VS Arduino - Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command

Apr 19^th, 2024 at 10:07pm (UTC)

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VS Arduino › › › Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command

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Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command (Read 7505 times)

Arnaud Newbies Offline Posts: 7 Joined: May 23^rd, 2020	Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command May 24^th, 2020 at 3:01am	Print Post
	It looks like I have another problem now. When I try to run the debugger, I get the following message box from Microsoft Visual Studio: "Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command "-exec-run". Don't know how to run. Try "help target". The Debug log is very short but I am attaching it as a zip file. It basically ends with : The program '' has exited with code 42 (0x2a). Not sure why there is some packet error. I checked the link with my board on COM7 and everything is ok. Not sure why it does not recognize the program name and just has a couple of empty quotes there. I have tried multiple times and always get the same error. Please let me know if you need anything additional from me. Thanks.
	« Last Edit: May 24^th, 2020 at 1:26pm by Tim@Visual Micro »
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Arnaud Newbies Offline Posts: 7 Joined: May 23^rd, 2020	Re: Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command Reply #1 - May 25^th, 2020 at 11:08am	Print Post
	Thanks for splitting the issue and moving it here. Fingers crossed we can get resolution on this issue and I can test the full power of the inline debugger!


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Simon@Visual Micro Administrator Offline Posts: 2174 Joined: Feb 13^th, 2019	Re: Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command Reply #2 - May 26^th, 2020 at 3:31pm	Print Post
	This error can occur for a variety of reasons, and basically means it cannot connect. If the Code Uploads OK then the Serial Comms must be fine, and this is all that is used with GDBStub. Have you included the Stub header, and additional setup() code? (ESP8266 GDBStub Page) Have you Reset the board since code upload to ensure it is runtime mode instead of boot loader mode, before attaching the debugger? If you still have issues, would it be possible to attach the full build output with the verbose properties as shown at the top, and ideally a minimal copy of the sketch you are having issues with?


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Arnaud Newbies Offline Posts: 7 Joined: May 23^rd, 2020	Re: Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command Reply #3 - May 26^th, 2020 at 11:11pm	Print Post
	Hi Simon, Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, I had followed that page and included the relevant header and additional set-up code. Based on your comment about not being able to connect, I reviewed my code and then realized that I still had a call to Serial.begin() in my sketch. So that explains why it could not connect since the serial had been opened by the sketch and therefore could not be used by the debugger. I then proceeded to bracketing this with the usual #ifndef _DEBUG / #endif calls. It got passed the previous error but then I got a message from VS2019 that the VM addin was stuck and that it was stopping it. I tried again and had the same error. I tried building / rebuilding & upload then debug but still had the same problem. I then decided to simply comment out the Serial.begin() call instead of bracketing it with #ifndef/#endif just to try it out and it now works and the VM addin is not hanging anymore and it now works! So it looks like that bracketing the serial.begin call hangs the system for some reason and it needs to be commented out altogether. I am stoked about that! Now one thing I did notice is that I have run the debug process twice for it to run properly. The first time around I get some "SIGILL" error message, I am not sure why. I will keep monitoring and reporting back if this persists. Maybe I will open another topic if it keeps happening. As for this issue, I think you can mark it as SOLVED, and I am going to start learning to play around with the debugger. Thanks for your help!
	« Last Edit: May 26^th, 2020 at 11:12pm by Arnaud »

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