Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Maria Gilje — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:00:36 GMT

Hello Steve and mrd,

Our developers has verified that the backspacing works with nRF Terminal v2024.9.14 and nRF Connect SDK v2.8.0.

Whenever convenient, please check if it works for you.

Best regards,

Maria

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 14:04:40 GMT

Hi Maria,

Just a reminder, however:
The Segger RTT viewer by default is set for Input->Sending...->"Send on Input" and this resulted in the same behavior as the VSCode exetension But if you switch the Segger RTT viewer to Input->Sending...->"Send on Enter" then you get what is desired.

Thanks,
Steve

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Maria Gilje — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 12:54:39 GMT

Thank you for your responses.

I got some feedback from the extension team, and it is not an extension issue, but a change with NCS v2.5.0. I have started to look into what specifically this could be and I will involve the relevant developers.

In the mean time, please use the SEGGER RTT Viewer instead of the RTT terminal in VS Code. Backspacing works as expected in the input field.

I will update this ticket with any news regarding the lack of visual backspace.

Best regards,

Maria

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

mrd — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 23:42:35 GMT

Hi Maria, I am also on the latest: v2024.2.214

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:00:02 GMT

I have the latest release of VS Code extension. Glad to hear that your are able to reproduce the issue.

Thanks!, Steve K.

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Maria Gilje — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 14:51:15 GMT

Hello Steve and mrd,

I have reproduced this as well and contacted the developers for more assistance.

Please share which version of VS Code extension you have installed.

Best regards,

Maria

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 12:18:29 GMT

Hi Raoul,

I'd like to mention that I also am having the same issue even though I have the nRF Terminal set to the recommended Character mode.

I'm using the 2.5.2 ToolChain/SDK, MacBook M1, Sonoma 14.2.1 MacOS, VSCode 1.81.0.

Thanks, Steve K.

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

mrd — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:12:54 GMT

Hello Raoul,

This fix no longer seems to work in NCS 2.5.2.

Any other suggestions?

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Raoul — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 00:58:06 GMT

Hi Steve,

On a Mac that would be CMD + shift + P.

The command palette is a universal (and very useful) feature in VS Code, should work from anywhere:

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/userinterface#_command-palette

It exposes all the functionality of VS Code and extensions, through a search box.

Best regards,

Raoul

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:18:17 GMT

Hi Raoul,

That sounds promising. I am running on a MacBookPro (M1) and I can't get the command palette to open with the ctrl + shift + P. Is it possible there is a different keybinding I should use?

I am attempting this after first creating a nRF RTT Terminal and then placing the cursor in the created terminal window (where I would normally expect displayed RTT activity).

Thanks, Steve K.

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Raoul — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 13:00:37 GMT

Hi Steve,

I apologise for the delay. I asked our developers whether this is an issue on our end or with VS Code itself, but they've now come back with a much simpler answer:

Change your setting from "line mode" to "character mode" in the nRF Terminal.

Press ctrl + shift + P to open the command palette, and search for "switch to character mode"

This immediately fixed the issue on my end.

Excuse me for not suggesting this earlier, I was not aware of the existence of this setting.

Of course, let me know if that doesn't work!

Best regards,

Raoul

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 23:31:08 GMT

Hi Raoul,

Any word as to plans for offering a Input->Sending...->"Send on Enter" functionality for VSCode/Extension RTT to match the functionality that the Segger RTT viewer gives? It is frustrating not have the backspace echoed to the VSCode/Extension RTT terminal. Just curious if you heard anything?

Steve K. , PuzL Labs, LLC

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Raoul — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 16:07:16 GMT

Hi again,

Thanks for the tip. I actually noticed that setting as well, though I'm not sure if it matches your description. The default for me was "Send on Input" which totally didn't work with the shell sample as it sends one letter at a time. However, when I tried "Send on Enter", everything works well, including backspaces:

This is RTT Viewer v7.80c.

Since this works for me, I'm still suspecting it to be a client side issue with VS Code/the extension. But I'm not 100% certain. I can check with the extension team, but let me know if you have anything to add.

Best regards,

Raoul

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 15:45:37 GMT

Hi Raoul,

Thanks for those Nordic documentation links. I'll study those. By the way, when you mentioned the Segger RTT viewer as an alternate to the VSCode/Extension RTT viewer, I experimented with it. I noticed that the Segger RTT viewer showed the same issue with backspace processing. It is not echoed back to the RTT viewer despite being processed internally by the device. I suspect the reason you thought it was working there is because you have your Segger RTT viewer set for Input->Sending...->"Send on Enter". When I switched to that setting via the menus I also saw a normal backspace operation. The default setting the Segger RTT viewer initially offered me (as a default) was Input->Sending...->"Send on Input" and this apparently is the mode that the VSCode Extension RTT viewer is using too. Maybe that mode is what changed recently with the extension. Not sure, but wanted to offer the additional info. Thanks again

Steve K., PuzL Labs, LLC

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Raoul — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 15:20:48 GMT

Hi Steve, thanks for confirming!

With regards to updating the VS Code extension (and also VS Code itself), by default these updates are downloaded automatically when available, and installed either when VS Code exits or boots (I can't remember which). So it's not something you have to worry about.

If you want to keep an eye on the versions and changed that have been released, you can look at the docs for the extension: https://nrfconnect.github.io/vscode-nrf-connect/

Since you say you are new to Nordic, I also want to take the chance to point out the existence of our Developer Academy: https://academy.nordicsemi.com/

It's a great starting point for working with our products. If you don't know where to start, I recommend the nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals course.

Best regards,

Raoul

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

SteveKranz — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 14:46:06 GMT

Hi Raoul, thank you for your response. You asked which RTT viewer I am using. Yes, I am using the RTT Viewer included with the VS Code Extension, and your backspace description does match my results (I went back and tried it again). In other words, as you say: "I found that using backspace will not be reflected in the local echo in the extension. Meaning, backspaces don't visually do anything but in the background they are actually registering on the nRF52840."

I believe you were suggesting the problem resides with the VSCode Nordic Extension as you see good results when using an alternate RTT viewer. Thanks again for narrowing in on this. I am curious how I would know that a corrected VSCode Nordic Extension has become available? Will the VSCode extension panel show me when a new version is available? Probably. I am fairly new to VSCode/Nordic. Thanks in advance.

Steve K. , PuzL Labs, LLC

RE: Upgrading to newer SDK broke RTT processing of backspace character.

Raoul — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:03:44 GMT

Hi Steve,

Which RTT viewer are you using?

I tried to reproduce this using the shell_module sample with the prj_minimal_rtt.conf configuration, using NCS v.2.4.0 just to check the "before" behavior.

Using the Segger RTT viewer, I had no issues, but when I used the RTT Viewer included with our VS Code Extension, I found that using backspace will not be reflected in the local echo in the extension. Meaning, backspaces don't visually do anything but in the background they are actually registering on the nRF52840. (if I type "asdf", then backspace 4 times and type "help", it clearly only sends the help command". You could try it.).

Could this be what you are experiencing? If so, this might be an issue with the extension (since I'm seeing this on v2.4.0 already). Perhaps it has been updated recently.

If you are experiencing something different - Could you try to create a reproduction of the issue based on a modified sample, instead of your own application? That would make it easier for the developers to investigate.

Best regards,

Raoul