Debug BBB from Windows Eclipse/DS-5 /CCS IDE

Question

I have a DS-5 IDE running on my Windows 10 PC, and I'm able to cross-compile Linux applications for the BeagleBone.

I've never been able to get the debugger working though. I'd like to attach to my cross-compiled program that's executing on the BBB, and step trough it.

Who's got that working, and how?

My cross compile setup is:

DS-5 Community Edition

GCC 4.9.3 arm-linux-gnu....

Windows 10 64 bits

BeagleBone Green with Linux beaglebone 4.4.9-ti-r25 #1 SMP Thu May 5 23:08:13 UTC 2016 armv7l

I'm reasonably skilled with eclipse IDEs, Windows and Linux.

Help

bwelsby · Accepted Answer

ok Assuming you have toolchain and project configured and that you can create a working executable then here's a brief list of steps I took.

First create a RSE connection:

Select Window -> Perspective -> Open Perspective -> Other -> Remote System Explorer

In the Remote Systems panel select the icon for Define a connection for a remote system

A window should open listing various connection types, select SSH Only and then Next>

In the Host Name I entered the Beaglebone IP address and then BBE SSH in the Connection Name then select Finish

Next I created a debug configuration:

Select Window -> Perspective -> Open Perspective -> Other -> DS-5 Debug

Select Run -> Debug Configurations...

You should get a window open like this:

On the left select DS-5 Debugger and then the icon to create a new configuration as shown above.

Under Select target select Linux Application Debug > Application Debug > Connect via gdbserver > Download and debug application as shown above

Under RSE connection select the one created earlier.

Select the Files tab then:

For Application on host to download I select Workspace and navigate to the Debug executable that is produced when I build the project.

For Target download directory and also Target working directory I used /home/debian/workspace This is where I chose to put the executable on the Beaglebone.

I then just clicked on Debug

First run there's a few popups that I accept and the SSH username and password (you can save both if you wish) and thats it the debugger opens and I can single step etc etc.

Hope that gets you going but if you get any errors let me know.

Brian

shabaz · Answer

Hi Jan, Another approach is to compile locally on the BBB, which avoids the risk of any issues with the cross-compiler or library differences. This is (I think) a good approach, because the BBB is fairly speedy for compiles. It would have been a difficult thing in the past with slower processors or without network access on the target. I too like to use Windows based code editors however, so often I just SSH across, make the edits and then transfer the file back again. This is fine with small volumes of code, or another approach is to use a separate file system on the network - in my case at home this would be a NAS drive. Regarding debugging, if need be, I'll use gdb locally on the BBB (i.e. from a shell via SSH). The info above is just based on personal experience, it might not be industry practice, and things change. Certainly in the past it was trickier setting up a known working cross-compiler environment and so back then as soon as processor speeds on the target went into the GHz and we had moved to GNU (before that we were using a proprietary compiler), we ditched the different build-server and compiled on an identical architecture server on the last real professional software engineering project I worked on. It provided a ton of confidence and sped up development at the time. (Nothing else needed changing, we were still using the network file system, the same code editing tools, version control, etc).

bwelsby · Answer

Great, happy programming, debugging and a Happy New Year too! Brian

Debug BBB from Windows Eclipse/DS-5 /CCS IDE

Top Replies