Breakpoints in GDB with MSP432P401R board

Ben Bales

Hello,

I'm trying to get GDB working in Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) with the MSP432P401R board using the instructions in SLAU688 -- GCC ARM Embedded Toolchain for MSP432 MCUs.

I can build the blinking light example using gcc, I can attach to the device using the gdb agent from the XDS software package (processors.wiki.ti.com/.../XDS_Emulation_Software_Package), and I can run the code successfully.

However, I'm unable to set and use breakpoints.

This is what the GDB terminal looks like:

(gdb) monitor reset
CPU has been reset
(gdb) break main
Breakpoint 1 at 0x4ea: file msp432p401_cs.c, line 88.
(gdb) c
Continuing.
Warning:
Cannot insert breakpoint 1.
Cannot access memory at address 0x4ea

This is what the GDB-agent terminal looks like:

Successfully configured xds110_msp432_jtag.dat
CPU Name             Port
--------             ----
cortex_m4_0         :55000

Starting all cores
CPU Name             Status
--------             ------
cortex_m4_0          Waiting for client
cortex_m4_0          Client connected...Connecting to Target
cortex_m4_0 - Processor type =CORTEX_MXX (Little endian)
cortex_m4_0 - Target device is connected
Unable to load libctools.so,  Hardware breakpoints not available.
Target connected...Starting server
FAILED! GTI_SETBP_EX(hpid=0x8c40e38,addr=0x4ea,type=0,count=1,access=0)=ffffffff
(Error -1066 @ 0x4EA)
Unable to set/clear requested breakpoint. Verify that the breakpoint address is in valid memory.
(Emulation package 6.0.228.0)

ERROR: set_breakpoint() backend call returned 64

I noticed the line about unable to load libctools.so, so I also tried taking a copy of libctools.so from a CCS install and making it available to this process (from information here: e2e.ti.com/.../456749).

This is what the GDB-agent terminal looks like if I include the libctools from CCS in my LD_LIBRARY_PATH:

Successfully configured xds110_msp432_jtag.dat
CPU Name             Port
--------             ----
cortex_m4_0         :55000

Starting all cores
CPU Name             Status
--------             ------
cortex_m4_0          Waiting for client
cortex_m4_0          Client connected...Connecting to Target
cortex_m4_0 - Processor type =CORTEX_MXX (Little endian)
cortex_m4_0 - Target device is connected
Target connected...Starting server
FAILED! GTI_SETBP_EX(hpid=0x8dd9e38,addr=0x4ea,type=0,count=1,access=0)=ffffffff
(Error -1066 @ 0x4EA)
Unable to set/clear requested breakpoint. Verify that the breakpoint address is in valid memory.
(Emulation package 6.0.228.0)

ERROR: set_breakpoint() backend call returned 64

My gcc is version 5.3.1 20160307 (from launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded) and my gdb is 7.10.1.20160210-cvs.

Any ideas? Debugging works inside CCS, I'd just much rather use the command line tools if I possible.

Thanks!

Ben

over 9 years ago

0 Ben Bales over 9 years ago

Prodigy 30 points

I figured out how to use software breakpoints. It looks like I was trying to set breakpoints in code that was being loaded into the Flash memory of the MSP432. Using the files here: forum.43oh.com/.../ I was able to move functions to RAM and use software breakpoints.

It would be nice to use the hardware breakpoints though.

Exception trying to set hwbp (address=0x10000f0): Error enabling this function: There is no AET resource to support this job.

Any ideas on where I might look? I found a post (e2e.ti.com/.../335425) by Ki-Soo Lee that suggests I my debugger might be using all these AET resources for itself. How do I turn this stuff off in GDB?

0 Ben Bales over 9 years ago in reply to Ben Bales

Prodigy 30 points

Let me clarify, I also figured out that I should be using 'hbreak' instead of 'break' to set hardware breakpoints.

The full output of the GDB agent when setting a hardware breakpoint is:

Successfully configured xds110_msp432_jtag.dat
CPU Name             Port
--------             ----
cortex_m4_0         :55000

Starting all cores
CPU Name             Status
--------             ------
cortex_m4_0          Waiting for client
cortex_m4_0          Client connected...Connecting to Target
cortex_m4_0 - Processor type =CORTEX_MXX (Little endian)
cortex_m4_0 - Target device is connected
Target connected...Starting server
Exception trying to set hwbp (address=0x10000f0): Error enabling this function: There is no AET resource to support this job.
ERROR: set_breakpoint() backend call returned 1

GDB says:

(gdb) hbreak 82
Hardware assisted breakpoint 1 at 0x10000f0: file main.c, line 82.
(gdb) c
Continuing.
Warning:
Cannot insert hardware breakpoint 1.
Could not insert hardware breakpoints:
You may have requested too many hardware breakpoints/watchpoints.

0 Chris Sterzik over 9 years ago in reply to Ben Bales

TI__Guru 57716 points

Ben,
Thank you for posting the information regarding the software breakpoints. I will ask for some help from the tools team to provide some guidance on the HW breakpoints.

Thanks and Regards,
Chris

0 Chris Sterzik over 9 years ago in reply to Chris Sterzik

TI__Guru 57716 points

Ben,
Some DLL are missing from the standalone package. A bug has been filed but I do not have a timeline on the resolution.

Best Regards,
Chris

0 Paulo Costa over 8 years ago in reply to Chris Sterzik

Prodigy 230 points

Any updates on this? Im having the same exact issue.

0 Chris Sterzik over 8 years ago in reply to Paulo Costa

TI__Guru 57716 points

Paulo,
I do not have an update other than the issue has been resolved. I will be notified when this is released and update this thread. Thank you for your patience.

Regards,
Chris

0 Chris Sterzik over 8 years ago in reply to Chris Sterzik

TI__Guru 57716 points

The update is now available.

http://software-dl.ti.com/msp430/msp430_public_sw/mcu/msp430/MSP432GCC/latest/index_FDS.html

Regards,
Chris

0 Paulo Costa over 8 years ago in reply to Chris Sterzik

Prodigy 230 points

Thanks for following up, Chris!

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Breakpoints in GDB with MSP432P401R board