CCS 5.1.0.09000 debug hangs

Hi Bob,

is this consistent for you with every project/workspace?  Have you tried renaming ctools.dll?

Would you be able to send us any error logs or dump files (.dmp) generated?  There is some information on what is generated and where that can be found in this wiki

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_CCS

Please keep us informed.

Best Regards,
Lisa

Hi Bob,

ok, I am glad to hear that you seem to have sorted things out.   I hope it is ok if I close the thread for now then.  Of course if further questions or issues come up, feel free to let me/us know.  That's why we're here.

Best Regards,
Lisa

Well, looks like  my problem is not completely solved. I can load a debug session, but it's hanging every so often when I start the debugger. Please let me know what I can do to help track down the problem.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob,

If the problem remains intermittant, then it may be extremely hard to track..  Things to check in this case might be - is there a conflict?  Ie when you get the hang, does it occur when certain other resources are in use?  Or is there something common in these cases?  Is it related to a specific workspace or project?

If the debug hangs are reproducable or constant, please let us know.  The error logs and dump files (.dmp) generated would be of great help tracking it down. 

In fact, next time you get a hang, you can send us the logs and any dump files  if you wish in either case.

This wiki topic has more info:

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_CCS

Best Regards,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I've enabled the debug log file and will leave this enabled. I just ran the debugger a number of times successfully so it's hard to figure out whats causing the problem. It seems to occur periodically after starting up CCS from scratch or a previous run. It's seems like everything will work once I'm able to start the first debug session initially, but if it hangs on the initial debug session then I have to kill CCS and power cycle the board one or more times to get it running again.

Thanks,

Bob

CCS 5.1 is still hanging enough to create real problems trying to debug my app. Sometimes it will work for a while, then others it hangs nearly everytime I run it.  I cleared the logfile, started CCS and it hung loading the app as usual. Not much in the logfile since it hung, but I've pasted this below if this helps any.

What next?

Thanks,

Bob

0x000010A8 34591 3  COM_DBG_IF C: class XPCOMLogger::CoLogger::OnEnabledChanged()
0x000010A8 34591 3  XPCOM C: dsISimpleEventCallback::onEvent()
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM C: dsISimpleEvent::removeListener( 2F616FF0 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsISimpleEvent::removeListener( 2F616FF0 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsISimpleEventCallback::onEvent()
0x000010A8 34592 3  COM_DBG_IF R: class XPCOMLogger::CoLogger::OnEnabledChanged()
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::enable( true )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM C: dsISimpleEvent::addListener( 2F616F90 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsISimpleEvent::addListener( 2F616F90 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM C: dsILogger::getLogFile( 2F6170B0 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::getLogFile( *2F6170B0 = C:\temp\debuglog.txt )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM C: dsILogger::getLogFile( 2F6170B0 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::getLogFile( *2F6170B0 = C:\temp\debuglog.txt )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM C: dsILogger::getLogFile( 2F6170B0 )
0x000010A8 34592 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::getLogFile( *2F6170B0 = C:\temp\debuglog.txt )
0x000010A8 34593 3  XPCOM C: dsILogger::getLogFile( 2F6170B0 )
0x000010A8 34593 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::getLogFile( *2F6170B0 = C:\temp\debuglog.txt )
0x000010A8 34593 3  XPCOM C: dsILogger::getLogFile( 2F6170B0 )
0x000010A8 34593 3  XPCOM R: dsILogger::getLogFile( *2F6170B0 = C:\temp\debuglog.txt )
0x000010A8 41893 5  COM_DBG_IF I: Final Release for class XPCOMLogger::CoLogger (this = 0x2F58E1CC)
0x000010A8 41893 5  COM_DBG_IF I: Final Release for class XPCOMFramework::Event<class XPCOMFramework::EventTemplateArgs<class dsISimpleEvent,void,class dsISimpleEventCallback> > (this = 0x2F5BD5E4)
0x000010A8 42156 5  COM_DBG_IF I: Final Release for class XPCOMFramework::Event<class XPCOMFramework::EventTemplateArgs<class dsISimpleEvent,void,class dsISimpleEventCallback> > (this = 0x2F5BD5A4)

Hi Bob,

the log does give me a couple ideas to check.  We have seen XPCOM conflict and issues.  Two version from two different programs, for example, and then some programs getting confused about which one.

When you get the issue, do you notice if there is anything like a bluetooth port or application that would us XPCOM that is also running?  And when it works are these off/disabled.

Best Regards,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

No idea what XPCOM is and don't think I have bluetooth devices of any sort. I'm running Windows 7 professional, it's my development machine with other CAD programs and development packages installed. The motherboard has an onboard wifi, but it's disabled. Otherwise it's pretty basic with just Ethernet and USB on an ASUS motherboard and Windows 7 Pro. I'll be happy to try and do whatever I can to track the problem down though.

The download/flash operation seems to take longer than it should. Sometimes the progress dialogs seems to pop up differently than other times. Also, sometimes I can disconnect the USB cable to un-hang the program and it reckognizes the USB devices is gone. Other times it just hangs hard and I have to terminate CCS from task manager. I'd say it hangs about 50% or of the time when I start the debugger, but sometimes I get lucky and get a series of runs.

Thanks

Bob

Bob,

I don't think this really is an xpcom issue.  The log ends with a bunch of xpcom statements, but it's just a set of calls to enable logging and those calls happen to go though xpcom.  To figure out what's hanging, I'll need to have you enable the logger prior to launching the debug session. 

Some things to be aware of:

• Log data is appended to whatever file you've selected, and it's very verbose.  You'll find that the file might grow pretty big after a while.  If that happens, simply delete it every now and then as we're only going to need the data at the end once the hang occurs.
• Since the logging data is so verbose, you may find things running a lot slower than usual.  Since you said it only hangs when you start the debugger, I'd recommend you enable logging, launch the debugger and flash your program, then disable logging until you launch again.
• If you find that logging seems to prevent the hang (which can happen as it changes the application timing) and you don't see it hang soon, reply to this thread and I'll post some instructions on how to hook up logging so it's less intrusive.

Darian

Looks like it must be timing related. I just ran about a dozen debug sessions with no hangs. The log file is huge, around 67MB. CCS doesn't seem to save the logging enabled setting when exiting so I have to turn it on every execution of CCS to enable. Least I've got a way to debug now...

Please let me know what else you'd like me to try so we can narrow the problem down. Might not be able to work on it much the next week or so due to work, but I'll keep running it with the debug log enabled for now in case I encounter a hang. Let me know how to change the logging so it's less intrusive and I'll give it a shot.

Thanks,

Bob

Bob,

First, you need to set several environment variables.  You can set it globally, or, so you don't forget to remove them later, you can set them in a command prompt and then start CCS from that prompt.

• set TI_DS_ENABLE_LOGGING=1
• set TI_DS_LOGGING_BUFFER_SIZE=1024
• set TI_DS_LOGGING_OUTPUT=c:/temp/debuglog.txt
• set TI_DS_OPEN_DEBUG_SOCKET=23

These variables will keep logging permanently on, but will cause it to log to an in memory circular buffer (which is hopefully much faster than writing to disk).  It will also open up a TCP socket on port 23, which is necessary so that you can eventually tell the debugger to write out the log files once you experience a hung (the assumption being that the GUI may not be responsive if a thread is hung). 

To write out the logs to disk please download and run putty (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html).  Create a new "RAW" connection to localhost on port 23.  Once you start the connection you'll see a TI Debugger: command prompt.  At that prompt, type "DumpLogs".  I'd suggest doing that once after setting everything up to make sure something is written to disk.

The log file also will be written when CCS exits, so it's preferable to delete the file each time you start CCS (perhaps in a .bat file?).

I believe this should be non-intrusive enough that you won't notice any performance degradation, and it also won't require you to do anything each time you start.  Once you see a hang, or if the hangs stop, please let me know on this thread.

Thanks,
Darian

HI Robert,

I am glad to hear that the hang seems to have gone away.

I am going to put your question about debug speed into a new thread for you.  We have a few questions, but I will post them to the new thread.

Best Regards,
Lisa