Programming Intel i386Assembly with NASM

Yorick Hardy

International School for Scientific Computing

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NASM

NASM can be used in combinations of the following

• With C/C++ to define functions that can be used byC/C++

• To construct a program in assembly language only

• To construct a program in assembly language which callsC functions

The mechanisms to do this depend on the compiler.

We will consider the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC).

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NASM: C calling conventions

Parameters are passed on the stack. Functions are called us-ing the call instruction which pushes the return address onthe stack before jumping to the function pointer.

Functions return to the stored address by popping the addressoff the stack and jumping to the return address using the retinstruction.

The return value is usually assumed to be in eax.

...call zero_eax ; push the return address on the stack...

zero_eax:xor eax, eaxret ; the return address is in [esp]

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NASM: C calling conventions

When using GCC we consider cdecl, stdcall and other callingconventions.

• cdecl: Parameters are pushed onto the stack in right toleft order before the function call, and removed in leftto right order after the function call. It is the caller’sresponsibility to remove the parameters from the stackafter a function call.

• stdcall: Parameters are pushed onto the stack in right toleft order before the function call, and removed in left toright order before returning from function call (unless thefunction takes a variable number of arguments). It is thecallee’s responsibility to remove the parameters from thestack after a function call.

• other: A combination of stack, registers and memory ad-dresses may be used to define the calling convention. Usu-ally, these functions cannot be called from C/C++.

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NASM: cdecl calling convention

int add(int a, int b) { return a+b; }

...push bpush acall addadd esp, 8;or pop ebx ; remove parameter; pop ebx ; remove parameter...

add:; [esp] is the return address,; [esp+4] the first parameter, etc.mov eax, [esp+4]add eax, [esp+8]ret

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NASM: stdcall calling convention

int add(int a, int b) { return a+b; }

...push bpush acall add...

add:; [esp] is the return address,; [esp+4] the first parameter, etc.mov eax, [esp+4]add eax, [esp+8]push ebx ; save ebxmov ebx, [esp+4] ; return address (after ebx)sub esp, 16 ; ebx, ret addr, 1st param, 2nd parampush ebx ; restore return addressmov ebx, [esp-12] ; 16-4 for return addressret

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NASM: cdecl calling convention

We will consider the cdecl calling convention.

To avoid the pointer arithmetic we usually follow the conven-tion

1. On entry to the function the return address is in [esp],the first parameter in [esp+4], etc.

2. Save ebp:push ebp

3. Save the current stack pointer in ebp:mov ebp, esp

4. Now the saved ebp is in [ebp], the return address is in[ebp+4], the first parameter in [esp+8], etc.

5. Before ret, remember to restore ebp:pop ebp

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NASM: calling assembler from C

/* fact.c */

#include <stdio.h>

extern int factorial(int);

int main(void){printf("%d\n", factorial(5));return 0;

}

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NASM: calling assembler from C++

// fact.cpp#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

extern "C" int factorial(int);

int main(void){cout << factorial(5) << endl;return 0;

}

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NASM: calling assembler from C/C++

; fact.asmSECTION .text ; program

global factorial ; linuxglobal _factorial ; windows

factorial:_factorial:

push ebp ; save base pointermov ebp, esp ; store stack pointerpush ecx ; save ecx;;; start functionmov ecx, [ebp+8] ; ecx = first argumentmov eax, 1 ; eax = 1

mainloop:cmp ecx, 0 ; if(ecx == 0)jz done ; goto donemul ecx ; else eax = eax * ecxdec ecx ; ecx = ecx - 1jmp mainloop

done:pop ecx ; restore ecxpop ebp ; restore ebpret ; return from function

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NASM: calling assembler from C/C++

Compiling fact.asm on LINUX:

nasm -f elf -o factasm.o fact.asmgcc -o fact fact.c factasm.og++ -o fact fact.c factasm.o

Compiling fact.asm on WINDOWS:

nasm -f win32 -o factasm.o fact.asmgcc -o fact.exe fact.c factasm.og++ -o fact.exe fact.c factasm.o

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NASM: calling C from assembler

/* useprintf.c */#include <stdio.h>

extern void use_printf();

int main(void){use_printf();return 0;

}

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NASM: calling C from assembler

; printf.asmSECTION .text

extern printf ; linuxextern _printf ; windowsglobal use_printf ; linuxglobal _use_printf ; windows

message:db "output some text", 10, 0 ; newline, null terminator

use_printf:_use_printf:

push messagecall printfpop eax ; first parameterret

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NASM: calling C from assembler

Compiling printf.asm on LINUX:

nasm -f elf -o printf.o printf.asmgcc -o useprintf useprintf.c printf.o

Compiling printf.asm on WINDOWS:

nasm -f win32 -o printf.o printf.asmgcc -o useprintf.exe useprintf.c printf.o

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NASM: main program in assembler

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]){int integer1, integer2;printf("Enter the first number: ");scanf("%d", &integer1);printf("Enter the second number: ");scanf("%d", &integer2);printf("%d\n", integer1+integer2);return 0;

}

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NASM: main program in assembler

; add1.asm

SECTION .data

message1: db "Enter the first number: ", 0message2: db "Enter the second number: ", 0formatin: db "%d", 0formatout: db "%d", 10, 0 ; newline, nul terminator

integer1: times 4 db 0 ; 32-bits integer = 4 bytesinteger2: times 4 db 0 ;

SECTION .text

global main ; linuxglobal _main ; windows

extern scanf ; linuxextern printf ; linuxextern _scanf ; windowsextern _printf ; windows

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NASM: main program in assembler (cont.)

; add1.asm_main:main:

push ebx ; save registerspush ecx

push message1call printfadd esp, 4 ; remove parameters

push integer1 ; address of integer1 (second parameter)push formatin ; arguments are right to left (first parameter)call scanfadd esp, 8 ; remove parameters

push message2call printfadd esp, 4 ; remove parameters

push integer2 ; address of integer2push formatin ; arguments are right to leftcall scanfadd esp, 8 ; remove parameters

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NASM: main program in assembler (cont.)

; add1.asm (main)

mov ebx, dword [integer1]mov ecx, dword [integer2]add ebx, ecx ; add the values

push ebxpush formatoutcall printf ; display the sumadd esp, 8 ; remove parameters

pop ecxpop ebx ; restore registers in reverse ordermov eax, 0 ; no errorret

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NASM: main program in assembler (cont.)

Compiling add1.asm on LINUX:

nasm -f elf -o add1.o add1.asmgcc -o add1 add1.o

Compiling add1.asm on WINDOWS:

nasm -f win32 -o add1.o add1.asmgcc -o add1.exe add1.o

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NASM: command line arguments

#include <stdio.h>#include <stdlib.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]){int integer1, integer2;integer1 = atoi(argv[1]);integer2 = atoi(argv[2]);printf("%d\n", integer1+integer2);return 0;

}

Below we provide our own atoi function with a custom callingconvention.

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NASM: command line arguments

; add2.asm

SECTION .text

global main ; linuxglobal _main ; windows

extern printf ; linuxextern _printf ; windows

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NASM: command line arguments (cont.)

; add2.asm

; we assume the argument is in eaxatoi:

push ebxpush ecxmov ebx, eaxmov eax, 0

atoi_repeat:cmp byte [ebx], 0je atoi_donemov ecx, 10mul ecx ; eax *= 10, make place for the next digitmov cl, byte [ebx]sub cl, ’0’add eax, ecxinc ebxjmp atoi_repeat

atoi_done:pop ecxpop ebxret

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NASM: command line arguments (cont.)

; add2.asm

_main:main:

push ebpmov ebp, esppush ebx ; save registerspush ecx

cmp dword [ebp+8], 3 ; argcjne main_end

mov ebx, [ebp+12] ; argv

mov eax, [ebx+4] ; argv[1]call atoimov ecx, eax ; store the result

mov eax, [ebx+8] ; argv[2]call atoi

add eax, ecx ; add the values

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NASM: command line arguments (cont.)

; add2.asm (main)

push eaxpush formatoutcall printf ; display the sumadd esp, 8 ; remove parameters

main_end:pop ecxpop ebx ; restore registers in reverse orderpop ebpmov eax, 0 ; no errorret

SECTION .data

formatout: db "%d", 10, 0 ; newline, nul terminator

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NASM: command line arguments (cont.)

Compiling add2.asm on LINUX:

nasm -f elf -o add2.o add2.asmgcc -o add2 add2.o

Compiling add2.asm on WINDOWS:

nasm -f win32 -o add2.o add2.asmgcc -o add2.exe add2.o

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NASM: DOS interrupts

Operating systems provide different mechanisms for using theoperating system facilities. The DOS operating system usesinterrupts, specifically interrupt 21h. Interrupts are similar tofunctions using CALL and RET, however parameters are usu-ally passed via registers and we use INT and IRET. Hardwareevents also trigger interrupts which is used when writing devicedrivers.

A list of interrupt calls can be found at:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ralf/files.htmlhttp://www.ctyme.com/rbrown.htm

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NASM: DOS interrupts

DOS provides functionality via interrupt 21h. The requestedfunction must be specified in AH. In the example program weuse the following functions.

AH Function02h Write the ASCII character in DL to stdout09h Write the $ terminated string at DS:DX to stdout0Bh Check stdin (AL = 0 → no character available)2Ch Get time (hour: CH, minute: CL, second: DH)4Ch Terminate and return to DOS with return code AL

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NASM: DOS clock

The following program displays a clock. Whenever the timechanges, the displayed time must be updated.

The ORG directive is used to tell NASM that the programmstarts at byte 100h, which is the format for a DOS .COM file.In this format, all segment registers point to the same segment,so it is not neccessary to change DS when printing a string.

ORG 100h ; DOS COM file

main:MOV AH, 0Bh ; check stdinINT 21h ; call DOSCMP AL, 0 ; no characterJNE return ; user pressed a key - exit

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NASM: DOS clock

MOV AH, 2Ch ; get timeINT 21h ; call DOS

CMP DH, BHJE main ; seconds did not changeMOV BH, DH

PUSH DXMOV AH, 09h ; write stringMOV DX, clear_lineINT 21hPOP DX

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NASM: DOS clock

XOR AX, AXMOV AL, CH ; hourCALL show_integer

MOV AH, 02hMOV DL, ’:’INT 21h

XOR AX, AXMOV AL, CL ; minuteCALL show_integer

MOV AH, 02hMOV DL, ’:’INT 21h

XOR AX, AXMOV AL, DH ; secondCALL show_integer

JMP main

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NASM: DOS clock

return:MOV AH, 09h ; write stringMOV DX, new_lineINT 21h

MOV AH, 4Ch ; terminate programMOV AL, 0 ; no errorINT 21h ; call dos

clear_line: db " ", 13, ’$’new_line: db 10, 13, ’$’buffer: times 100 db 0

db ’$’

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NASM: DOS clock

; show ascii representation of AXshow_integer:PUSH BXPUSH CXPUSH DXMOV BX, bufferADD BX, 100MOV CX, 10

show_integer_loop:CMP AX, 0JE show_integer_doneMOV DX, 0DIV CXADD DL, ’0’DEC BX ; write number backwardsMOV BYTE [BX], DLJMP show_integer_loop

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NASM: DOS clock

show_integer_done:CMP BYTE [BX], ’$’ ; empty stringJNE not_zeroDEC BXMOV BYTE [BX], ’0’

not_zero:MOV AH, 09h ; write stringMOV DX, BXINT 21hPOP DXPOP CXPOP BXRET

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