Debugging with GDB
Last updated
Last updated
The comes installed with the compiler toolchain in the form of the arm-none-eabi-gdb binary. The debugger reads the debug symbols inside an ELF file to understand the static and dynamic memory layout of the PX4 firmware. To access the PX4 autopilot microcontroller, it needs to connect to a , which is provided by a .
The flow of information looks like this:
To start a debugging session you typically:
Need a specialized .
Find and connect to the . You may need a .
Configure and start the debug probe to create a GDB server.
Launch GDB and connect to the GDB server as a remote target.
Debug your firmware interactively.
See the debug probe documentation for details on how to setup your debug connection:
: commercial probe, no built-in serial console, requires adapter.
: integrated GDB server and serial console, requires adapter.
: best value, integrated serial console, adapter must be soldered.
We recommend using the J-Link with the Pixhawk Debug Adapter or the STLinkv3-MINIE with a soldered custom cable.
Once connected, you can use the usual GDB commands such as:
continue to continue program execution
run to start from the beginning
backtrace to see the backtrace
break somewhere.cpp:123 to set a breakpoint
delete somewhere.cpp:123 to remove it again
info locals to print local variables
info registers to print the registers
:::tip To avoid having to type all commands to connect in GDB each time, you can write them into ~/.gdbinit. :::
You've now connected the flight controller to an SWD debug probe!
The following topics explain how to start on-target debugging:
The library orchestrates the launch and configuration of hardware debug and trace probes, debuggers, logic analyzers, and waveform generators and provides analysis tools, converters, and plugins to provide significant insight into the software and hardware state during or after execution.
Consult the for more details.
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The connect several software and hardware debugging tools together in a user friendly Python package to more easily enable advanced use cases for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers and related devices.
The emdbg library contains that make debugging PX4 easier. It also provides tools for .