Workloads not running correctly while collecting SimPoints

[Setu-Gupta]

Hi

I wanna collect SimPoints for some custom workloads. I'm following the instructions from the 2024 Gem5 bootcamp, specifically this video. I'm on the develop branch on commit ID 74c3f3b90a.

I can replicate the experiments described in the video. However, since my workloads require me to pass command line arguments, I had to modify the simpoint-analysis.py script to pass arguments to my workloads. Here's the script that I wrote:

# Copyright (c) 2024 The Regents of the University of California
# All rights reserved.
#
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
# met: redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer;
# redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
# documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution;
# neither the name of the copyright holders nor the names of its
# contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
# this software without specific prior written permission.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
# "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
# LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
# OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
# SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
# LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
# DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
# THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
# (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
# OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

"""
Usage
-----

gem5 -re --outdir=simpoint-analysis-m5out simpoint-analysis.py

"""

import argparse
from pathlib import Path

from gem5.components.boards.simple_board import SimpleBoard
from gem5.components.cachehierarchies.classic.no_cache import NoCache
from gem5.components.memory.single_channel import SingleChannelDDR3_1600
from gem5.components.processors.cpu_types import CPUTypes
from gem5.components.processors.simple_processor import SimpleProcessor
from gem5.isas import ISA
from gem5.simulate.simulator import Simulator
from gem5.resources.resource import BinaryResource
from gem5.utils.requires import requires

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument(
        "--binary",
        required=True,
        help="Full path to the workload"
)

parser.add_argument(
        "--args",
        nargs='*',
        help="List of arguments to pass to the workload"
)

script_args = parser.parse_args()

requires(isa_required=ISA.X86)

cache_hierarchy = NoCache()

memory = SingleChannelDDR3_1600(size="3GB")

processor = SimpleProcessor(
    cpu_type=CPUTypes.ATOMIC,
    isa=ISA.X86,
    num_cores=1,
)

processor.get_cores()[0].core.addSimPointProbe(1_000_000)

board = SimpleBoard(
    clk_freq="3GHz",
    processor=processor,
    memory=memory,
    cache_hierarchy=cache_hierarchy,
)

board.set_se_binary_workload(
    binary=BinaryResource(local_path=Path(script_args.binary).as_posix(), arguments=script_args.args)
)


simulator = Simulator(
    board=board
)

print("Stating Simulation ...")
simulator.run()

print("Simulation Done")

This script is identical to the simpoint-analysis.py script described in the video, except for the following changes:

47a48,62
> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
> parser.add_argument(
>         "--binary",
>         required=True,
>         help="Full path to the workload"
> )
> 
> parser.add_argument(
>         "--args",
>         nargs='*',
>         help="List of arguments to pass to the workload"
> )
> 
> script_args = parser.parse_args()
> 
70c85
<     binary=BinaryResource(local_path=Path("/home/setu/Desktop/2024/materials/02-Using-gem5/09-sampling/01-simpoint/workload/simple_workload").as_posix())
---
>     binary=BinaryResource(local_path=Path(script_args.binary).as_posix(), arguments=script_args.args)
77a93
> print("Stating Simulation ...")

I just added a couple of arguments to the script so that I could pass on the workload binary and the associated command line arguments.

I also wrote a dummy workload to test this script with. Here's the code for the dummy workload which is complied with gcc main.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
	for(int i = 0; i < argc; i++)
		printf("%s\n", argv[i]);
	return 0;
}

When I run this workload with Gem5 via

./build/X86/gem5.opt --outdir=simpoint-analysis-test-m5out simpoint-analysis-test.py --binary <path to a.out> --args test1 test2 test3

I get

gem5 Simulator System.  https://www.gem5.org
gem5 is copyrighted software; use the --copyright option for details.

gem5 version 25.1.0.0
gem5 compiled Feb 17 2026 16:18:06
gem5 started Feb 18 2026 11:09:11
gem5 executing on csce-72tf0q2.engr.tamu.edu, pid 629608
command line: ./build/X86/gem5.opt --outdir=simpoint-analysis-spec-test-m5out simpoint-analysis-spec.py --binary /home/setu/Desktop/a.out --args test1 test2 test3

warn: Base 10 memory/cache size 3GB will be cast to base 2 size 3GiB.
Stating Simulation ...
Global frequency set at 1000000000000 ticks per second
src/mem/dram_interface.cc:690: warn: DRAM device capacity (8192 Mbytes) does not match the address range assigned (4096 Mbytes)
src/base/statistics.hh:279: warn: One of the stats is a legacy stat. Legacy stat is a stat that does not belong to any statistics::Group. Legacy stat is deprecated.
board.remote_gdb: Listening for connections on port 7000
src/sim/mem_state.cc:443: info: Increasing stack size by one page.
src/sim/syscall_emul.cc:86: warn: ignoring syscall set_robust_list(...)
src/sim/syscall_emul.cc:86: warn: ignoring syscall rseq(...)
src/sim/syscall_emul.cc:86: warn: ignoring syscall mprotect(...)
src/sim/syscall_emul.cc:86: warn: ignoring syscall mprotect(...)
src/sim/syscall_emul.cc:86: warn: ignoring syscall mprotect(...)
/home/setu/Desktop/a.out
Simulation Done

I expect to see the output of my workload, i.e.

a.out
test1
test2
test3

but this doesn't show up in Gem5's output. I don't know where I'm going wrong. I suspect that the way I'm passing arguments to my workload in my script is incorrect, but I'm not sure. Can someone please help me with this?

[powerjg]

Try

board.set_se_binary_workload(
    binary=BinaryResource(local_path=Path(script_args.binary).as_posix()),
    arguments=script_args.args
)

[Setu-Gupta]

Yup, that was the issue. Thanks a lot. For posterity's sake, here's the final script:

# Copyright (c) 2024 The Regents of the University of California
# All rights reserved.
#
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
# met: redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer;
# redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
# documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution;
# neither the name of the copyright holders nor the names of its
# contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
# this software without specific prior written permission.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
# "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
# LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
# OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
# SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
# LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
# DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
# THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
# (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
# OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

"""
Usage
-----

gem5 -re --outdir=simpoint-analysis-m5out simpoint-analysis.py

"""

import argparse
from pathlib import Path

from gem5.components.boards.simple_board import SimpleBoard
from gem5.components.cachehierarchies.classic.no_cache import NoCache
from gem5.components.memory.single_channel import SingleChannelDDR3_1600
from gem5.components.processors.cpu_types import CPUTypes
from gem5.components.processors.simple_processor import SimpleProcessor
from gem5.isas import ISA
from gem5.simulate.simulator import Simulator
from gem5.resources.resource import BinaryResource
from gem5.utils.requires import requires

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument(
        "--binary",
        required=True,
        help="Full path to the workload"
)

parser.add_argument(
        "--args",
        nargs='*',
        help="List of arguments to pass to the workload"
)

script_args = parser.parse_args()

requires(isa_required=ISA.X86)

cache_hierarchy = NoCache()

memory = SingleChannelDDR3_1600(size="3GB")

processor = SimpleProcessor(
    cpu_type=CPUTypes.ATOMIC,
    isa=ISA.X86,
    num_cores=1,
)

processor.get_cores()[0].core.addSimPointProbe(1_000_000)

board = SimpleBoard(
    clk_freq="3GHz",
    processor=processor,
    memory=memory,
    cache_hierarchy=cache_hierarchy,
)

board.set_se_binary_workload(
    binary=BinaryResource(local_path=Path(script_args.binary).as_posix()),
    arguments=script_args.args
)


simulator = Simulator(
    board=board
)

print("Stating Simulation ...")
simulator.run()

print("Simulation Done")