Category Archives: Debugging

Using Semihosting and File I/O in DevContainers

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With Optimizing Embedded Development with VS Code and DevContainer I showed the benefits of using development containers. And with Remote Debugging with DevContainer and VS Code I explained ways use hardware debugging using that concept.

One topic is still open: how to use semihosting with file I/O using development container? The challenge here is that we need to work with two different file systems.

DevContainer Development with File I/O and Semihosting

In this article I show how semihosting file I/O can be used with DevContainer.

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MCU-Link-MR: Affordable CMSIS-DAP Debug Probe for Robotics and beyond

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The MCU-Link-MR from NXP is a CMSIS-DAP debug probe. It includes dedicated connection headers found on mobile robotic systems. These systems include the Pixhawk/PX4 drone and robotics hardware.

MCU-Link-MR CMSIS-DAP Debug probe with Pixhawk 6x RT
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Sharing Standalone NXP SDK Projects in VS Code

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The NXP SDK is git based which is great. If I create a project with VS code, it references the SDK cloned locally.

Standard NXP SDK Project in VS Code

A standalone project structure is needed if you want to easily share a project with your team. It’s also necessary for sharing inside a classroom environment. This article shows how to use an NXP SDK project in standalone mode.

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Workaround for FreeRTOS Runtime Counter Issues in VS Code

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FreeRTOS has a great performance measurement feature built-in: Performance counters. At each context switch, the RTOS can do a bookkeeping of time spent in tasks. With this, it can estimate the runtime distribution between the tasks. A very useful feature to get a feeling what the tasks are doing.

But I noticed that with recent FreeRTOS versions, VS Code extension have issues showing the correct runtime counter values:

Unknown Runtime Counters in VS Code Extension (mcu-debug.rtos-views)
Unknown Runtime Counters in VS Code Extension (mcu-debug.rtos-views)
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Remote Debugging with DevContainer and VS Code

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This is the second part describing how to use DevContainer for embedded applications with VS Code.

In Optimizing Embedded Development with VS Code and DevContainer I use VS Code with a docker ‘development’ container. The container is created with a recipe to install the development tools and SDK. With VS Code and DevContainer I have the same developer experience as I would develop locally on the host.

One thing not addressed in that earlier article is debugging. Using USB debug probes like a SEGGER J-Link or NXP MCU-Link is a challenge inside a container. This applies to any other debug probe as well.

The solution is to transform an USB based debug probe into one with a network connection:

VS Code DevContainer with Hardware Debugging
VS Code DevContainer with Hardware Debugging

In this article, I show how to do this.

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Standalone Semihosting Host-Target Console with CI/CD Runner and CMSIS-DAP

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NXP has released a new LinkServer software. It includes an interesting feature. The LinkServer test runner has been extended with a Semihosting console. This is not only very useful for on-target testing. With the Semihosting console, I have a bidirectional communication channel with the target. And I do not need any hardware pins or to run a debug session. All what I need is the CMSIS-DAP connection with the NXP LinkServer runner to have a command line shell:

Target Console with Semihosting
Target Console with Semihosting
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NXP LinkServer 24.9.75: New GUI for Flash Programming

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NXP has released a new version of the LinkServer software. This is a utility for debugging and using scripting for a wide range of devices and debugging probes. It includes support for the MCU-Link, LPC-Link2, on-board and CMSIS-DAP based debug probes with the ‘LinkFlash’:

Programming with LinkFlash

With the new release, it includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for flash programming. It also includes erasing, verifying, recovery, and saving the memory to a file.

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How to Use SystemView Data Plot Feature for Real-time Data Visualization

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There is a new feature in the SEGGER SystemView: the ability to plot any data provided by the application, for example sensor data or any other useful data:

SEGGER SystemView with Data Plot
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How to Use GNU Coverage (gcov) in a Freestanding Environment for Embedded Systems

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The GNU Coverage (gcov) is a source code analysis tool, and is a standard utility in the GNU gcc suite. It works great in a hosted environment (e.g. Linux or Windows), where you have plenty of resources and a file system. But the gcov tools is relevant and usable for restricted embedded systems too. I have used it for years with the help of debug probes and file I/O semihosting. But semihosting does not come for free, depends on a library with support for constructors and destructors, plus relies on file I/O.

Fortunately, there is a way to use gcov without debugger, semihosting, file I/O and special system initialization: using a freestanding environment:

gcov in freestanding environment with embedded target

This article explains how to collect coverage information using a data stream for example over UART or USB-CDC. Key benefits are less code side, no need for a debugger or on-target file system, improved performance, better automation and flexible data collection.

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MCUXpresso IDE v11.10: Easy MCU-Link Firmware Update with Eclipse

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A new eclipse-based NXP MCUXpresso IDE v11.10 is available With this new release, it includes an even easier firmware update mechanism for the MCU-Link (LinkServer) debug probes.

MCU-Link based debug probes with a FRDM-K22F board
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