Hi,

The Visual Micro debugger is a USB software debugger, entirely different to a hardware debugger, which Arduino does not support. 

Obviously you can make your own custom board with an Arduino/AVR cpu that might support hardware debugging but then you won't need the Visual Micro debugger.

Thanks

Currently if Visual Micro is responsible for compile then it will override everything. 

However, I am currently discussing with Atmel how to run the Simulator as an option. I hope to add an extra option to the (Micro Debug) list to include Simulator (None, Full, Simulator). I mention this because it is a similar area and requires similar handling to hardware debug (I think)

I am still learning Atmel Studio, today Atmel showed me how to use "File>Open Object File for Debugging". This allowed me to experiment with the Simulator and a standard Arduino project. It looked great and appeared to work well. I am currently investigating how to feed values via serial from the Arduino into the Sim)

I appreciate the Simulator is not of interest to you but the Simulator seems to me to be just another Atmel debug tool so my question to you is can you use the same system. 

I documented todays Simulator test here 

The document shows how to easily find the location of the .elf that Visual Micro produces which is then passed to Atmel Studios "File>Open Object File for Debugging".

Would you please look at the doc and let me know if you believe the same or similar system will work for hardware debugging. 

Currently I know that starting the Sim is a little clunky but if it works then we will certainly have a way to move forward and for Visual Micro, in a future release, to provide a smooth single click solution.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts and thanks in advance

Great

No your don't need to disable the addin because, with the elf, Atmel does not need a project with the .pde/.ino. 

Atmel will create a project for you from the .elf but bear in mind that when we compile Arduino all .pde/.ino files are combined into [sketchname].cpp in a temp folder. So the .elf has not knowledge of the .pde/.ino sources.

Whilst this works in our favor from debug perspective it does mean that when you debug you will have to work out which pde/ino the .cpp source relates to.

If required Visual Micro could add some commented section markers to the .cpp informing you which pde/ino the source belongs to.

Hello,

Thanks for the report. I didn't have the include path problem with the Sim but maybe we can fix that with some experimentation.

How about using the Tools>programmer and "Tools>Upload using programmer" to perform the upload. Then serial will not be used. You must also ensure (Micro Debug=None) otherwise we will have Serial port usage.

Sorry this is a guess and I have no evidence this will work 

Hi JohnB,

I am sorry but the reason for the USb debug option is that Arduino does not support hardware debug unless you are an experienced user, even then I have never heard of a compatible arduino compile with pde/ino that also uses hardware debug.

It might be possible but I don't have the resource to investigate, I wish I did

I guess what you are saying is that you need to understand how to build your own avr/arduino projects manually in Atmel Studio without using pde/ino files, just c and cpp.

This is certainly possible, you will find some examples on the internet I am sure.

I am also sure you will find some tutorials that explain which AVR micro-controllers are supported in Atmel and also which programmers/debuggers the micro-controller supports. 

There will also be articles to show you how to configure the various Atmel hardware debug options.

Sorry I can't be more help but will appreciate hearing the results of your investigations.

Thanks very much

You have done well!!

And this is a perfect example why most users can not and should not try hardware debugging with Arduino.

I don't understand why you don't just use a usb cable for both upload and debug? What does the usb debugger not do that you need to do?

Thanks very much for the useful information

Hi John,

I am confused.

By default, the Visual Micro debugger uses serial on the usb cable and can also use other Serial ports such as Serial1 or SoftwareSerial on digitalPins via FTDI or similar.

Have you tried it? Seen the YouTube video on the debugger page (skip first minute or so)?

Thanks

Ah, yes that makes sense and thanks for the support. 

Yep software debug is quick and simple, also provides a few nice extras such as updating variables without need for break.

But as you say, if you are used to true low level hardware debug you need something else.

When we do the Sim work it might be that we can make life a bit easier for hardware debug, but I am not sure if it will help you.

Ok, I look and speak to them.

Thank you, I did not think about that.  There is a lot about Atmel Studio that I have not learned yet.

I looked at the list and "simulator" is not included like it is for some other boards so I guess it is not supported.

The board I am using is a Leonardo.

John