From the Debian bugs mailing list here is an interesting result of using non-native code in emulation:
1) Install qemu-system-arm. 2) Unpack kernel .deb, locate vmlinuz-4.9.0-8-armmp. Or search your just-built zImage. 3) Run qemu (no root required): qemu-system-arm -M virt -nographic -kernel vmlinuz-4.9.0-8-armmp If you see a kernel panic - the outcome is positive, the kernel is OK. If it just stays there eating 100% CPU - the outcome is negative.
The above is used to sus out some issues with the linux-image-4.9.0-8-armmp-lpae:armhf kernel on Banana PI and Lamobo R1, with the notes in Bug#922478. More talk of the bug on Hacker News.