | Kernel Space | | --------- | | | | | | User Space | | | | ... 0xFFFFFFFF Or some such. The representations in my texts are perhaps a little more complex, but I think you get the idea. What I would like to do is capture a snapshot at a moment in time of exactly how MY memory could be represented. I.E. addresses, size and tag (name, identifier). I have read about it; now I would like to see it. I can capture the latest processes using top, and I can use objdump or stack traces in gdb to capture a small portion of a process (but that gives me every line -- more than I want). I had hoped that someone with my type of curiosity and/or a programming need had written a command or program that shows the layout of memory in a more detailed representational or textual way. For example, I would like to see where and how pipes and sockets get created or where devices get grouped together. And yes, I understand the differences between Virtual Memory, Actual Memory and how DMA and buffers work. However, there must be a way to view this all as something meaningful. And yes, I understand that this could be a large amount of data, but hopefully it wouldn't take more than 2 or 3 days to pick through the information and create a columned representation that is meaningful to me. (Good chance to practise the use of grep, awk and sed.) In my own defence, it seems I have a peculiar view of learning how computers and operating systems work. But, I can also say, with reading and help from people on this list and my local LUG, I have been able to chase down all those questions and get satisfying answers. > - Gilboa > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key > -- Regards Bill
