NAME

amix-bench - run the amix-bench standard benchmark matrix

SYNOPSIS

amix-bench [options]

DESCRIPTION

amix-bench runs the amix-bench standard benchmark matrix on the machine under test and prints one TEST line per row, framed by an === AMIX-BENCH RESULTS header that records the machine, the build toolchain and the profile. It is a thin wrapper that execs the runbench.sh driver, which lives with the benchmark binaries in /opt/amix/lib/amix-bench.

With no arguments it runs the safe default suite: the CPU row (Dhrystone 2.1), the floating-point rows (an FP-only Dhrystone-style loop and a paranoia correctness check; the Whetstone row reports skipped — see NO WHETSTONE below), the memory-bandwidth row, and the three VM rows (fork, context switch, page fault). No disk rows run in this mode.

WRITE SAFETY

There is no default disk target and there never will be. A disk READ row runs only when you name a file or device with --read-target, and a disk WRITE row runs only when you name a scratch target with --write-target. A raw disk device given as a write target is destroyed by the write rows — use a scratch file. iobench additionally refuses to write without the driver's --allow-write (which the driver supplies only for a named write target) and cannot create a file on its own, so a mistyped path fails instead of overwriting something.

OPTIONS

--help

Print the full option list (to stdout) and exit.

--read-target PATH

File or raw device to READ (never written). Adds the disk read rows.

--write-target PATH

Scratch file or scratch device to overwrite. Adds the disk write rows.

--create-scratch

Create the write target with dd if it is absent (refused for a device node).

--span BYTES

Extent to address; required for a raw device read/write target.

--profile standard|long

The long profile uses 4x the sizes. The name is printed in the header, so a long run can never be mistaken for a standard one.

--ram-mb N

What the box has, in MB; vmbench refuses a working set above it.

--list

Print the matrix and run nothing.

See amix-bench --help for the remaining options.

THE BOX CLOCK

Amix machines in this family run with an unset RTC and the clock must never be wound forward (SVR4 password aging latches dates from it). The header prints the box date only as an UNTRUSTED field; a trustworthy timestamp comes from the environment (BENCH_DATE) or from whoever ran the benchmark.

FILES

/opt/amix/bin/amix-bench

this entry command

/opt/amix/lib/amix-bench/runbench.sh

the matrix driver (the authority on what runs)

/opt/amix/lib/amix-bench/{dhry,iobench,fpbench,membench,vmbench}

the benchmark binaries

/opt/amix/lib/amix-bench/BUILD-INFO

the binaries' build provenance, echoed into the results header

/opt/amix/lib/amix-bench/PROVENANCE

how this package was built (toolchain, sources, checksums)

NO WHETSTONE

The suite's sixth benchmark, whet, is deliberately not installed: it statically links the stock SVR4 math library, which this package may not redistribute. The fpu.whet row therefore reports status=skipped reason=no-whet-in-this-kit by design, and the results header's tools= line records which binaries the kit carried. Every other row runs normally.

NOTES

The tools are m68k SVR4 binaries built with gcc 2.7.2.3 from the amix-bench sources and linked only against the box's own /usr/lib/libc.so.1. The results header names the compiler (build_cc_version), and amix-bench-g14(1) is the same suite built with GCC 14. Compare numbers only between runs on the same class of machine; emulated figures are not comparable with real hardware. See /opt/amix/doc/amix-benchmark/README.txt for field usage.

SEE ALSO

amix-bench-g14(1)

AUTHOR

The amix-bench suite. Dhrystone 2.1 is by Reinhold P. Weicker and Rick Richardson, public domain. See /opt/amix/doc/amix-benchmark/NOTICE.