A Step-by-Step Guide to Debugging ARM Programs Using VSCode, gdb, and gdbserver

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In embedded software development, the most commonly used debugging methods are: log printing debugging and online debugging. Related articles on log printing debugging: Can’t solve the bug? Use the logging method.

When developing STM32, we have an IDE available, which already integrates a debugger, making it very convenient to use with a simulator. However, in Linux application development, gdb is often used directly from the command line for debugging, or we can use VSCode + gdb for debugging.

Related articles on gdb debugging: GDB Debugger is Actually That Simple

So how do we debug ARM programs on the development board in embedded Linux?

We can use <span>VSCode + gdb + gdbserver</span> to debug ARM programs on our ARM development board. Below is a brief introduction to the usage method, provided that the development board and PC can communicate wirelessly/wired. Related articles: A Summary Review of WiFi Driver Porting

1. Prepare ARM format gdb and gdbserver tools

These are generally included in the cross-compilation toolchain; if not, you need to download the gdb source code for cross-compilation. GDB source code download link:

http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/download/

Articles related to cross-compilation:

Essentials | Using protobuf-c on Embedded Platforms

Practical | A Simple Use Case of a High-Performance Communication Library

Here, I am using gdb and gdbserver from the cross-compilation toolchain, such as:

2. Create and modify the launch.json file

We need to create a vscode launch.json file and make some modifications:

Among them, we need to modify “program”, which is the program we need to debug, i.e., the program we have cross-compiled. We also need to add the following two key-value pairs:

"miDebuggerPath":"/opt/rv1126/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-gdb"
"miDebuggerServerAddress":"192.168.3.12:9001"

Here, miDebuggerPath indicates the path of the ARM format gdb; miDebuggerServerAddress indicates the address of our server side, e.g., 192.168.3.12 is the IP of the development board, and 9001 is the port number, which can be set freely within the range of 0~65536. Ports in the range of 0~1023 are generally assigned by the system to specific service programs.

3. Transfer gdbserver to the development board

We need to transfer the gdbserver from the path of the cross-compiler to the development board, for example, I placed it in the /usr/bin path of the development board:

4. Start gdbserver

We first need to start gdbserver on the development board so that the PC can connect for debugging. The format is:

gdbserver  development_board_ip:port_number  program_to_debug

For example:

5. Start gdb in vscode for debugging

Finally, start gdb in vscode to begin debugging. For example:

This concludes our sharing for today.

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