BLE debugging on nRF52

[SK]

Hi Nordic Team/Fellow developers,

I wanted to understand how you guys made sure BLE stack/application is working properly? Like, how did you guys debug your application with BLE enabled and SD enabled? 

I am having a hard time debugging any BLE application. Once i put a breakpoint in the code and if i want to proceed further, it won't let me and throws an error. I have to restart the whole process again. 

It would be great if you guys can suggest on how to properly debug a BLE application with the BLE stack and SD you provided. 

Or if you can give alternate ideas on debugging.

I am using SD v5.0.0 and SDK v14.2 over nRF52832 module. 

Currently, what i am doing is to ballpark where the error could be and then placing a printf() statement to check on the error. So, using UART based debugging right now to check on the errors/potential issues. I am sure there are more optimized ways to do debugging of BLE. 

Thank you.

[awneil]

SK said:

Once i put a breakpoint in the code and if i want to proceed further, it won't let me and throws an error.

That is because a traditional, "halting" breakpoint completely stops the CPU.

This means that the SoftDevice will miss its timing requirements - and crash.

So you really can't use "halting" debug with a SoftDevice.

Instead, you need Monitor Mode Debug

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/23657/improved-softdevice-debugging/148486#148486

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/38438/a-working-demo-of-monitor-mode-debug-mmd-on-sdk-15-please

https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/technology/monitor-mode-debugging/

Old, now outdated, post:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nordic-blog/b/blog/posts/monitor-mode-debugging---revolutionize-the-way-you-debug-ble-applications

[haakonsh]

https://github.com/NordicPlayground/j-link-monitoring-mode-debugging 
Check out branches for SDK14 and 15.