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  VS Arduino › Visual Micro › Usb/Serial/WiFi Debugging › ESP32S3 Debug won't start
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Hot Topic (More than 8 Replies) ESP32S3 Debug won't start (Read 788 times)
JimboNeedsHelp
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ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Sep 20th, 2024 at 11:39pm
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Hello.  Newby here.  I have recently downloaded Visual Studio 2022 and Visual Micro.  I am using chinese knockoffs of the ESP32-S3-DevkitC-1 boards.  I am connected to a Windows 11 computer through a USBC cable, which seems to work fine in Arduino 2.0 and in PlatformIO.  I can debug simnple sketches in both.  However, I cannot get the debugger to start in Visual Micro.  I get an error message stating "Unable to start debugging.  Unable to establish a connection to GDB. Debug output may contain more information."

My program is the basic "hello world" serial LCD example from Arduino.

I have cleaned my project and recompiled.  I have adjusted my ARDUINO settings to match those in the Arduino IDE (which seem to work).

  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #1 - Sep 20th, 2024 at 11:39pm
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Build log attached
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #2 - Sep 20th, 2024 at 11:40pm
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Microbuild log attached
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #3 - Sep 20th, 2024 at 11:42pm
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Code attached
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #4 - Sep 23rd, 2024 at 11:53am
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Thanks for the logs and the information.

The "Debug: Arduino" option will use the same configuration as the Arduino IDE.  Can you try this out?


To use the vMicro configuration you have selected currently:

Can you try adding the local board.txt overrides detailed on the below page, and then try debugging again?
How to debug an ESP32S3 via USB with an Arduino project and GDB?

As it is working in other IDE's I assume the WinUSB Driver is showing as installed for Interface2 of the USB/JTAG device?
Zadig Driver Installation Guide
« Last Edit: Sep 23rd, 2024 at 4:22pm by Simon@Visual Micro »  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #5 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 12:44am
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Thank you Simon.  I've added the "board.txt" file to the project and yes, indeed it will now start the debugger.

However, I'm having more problems now.  I'm getting "Exception Unhandled" messages whenever my code hits a breakpoint, and I try to do anything other than continue.  If I add a second breakpoint and continue, I get the error.  If I right click and "run to cursor", I get an error.  If I "Step Over" the current instruction, I get the error.

Any ideas what might be causing this?  I have attached a screenshot with the error below.

Thanks for your help!
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #6 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 10:01am
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Thanks for the update.

Can you try changing the Optimization to "No Project + Libraries Optimization" and then recompile and upload?
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #7 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 12:39pm
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Thanks, Simon.  I changed the optimization to "No Project + Libraries Optimization".  However, that did not seem to change the behavior.  The "Force Run to Cursor" seems to function, but none of the other controls work without throwing an exception.

It seems that if I set a breakpoint, and remove it once the program stops, then I can set a new breakpoint, and the program will continue to the new breakpoint without problems.

Thanks for any suggestions that you can provide.
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #8 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 12:44pm
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After performing more testing, it seems the problem is with having more than one breakpoint.  If I stop the program at a breakpoint, then remove all breakpoints, then I can step through the program as expected.  However, the step functions throw exceptions if I try to use them while a breakpoint is set.
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #9 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 1:33pm
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There is a limit of 2 hardware breakpoints on the ESP32S3, so this could be a side effect of that.
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32s3/api-guides/jtag-de...
  
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Re: ESP32S3 Debug won't start
Reply #10 - Sep 24th, 2024 at 5:30pm
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Thank you for all your assistance, Simon.

The debugger appears to be limited to a single breakpoint, whether a standard breakpoint or a conditional breakpoint.  Both work fine as long as there is only one, and as long as I don't try to use any step functions.

If I delete the breakpoint once it is triggered, then I can use the step functions normally.  This functionality is very limited, but at least it works, and seems to work consistently.

I very much appreciate all your help to get it working to this point.

  
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