Debugging nRF52 boards with Visual Studio Code
Introduction
Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. With the addition of the C/C++ extension to Visual Studio Code, you might have what is needed in such a small, cross-platform editor.
This post explains how to configure the local debug toolchain for debugging nRF52 boards(e.g., nRF52840-MDK) with Visual Studio Code.
Hardware Requirements
- nRF52840-MDK development board
- 1x USB-C cable
- A Windows/macOS/Linux PC
Install Visual Studio Code
You need to install Visual Studio Code with the C/C++ extensions to begin.
- Install Visual Studio Code.
- Open Visual Studio Code, and click on the Extensions button.
- Search for the C/C++ plugin (by Microsoft) and click Install.
- When prompted, restart the IDE.
Install pyOCD
pyOCD is an open source Python package for programming and debugging Arm Cortex-M microcontrollers using multiple supported types of USB debug probes. It is fully cross-platform, with support for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
The latest stable version of pyOCD may be installed via pip as follows. Skip this step if pyOCD already exists.
pip install -U pyocdInstall GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain
Download and install the GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain. Then ensure the path is added to your OS PATH environment variable:
# in ~/.bash_profile, add the following script
export PATH="<path to install directory>/gcc-arm-none-eabi-6-2017-q2-update/bin:${PATH}"Type the following in your terminal to verify if arm-none-eabi-gcc works:
arm-none-eabi-gcc --versionConfiguring the debugger
The launch.json file is used to configure the debugger in Visual Studio Code. To configure the debugger for your project:
- Open the project folder in Visual Studio Code.
- Open the
.vscode/launch.jsonfile and add the example configurations:
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "C++ Launch",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "${workspaceRoot}/armgcc/_build/nrf52840_xxaa.out",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": true,
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": false,
"debugServerArgs": "",
"serverLaunchTimeout": 20000,
"filterStderr": true,
"filterStdout": false,
"serverStarted": "GDB\\ server\\ started",
"preLaunchTask": "make",
"setupCommands": [
{ "text": "-target-select remote localhost:3333", "description": "connect to target", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-file-exec-and-symbols ${workspaceRoot}/armgcc/_build/nrf52840_xxaa.out", "description": "load file", "ignoreFailures": false},
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor endian little\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor reset\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor halt\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor arm semihosting enable\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-target-download", "description": "flash target", "ignoreFailures": false }
],
"logging": {
"moduleLoad": true,
"trace": true,
"engineLogging": true,
"programOutput": true,
"exceptions": true
},
"linux": {
"MIMode": "gdb",
"MIDebuggerPath": "arm-none-eabi-gdb",
"debugServerPath": "pyocd-gdbserver"
},
"osx": {
"MIMode": "gdb",
"MIDebuggerPath": "arm-none-eabi-gdb",
"debugServerPath": "pyocd-gdbserver"
},
"windows": {
"preLaunchTask": "make.exe",
"MIMode": "gdb",
"MIDebuggerPath": "arm-none-eabi-gdb.exe",
"debugServerPath": "pyocd-gdbserver.exe",
"setupCommands": [
{ "text": "-environment-cd ${workspaceRoot}\\armgcc\\_build" },
{ "text": "-target-select remote localhost:3333", "description": "connect to target", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-file-exec-and-symbols nrf52840_xxaa.out", "description": "load file", "ignoreFailures": false},
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor endian little\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor reset\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor halt\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-interpreter-exec console \"monitor arm semihosting enable\"", "ignoreFailures": false },
{ "text": "-target-download", "description": "flash target", "ignoreFailures": false }
]
}
}
]
}- Create a
maketask in.vscode/tasks.jsonfile:
{
// See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
// for the documentation about the tasks.json format
"version": "2.0.0",
"tasks": [
{
"label": "make",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": {
"owner": "cpp",
"fileLocation": ["relative", "${workspaceRoot}"],
"pattern": {
"regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+):\\s+(warning|error):\\s+(.*)$",
"file": 1,
"line": 2,
"column": 3,
"severity": 4,
"message": 5
}
},
"args": [],
"linux": {
"command": "make"
},
"osx": {
"command": "make"
},
"windows": {
"command": "make.exe"
}
}
]
}Debugging your project
Connect the board to your PC, click Debug -> Start Debugging , and debugging starts. Click on the Debug Console tab to see the debug output:
Now you can explore the debugging capabilities for Variables, Breakpoints, and more.
Example Sources
The example project files are located in GitHub: https://github.com/makerdiary/nrf52840-mdk/tree/master/examples/nrf5-sdk/blinky
