Debugging UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2 with OpenOCD and Visual Studio Code

Page last updated 11 Nov 2017, by Jan Jongboom. 0 replies

Debugging this target using OpenOCD and GDB is quite straight forward. For other targets, see these docs!

  1. Install OpenOCD.
  2. Build your application with debug symbols enabled, via: mbed compile --profile=debug.
  3. Start a debug server via: openocd -f /path/to/openocd/scripts/board/st_nucleo_f4.cfg -f /path/to/openocd/scripts/interface/stlink-v2-1.cfg -c init -c "reset init".
  4. Attach via GDB (arm-none-eabi-gdb, then target remote localhost:3333).

Note: If you want to debug an application with a bootloader, first flash the full image via drag-n-drop, then flash the application (_application.bin) via GDB. This ensures that the bootloader remains in place.

Here's a Visual Studio Code configuration to do visual debugging of an Mbed Cloud Client application (replace '/Users/janjon01/openocd' with your own path to OpenOCD).

.vscode/launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "C++ Launch",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceRoot}/BUILD/UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2/GCC_ARM/${workspaceRootFolderName}_application.elf",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": true,
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": false,
            "debugServerArgs": "-f /Users/janjon01/openocd/scripts/board/st_nucleo_f4.cfg -f /Users/janjon01/openocd/scripts/interface/stlink-v2-1.cfg -c init -c \"reset init\"",
            "serverLaunchTimeout": 20000,
            "filterStderr": true,
            "filterStdout": false,
            "serverStarted": "target halted due to debug-request, current mode: Thread",
            "preLaunchTask": "mbed",
            "setupCommands": [
                { "text": "-target-select remote localhost:3333", "description": "connect to target", "ignoreFailures": false },
                { "text": "-file-exec-and-symbols ${workspaceRoot}/BUILD/UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2/GCC_ARM/${workspaceRootFolderName}_application.elf", "description": "load file", "ignoreFailures": false},
                { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor endian little\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor reset\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor halt\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor arm semihosting enable\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                { "text": "-target-download", "description": "flash target", "ignoreFailures": false }
            ],
            "logging": {
                "moduleLoad": true,
                "trace": true,
                "engineLogging": true,
                "programOutput": true,
                "exceptions": true
            },
            "linux": {
                "MIMode": "gdb",
                "MIDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/arm-none-eabi-gdb",
                "debugServerPath": "openocd"
            },
            "osx": {
                "MIMode": "gdb",
                "MIDebuggerPath": "/usr/local/bin/arm-none-eabi-gdb",
                "debugServerPath": "openocd"
            },
            "windows": {
                "preLaunchTask": "mbed",
                "MIMode": "gdb",
                "MIDebuggerPath": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\GNU Tools ARM Embedded\\4.9 2015q3\\bin\\arm-none-eabi-gdb.exe",
                "debugServerPath": "openocd.exe",
                "setupCommands": [
                    { "text": "-environment-cd ${workspaceRoot}\\UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2\\GCC_ARM\\BUILD" },
                    { "text": "-target-select remote localhost:3333", "description": "connect to target", "ignoreFailures": false },
                    { "text": "-file-exec-and-symbols ${workspaceRootFolderName}_application.elf", "description": "load file", "ignoreFailures": false},
                    { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor endian little\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                    { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor reset\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                    { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor halt\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                    { "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor arm semihosting enable\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
                    { "text": "-target-download", "description": "flash target", "ignoreFailures": false }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

.vscode/tasks.json

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "showOutput": "always",
    "problemMatcher": {
        "owner": "cpp",
        "fileLocation": ["relative", "${workspaceRoot}/mbed-os"],
        "pattern": {
            "regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+):\\s+(warning|error):\\s+(.*)$",
            "file": 1,
            "line": 2,
            "column": 3,
            "severity": 4,
            "message": 5
        }
    },
    "command": "mbed",
    "args": ["compile", "--profile=debug"],
    "windows": {
        "command": "mbed.exe",
        "args": ["compile", "--profile=debug"]
    }
}

Put these files in your .vscode folder, and hit F5 to start debugging. Check the 'Debug console' tab in VSCode for info on the flash progress.

/media/uploads/janjongboom/screen_shot_2017-11-11_at_11.19.29.png

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