troubleshooting.rst

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###################################
Troubleshooting / FAQ
###################################

This is a collection of common troubleshooting tips and answers to frequently
asked questions.


.. _sec-troubleshoot-getting-help:

******************************
Getting Help
******************************

We love to hear from you. If you have questions, want to discuss an idea, or
encountered issues while using SimBricks, we are available on `Slack
<https://join.slack.com/t/simbricks/shared_invite/zt-16y96155y-xspnVcm18EUkbUHDcSVonA>`_
for quick answers and interactive discussions. If you find bugs or want to
request a feature, feel free to open an `issue on GitHub
<https://github.com/simbricks/simbricks/issues>`_.


.. _sec-convert-qcow-images-to-raw:

*****************************************
Error Opening images/output-base/base.raw
*****************************************

Some of our host simulators, e.g., gem5 and Simics, require raw disk images. If
these aren't available, you will see the error in the title or something
similar. If you use our Docker images, we deliberately remove these since Docker
doesn't handle large, sparse files well, which leads to large Docker image
sizes. We include disk images in the qcow format though, which can easily be
converted to raw. To do so, just run the following (requires QEMU to be built
first):

.. code-block:: bash

  $ make convert-images-raw

If you are not using the provided docker containers, you might need to build the
qcow images by running the following (again, requires QEMU to be built first):

.. code-block:: bash

  $ make build-images-min

************************************
Is My Simulation Stuck or Just Slow?
************************************

It is possible to check the current timestamp of individual component
simulators. If the timestamp of a simulator which is synchronizing with at least
one other simulator isn't advancing, the whole simulation is stuck. Many of our
component simulators print their timestamp when you send them a USR1 signal, for
example, by running ``kill -s USR1 <insert_pid_of_simulator>``. By doing this
multiple times, you can check whether the timestamp advances.

If you invoked the orchestration framework in verbose mode (see
:ref:`sec-command-line`), the current timestamp is printed directly in the
terminal. If not then you have to stop the experiment via Ctrl+C to produce
the output JSON file. All the simulators' output is logged
there.

************************************
Understanding Simulation Performance
************************************