Problems with "Enable debug options"

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 11:46:48 GMT

Hi Lars,

This is the way how debugging worked for me:
1. On the side bar click on Triangle symbol and then click on "Run and Debug"
2. In the Select debugger pop-up window choose nRF Connect
3. choose your default configuration to debug
4. choose a device to debug on
For both build configurations (with and without debug options enabled) breakpoint has been reached at the line 497 in main.c.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 10:36:45 GMT

Hi,

In all tests I have a breakpoint on the first printk() in main():

printk("The AWS IoT sample started, version: %s\n", CONFIG_APP_VERSION);

When it comes to the build conf where debug options are enabled, I also tested to set a breakpoint on the row in file nrf_wdt.h where the debug session starts for build conf where debug options are disabled.

Best regards,

Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 10:08:37 GMT

Hi Lars,

In which file and at which line did you set breakpoint?

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 08:38:00 GMT

Hi Dejan,
Now I have installed NCS 2.2.0, created and example with aws_iot and added two build configurations (one with debug options enabled and one with debug options disabled). The one with debug options disabled works as before. When the debug session starts, it halts in file nrf_wdt.h on the row shown in the picture below:

A breakpoint on the first row in main() will be hit after pressing F5.

The build configuration with debug options enabled will halt in file fault_s.S on the row shown in the picture below:

Feels strange that the files differ, and starting in fault_s.S doesnt't feel good. But pressing F5 will make the breakpoint in main() to be hit, and the debugging seems to work fine. But if I click the restart-button (ctrl+shift+F5), things just stop and the debugging doesn't restart. Then it is necessary to start a new debug session.

If I add a breakpoint on the row where the debug session with debug options disabled starts (in nrf_wdt.h), things don't work either. The debug session starts as before in file fault_s.S, but after pressing F5 nothing happens.

Can you repeat this?

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 09:10:54 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="Lars M"]Ok, I'll test it when I get some time.[/quote]

When you complete testing, I would appreciate it if you could provide testing results.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 07:27:45 GMT

Hi,

Ok, I'll test it when I get some time.

Best regards,

Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 14:46:56 GMT

Hi,

Recent release should have solved problem with breakpoints. Build optimizations will still prevent setting breakpoints on lines that don't exist in the final build. This is part of the built-in functionality in Microsoft's debugger backend and is added to avoid unexpected behavior with some corner cases.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 15:22:34 GMT

Hi,

I have recently used the nRF debugger with NCS v2.1.0. While using nRF Debug I have not noticed issues with breakpoints that were previously reported.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 12:34:05 GMT

Hi,

The issue with breakpoints has been reported internally. I'll provide an update when I get new information related to it.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Marshall — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 03:46:44 GMT

Hi Dejans, Lars.

I also have exactly the same symptoms as Lars, with the Enable debug options checked the debug is non-functional, (AKA useless).

I am using

SDK 2.1.0

nrf Debug

asset_tracker_v2 with aws_iot enabled.

turning off the debug option in build allows me to start / restart / stop with the debug toolbar, but the breakpoints are all over the place, probably because the build is optimised?

Any suggestions as to resolution on this would be appreciated.

Regards

Marshall

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 09:40:29 GMT

Hi Lars,

Our team will consider the possibility of fixing issue with breakpoints. The effect of programming before debugging on nRF9160 will also be looked into.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 12:43:33 GMT

Hi Lars,

I have also experienced some inconsistency related to the debugging process. In addition, I have replicated the issue related to the breakpoints.
I have reported the issues internally.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 05:23:38 GMT

Hi Dejan,

I use v2.1.0 of the SDK, and I run aws_iot.

In my previous post I summarized three scenarios. The first is with "Enable debug option" checked, the second is no matter if it is checked or not, the third is with it unchecked. I don't think I can summarize it in a more clear way.

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:43:02 GMT

Hi Lars,

Could you please summarize current behavior of nRF Debug with and without "Enable Debug Options" using sample from NCS v2.1.0?

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:13:30 GMT

Hi Dejan,

As I said I experience nRF Debug to be quite unstable. Debugging with "Enable debug options" checked never works. Sometimes the orange bar at the bottom appears, and the small control window with debug buttons appears, but I can't do anything. Pause doesn't work, and the program doesn't stop at breakpoints. Though, at start up this is printed to the console:

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1 ***
I: Starting bootloader
I: Primary image: magic=bad, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x2, image_ok=0x2
I: Secondary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Boot source: none
I: Swap type: none
I: Bootloader chainload address offset: 0x10000
*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1 ***

When I click the restart-button, this is printed:

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1 ***

Sometimes I get these errors no matter if "Enable debug options" is checked or unchecked:

ERROR: The JLinkARM DLL timed out while communicating to the J-Link probe.
ERROR: If the error condition persists, run the same command again with
ERROR: argument -- log, contact Nordic Semiconductor and provide the generated
ERROR: log.log file to them.
NOTE: For additional output, try running again with logging enabled (--log).
NOTE: Any generated log error messages will be displayed.
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 35: nrfjprog --program 'C:\Projekt\nordic\aws_iot_210\build_debug_options_not_enabled\zephyr\merged.hex' --sectorerase --verify -f NRF91 --snr 960008799

Debugging with "Enable debug options" unchecked works sometimes. Then I get these printouts:

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1 ***
I: Starting bootloader
I: Primary image: magic=bad, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x2, image_ok=0x2
I: Secondary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Boot source: none
I: Swap type: none
I: Bootloader chainload address offset: 0x10000
*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1 ***
The AWS IoT sample started, version: v1.0.0

So here the last row is added to the printouts, which is the first row in main(). When I click the restart-button, all these rows are printed again, not just one row as when "Enable debug options" is checked and the restart-button is checked.

When I try to set breakpoints, they almost never appear where I want. They are often propagated to underlying functions, so it's really hard to get a good grasp of where they are.

Always starting a debug session takes quite a long time. So after these tests it feels as nRF Debug doesn't do what it should.

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 08:24:51 GMT

Hi Lars,

nRF Debug is our own debugger and it is recommended to be used going forward.

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 08:15:53 GMT

Hi Dejan,

Now I have tested with nRF Debug, but it feels very unstable. I have just installed SDK 2.1.0, and initial tests show that debugging now works every time for aws_iot. And I run Cortex debug 1.6.3. If I go back to SDK 1.9.1 it seems I have to change to Cortex debug 1.4.4, and then debugging works every other time.

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 17:13:54 GMT

Hi Lars,

I have tried to reproduce the behavior that you reported with partial success. I used aws_iot sample from NCS v2.0.0, Toolchain v2.0.0 and Cortex-Debug v1.4.4.
I did not observe connection/disconnection in VS Code as you described it. Ozone and Cortex-Debug did not work for me. nRF-Debug worked intermittently.
I would suggest you to try switching to nRF-Debug by going to nRF Connect for VS Code extension -> Extension Settings -> nRF Connect Debugging:Backend -> nRF Debug. What is the result of the Debug change?

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 09:06:15 GMT

Hi Dejan,

No, I haven't had time do to that yet.

[quote userid="102842" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/88366/problems-with-enable-debug-options/384278"]Are you able to repeat what I see? Both when it comes to this disconnection-thing with VSCode, the different behaviour when checking/not checking the "Enable debug options"-box, and what I see when trying to debug with Ozone?[/quote]

Best regards,

Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 17:02:14 GMT

Hi Lars,

Do you have any other computer to perform debug testing on?

Have you tried any other application excluding hello_world and aws_iot?

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 08:34:19 GMT

Hi Dejan,

I have another DK and another cable compared to what I had in the beginning of this ticket. And my computer has been restarted several times. The version I now use of Cortex-Debug is 1.4.4. I also tested 1.4.0, but didn't see any difference.

Debugging with Ozone works fine for hello_world if I don't check "Enable debug options". If I check it, debugging with Ozone doesn't work. For aws_iot, debugging with Ozone doesn't work at all. It feels like I'm also here is back where I was before.

Are you able to repeat what I see? Both when it comes to this disconnection-thing with VSCode, the different behaviour when checking/not checking the "Enable debug options"-box, and what I see when trying to debug with Ozone?

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 14:05:10 GMT

Hi Lars,

[quote user="Lars M"]Is it you at Nordic that are making this extension? Is there a forecast when this can be fixed?[/quote]

We are not making the Cortex-Debug extension.

Have you tried changing the board, rebooting the computer and/or replacing the cables?

How does Ozone debugger behave now with aws_iot sample?

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 13:12:04 GMT

Hi Dejan,

Great, thanks! This solves the problem to a great extent! Now it is possible to debug, but it only works every other time. It seems that I'm back to the behaviour I had in the beginning of this ticket. Which feels quite natural.

Every other time that I debug, the board is disconnected, and then reconnected. Then debugging doesn't work.

The other times debugging works. But this is only true if I have not checked the "Enable debug options"-checkbox when making a build configuration.

Is it you at Nordic that are making this extension? Is there a forecast when this can be fixed?

Best regards,
Lars

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

dejans — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 11:42:30 GMT

Hi Lars,

I have tested aws_iot sample in NCS v1.9.1 and got the same result. The debugger restriction was introduced with Cortex debug extension v1.6. The solution might be to downgrade the Cortex extension. You can do it from VS Code by going to Extensions-> Cortex Debug. Under extension name Cortex-Debug, there is Uninstall drop-down list where you can choose "Install Another Version ...".

Best regards,
Dejan

RE: Problems with "Enable debug options"

Lars M — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 07:00:59 GMT

Hi,

To try to come back to the previous state where debugging in some way worked, I have now uninstalled V2.0.0. But if I then try to debug aws_iot v1.9.1 I get this error message:

Just flashing aws_iot 1.9.1 works fine, it connects and runs as it should.

Reinstalling V2.0.0 I still get this error message for aws_iot v1.9.1. And, running aws_iot 2.0.0 I also get that error message.

Best regards,
Lars