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| author | blasty <blasty@local> | 2026-07-26 15:04:51 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | blasty <blasty@local> | 2026-07-26 15:04:51 +0200 |
| commit | 2c2124aff2f4ed6df23512603b6e1ecdcd4b699b (patch) | |
| tree | 2b2c2afe69e7f33e87ccb58e3bc466a94a4e689e /docs/PROJECTS.md | |
| parent | arm: switch ARM/Thumb decoding with `t` (diff) | |
| download | ida-tui-2c2124aff2f4ed6df23512603b6e1ecdcd4b699b.tar.gz ida-tui-2c2124aff2f4ed6df23512603b6e1ecdcd4b699b.tar.xz ida-tui-2c2124aff2f4ed6df23512603b6e1ecdcd4b699b.zip | |
arm: offer 32-bit ARM at load, and fix `p` on carved code
Reported as "after c a few times and p at the entry point, Tab just flashes and
nothing decompiles". Three separate things, found by following it down:
**1. `p` failed on hand-carved code.** ida_funcs.add_func(ea) asks IDA to find
the function's end and on carved code it often can't — a run ending in a tail
call, or whose last instruction isn't recognised as a return, fails with no
reason given. add_func(ea, end) with an explicit end succeeds. define_func_run
tries IDA's way first, then falls back to the end of the contiguous instruction
run, and says which it used.
**2. The database was 64-bit, so Hex-Rays refused it regardless.** Bare `-parm`
gives an AArch64 database. Ask Hex-Rays for the failure object rather than
reading None as "dunno" and it says exactly what's wrong: "only 64-bit functions
can be decompiled in the current database". So the disassembly looked right and
F5 could never work.
That is decided at LOAD and cannot be corrected — inf_set_app_bitness(32)
afterwards makes the decompiler INTERR 50735. The fix is at the load dialog:
arm:ARMv7-A (most firmware), arm:ARMv7-M / arm:ARMv6-M (Cortex-M, Thumb only)
and arm:ARMv5TE now sit alongside 64-bit `arm`, labelled with their bitness.
With arm:ARMv7-A, experiments/fibonacci.bin decompiles:
void __fastcall __noreturn sub_0(int a1) { int v2; v2 = sub_E3C(a1, 0); ... }
— and IDA's own auto-analysis finds 54 Thumb functions on load, versus none as
plain `arm`.
**3. `t` was silently building an undecompilable state.** It forced the SEGMENT
to 32-bit in a 64-bit database, which produces correct-looking disassembly that
F5 will never touch. It now says so and names the fix (Ctrl+L, arm:ARMv7-A)
rather than leaving you to discover it.
tools/verify_procs.py now reports each processor's resulting bitness, since that
is the reason the variants exist — and it compares against the base module name,
because a variant reports "ARM".
tests: test_thumb_ui.py +5 (13 total) — a 64-bit database warns and names the
fix, a 32-bit one finds functions by itself, Tab decompiles a Thumb function and
the result reads like C. test_formats.py +2 (34) pinning that a 32-bit variant is
offered and the ARM labels state their bitness. 209/0 scenarios, 26/0 blob, 30/0
project UI.
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/PROJECTS.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/PROJECTS.md | 18 |
1 files changed, 18 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/PROJECTS.md b/docs/PROJECTS.md index 38d3262..eae860b 100644 --- a/docs/PROJECTS.md +++ b/docs/PROJECTS.md @@ -317,6 +317,24 @@ ARM32. `t` again toggles back — the mode is a guess, and guesses get revised. Both states are saved in the `.i64`. +**Pick a 32-bit processor at load, or none of this decompiles.** Bare `arm` +gives a 64-BIT database (AArch64), and that is decided at load time and cannot be +changed afterwards — setting the bitness post-hoc makes the decompiler INTERR. +In a 64-bit database: + +* Thumb doesn't exist, so `t` sets a segment flag that means nothing; and +* Hex-Rays refuses a 32-bit function outright — *"only 64-bit functions can be + decompiled in the current database"* — so the disassembly looks right and F5 + silently produces nothing. + +So the list offers `arm:ARMv7-A` (most firmware), `arm:ARMv7-M` / `arm:ARMv6-M` +(Cortex-M, Thumb only) and `arm:ARMv5TE` alongside 64-bit `arm`. `t` warns when +it notices the database is 64-bit and points at `Ctrl+L`. + +Worth knowing: a correctly-chosen 32-bit ARM database also lets IDA's own +auto-analysis find Thumb functions — `experiments/fibonacci.bin` yields 54 +functions on load with `arm:ARMv7-A` and none with `arm`. + ### When analysis finds nothing Zero functions is what a raw image described wrongly looks like — right file, |
