SPRAD28 October   2022 AM2431 , AM2432 , AM2434 , AM2631 , AM2631-Q1 , AM2632 , AM2632-Q1 , AM2634 , AM2634-Q1 , AM26C31 , AM26C31-EP , AM26C31C , AM26C31I , AM26C31M , AM26C32 , AM26C32-EP , AM26C32C , AM26C32M , AM26LS31 , AM26LS31M , AM26LS32A , AM26LS32AC , AM26LS32AM , AM26LS33A , AM26LS33A-SP , AM26LS33AM , AM26LV31 , AM26LV31E , AM26LV31E-EP , AM26LV32 , AM26LV32E , AM26LV32E-EP , AM26S10 , AM2732 , AM2732-Q1

 

  1.   Abstract
  2.   Trademarks
  3. 1 Building for Debug
    1. 1.1 Disable Code Optimization
    2. 1.2 Using the Debug SDK Libraries
  4. 2 Code Composer Studio Stop-Mode Debugging
    1. 2.1 Configuring the Debugger
    2. 2.2 Breakpoints and Watchpoints
      1. 2.2.1 Software Breakpoints
      2. 2.2.2 Hardware Breakpoints
      3. 2.2.3 Watchpoints
    3. 2.3 Inspecting Device Registers
    4. 2.4 Inspecting Disassembly
  5. 3 Debug Logging
    1. 3.1 Logging Methods
    2. 3.2 Log Zones
    3. 3.3 Asserts
    4. 3.4 Example Usage
  6. 4 Multi-Core Debug
    1. 4.1 Grouping Cores
      1. 4.1.1 Fixed Group
      2. 4.1.2 Hiding Cores
    2. 4.2 Using Multiple Workbench Windows
    3. 4.3 Global Breakpoints
  7. 5 Debugging Arm Cortex-R5 Exceptions
    1. 5.1 Exception Priority Order
    2. 5.2 Aborts
      1. 5.2.1 Data Aborts
        1. 5.2.1.1 Alignment
        2. 5.2.1.2 Background Aborts
        3. 5.2.1.3 Permission
        4. 5.2.1.4 Synchronous/Asynchronous External
        5. 5.2.1.5 Synchronous/Asynchronous ECC
      2. 5.2.2 Synchronous/Asynchronous Aborts
        1. 5.2.2.1 Changing an Asynchronous Abort to a Synchronous Abort
        2. 5.2.2.2 Synchronous Abort
        3. 5.2.2.3 Asynchronous Abort
        4. 5.2.2.4 Debugging Asynchronous Abort
      3. 5.2.3 Prefetch Abort
        1. 5.2.3.1 Possible Reasons for Prefetch Abort
        2. 5.2.3.2 Handling Prefetch Abort Exception
      4. 5.2.4 Undefined Instruction
        1. 5.2.4.1 Possible Reasons for Undefined Instruction Exception
        2. 5.2.4.2 Handling Undefined Instruction Exception
    3. 5.3 Fetching Core Registers Inside an Abort Handler
  8. 6 Debugging Arm Cortex-M4 Exceptions
    1. 6.1 Exception Entry and Exit Sequence
      1. 6.1.1 Entry Sequence
      2. 6.1.2 Exception Exit Sequence
      3. 6.1.3 Decoding EXC_RETURN Value
    2. 6.2 Faults Handling
      1. 6.2.1 There are 15 System Exceptions by Arm Cortex M Processors
        1. 6.2.1.1 Causes of Faults
      2. 6.2.2 HardFault Exception
        1. 6.2.2.1 Causes of HardFault Exception
      3. 6.2.3 Configurable Fault Exceptions
        1. 6.2.3.1 Mem Manage Fault Exception
        2. 6.2.3.2 BusFault Exception
        3. 6.2.3.3 Usage Fault Exception
      4. 6.2.4 Control Registers
        1. 6.2.4.1 SHP - System Handler Priority Register
      5. 6.2.5 Status Registers
        1. 6.2.5.1 Undefined Instruction Handling Example
        2. 6.2.5.2 Invalid State Handling Example
      6. 6.2.6 Printing the Stack Frame
  9. 7 Debugging Memory
    1. 7.1 Viewing Device Memory
    2. 7.2 Linker Command File (linker.cmd)
      1. 7.2.1 The Memory Directive
      2. 7.2.2 The Sections Directive
    3. 7.3 Stack Overflow
      1. 7.3.1 -fstack-protector
      2. 7.3.2 -fstack-protector-strong
      3. 7.3.3 -fstack-protector-all
      4. 7.3.4 Enabling Stack Smashing Detection
      5. 7.3.5 Enabling Stack Smashing Detection
    4. 7.4 Variables and Expressions View in CCS
    5. 7.5 Understanding Your Application's Memory Allocation
    6. 7.6 FreeRTOS ROV
  10. 8 Debugging Boot
    1. 8.1 ROM Boot
    2. 8.2 SBL Boot
    3. 8.3 GEL Files
      1. 8.3.1 Debugging Init Code
        1. 8.3.1.1 Disable Auto-Run to Main
  11. 9 Debugging Real-Time Control Loops
    1. 9.1 Trace
      1. 9.1.1 Processor / Core Trace
      2. 9.1.2 How to Use CCS to Capture Trace Data on an AM243x
    2. 9.2 Code Profile / Coverage
      1. 9.2.1 CCS Count Event
    3. 9.3 Real-Time UART Monitor
      1. 9.3.1 Confirm CCS Features
      2. 9.3.2 Create Target Configuration File
      3. 9.3.3 Add Serial Command Monitor Software
      4. 9.3.4 Launch Real Time Debug
  12. 10E2E Support Forums

8.3 GEL Files

Startup GEL files are used to automate device initialization when Code Composer Studio starts up. The General Extension Language (GEL) can be used to configure the Code Composer Studio development environment and to initialize the target CPU. GEL is an interpreted language, and its syntax is similar to that of C. A rich set of built-in GEL functions is available, or you can create your own GEL functions. When develop and debugging with CCS, the GEL files replace the functionality of the Secondary Bootloader. In the field, the booting sequence happens as described above, and most times the code will be imported from Flash to RAM by the SBL. The SBL is a C code which is part of the Sitara MCU SDK and it can be modified / implemented by the developer. If important parts are missing from the SBL (such as un-itiliaziations of clocks and so on), unexpected problems can occur. In those cases, where the booting process fails, it is difficult to understand where in the code you are stuck. In order to debug such cases, it can be easier to connect to target without GEL files or loading any image.

  1. Configure a new target by new->Target Configuration file, insert a file name and click on finish. Then look for your device (Am243x Launchpad was used) and click on save.
  2. You can click on Test Connection button to verify that all connection tests pass.
    GUID-20220323-SS0I-GPT3-J7VZ-CXJ2M0ND4PXH-low.jpg
  3. Click on Target Confication under Advanced Setup:
    GUID-20220323-SS0I-BLRM-ZK8P-KGDTR0RGVCF1-low.jpg
  4. Delete the initialization script from each core and hit on Save.
    GUID-20220323-SS0I-G0LV-M8LH-L43NZLVMTWBQ-low.png
  5. Run the created target configuration file by right click on it and then select Launch Selected Configuration.
  6. Connect to one of the cores by right click on it and select Connect Target (Ctrl+Alt+C).
    GUID-20220323-SS0I-MT8H-413N-6D3RJNKHVTN5-low.jpg
  7. If you halt the program, you would stop on a random address with "No symbols are defined". To be able to see some code and understand exactly where you are, you should load symbols with CCS by clicking on Run->Load->Load Symbols and choose the right project.
    GUID-20220323-SS0I-VXKG-GJ71-1PCF61KJNN6V-low.jpg