µVISION DEBUGGER: Restrictions Debugging on Target Hardware

Information in this article applies to:

• µVision All Versions

QUESTION

I'm using the µVision Debugger with a third-party hardware driver to debug my programs on my target system. Are there any restrictions that exist for this platform?

ANSWER

Yes. The µVision Simulator offers a lot of powerful features that are not available when debugging on target hardware. Some of these are available depending on the target system and the driver provided. For example, some emulator drivers have none of these restrictions while JTAG interfaces may have most of them.

The following features may not be available when debugging target hardware.

• Memory Map: The memory map is configured by your target hardware and the monitor software. It is impossible to use the memory map dialog to change the memory layout of the physical hardware.
• Trace Memory: Trace memory may not be available when debugging on target hardware.
• Call Stack: Your programs typically run at full speed on target hardware. There is no way to locate each call (required to create a call stack) without slowing your program execution speed.
• Performance Analyzer: Your programs typically run at full speed on target hardware. There is no way to capture and record each instruction executed without slowing your program execution speed.
• Code Coverage: Your programs typically run at full speed on target hardware. There is no way to capture and record each instruction executed without slowing your program execution speed.
• Step Out: If a Call Stack is not maintained it will be impossible to Step Out of a function.
• Periodic Window Update: The target hardware must send data to the PC to update window contents. For this reason, the periodic window update functionality only works if your target hardware does this.
• Breakpoints: Execution breakpoints are handled while your program runs at full speed. Memory access and conditional breakpoints, however, require comparison of multiple triggers which may not be supported by your target.
• Logic Analyzer: The target debugger must be able to capture signals. Most systems do not support this feature due to hardware restrictions. Using µVision with such a hardware, the Logic Analyzer will be not available.

Note that this is only a partial list of the limitations of target debugging.

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, January 6, 2021