Openocd don't work when changing freertos tickrate (OCD-1193)

[dhugoexe]

Hi everyone,
OpenOCD can't find breakpoints when changing configTICK_RATE_HZ to 1000 (instead of 100). I suspect there's an argument to pass in the openocd command but I can't find it.

Is there exact documentation for ESP-specific arguments for OpenOCD (e.g., esp appimage_offset 0x20000)?

More about my environnement

• ESP32-P4 DevKit
• FreeRTOS at 1000Hz for running LVGL correctly
• ESP-IDF V5.4.1

Thanks

[erhankur]

@dhugoexe Could you share OpenOCD verbose logs. You can run openocd with -d3 -l log.txt

[dhugoexe]

Here is the following logs when I run OpenOCD. When I launch debug session, the debugger stop at app_main(), as excepted, but when I run on step by step or running until breakpoints, nothing happen or can't stop debbug.

Verbose logs until I drop connection

[...]
Debug: 24641 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x000000000000005a, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24642 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x0000005a
Debug: 24643 91345 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $0000#c0
Debug: 24644 91345 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: m5c,2
Debug: 24645 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x000000000000005c, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24646 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x0000005c
Debug: 24647 91345 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $0000#c0
Debug: 24648 91345 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: m5e,2
Debug: 24649 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x000000000000005e, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24650 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x0000005e
Debug: 24651 91345 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $0000#c0
Debug: 24652 91345 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: m60,2
Debug: 24653 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x0000000000000060, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24654 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x00000060
Debug: 24655 91345 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $0000#c0
Debug: 24656 91345 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: m62,2
Debug: 24657 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x0000000000000062, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24658 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x00000062
Debug: 24659 91345 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $0000#c0
Debug: 24660 91345 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: m4fc00e0c,2
Debug: 24661 91345 gdb_server.c:1540 gdb_read_memory_packet(): addr: 0x000000004fc00e0c, len: 0x00000002
Debug: 24662 91345 target.c:2420 target_read_buffer(): reading buffer of 2 byte at 0x4fc00e0c
Debug: 24663 91345 esp_riscv.c:886 esp_riscv_read_memory(): Use 32-bit access: size: 2	count:1	start address: 0x4fc00e0c
Debug: 24664 91346 riscv-013.c:3432 log_mem_access_result(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Succeeded to read memory via system bus.
Debug: 24665 91346 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $19c5#02
Debug: 24666 100408 gdb_server.c:383 gdb_log_incoming_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} received packet: D
Debug: 24667 100408 gdb_server.c:401 gdb_log_outgoing_packet(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} sending packet: $OK#9a
Debug: 24668 100409 gdb_server.c:238 gdb_get_char_inner(): GDB connection closed by the remote client
Debug: 24669 100409 gdb_server.c:1108 gdb_connection_closed(): [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] {1} GDB Close, state: halted, gdb_actual_connections=0
Debug: 24670 100409 target.c:1785 target_call_event_callbacks(): target event 8 (gdb-end) for core esp32p4.hp.cpu0
Debug: 24671 100409 target.c:1785 target_call_event_callbacks(): target event 23 (gdb-detach) for core esp32p4.hp.cpu0
Info : 24672 100409 server.c:576 server_loop(): dropped 'gdb' connection

Non verbose logs (running openocd -f board/esp32p4-builtin.cfg -c "init; halt; esp appimage_offset 0x20000")

Info : Listening on port 6666 for tcl connections
Info : Listening on port 4444 for telnet connections
Info : accepting 'gdb' connection on tcp/3333
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FC05198, debug_reason=00000001
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Halt cause (5) - (PMP Load access fault)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FC027EE, debug_reason=00000008
WARNING: Memory protection support is not implemented yet!
Warn : No symbols for FreeRTOS!
Info : New GDB Connection: 1, Target esp32p4.hp.cpu0, state: halted
Info : Detected FreeRTOS version: (10.5.1)
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap0 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap1 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Reset cause (24) - (JTAG CPU reset)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FC00B10, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FC027EE, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Reset cause (24) - (JTAG CPU reset)
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via system bus.
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via program buffer.
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via abstract access.
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x40021280)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x400212b8)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x4004a680)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x4004a698)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Found 3 triggers
Info : Detected FreeRTOS version: (10.5.1)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Disabling abstract command reads from FPRs.
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Disabling abstract command reads from FPRs.
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Unexpected error during fence execution
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x30974574)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Warn : Error reading FreeRTOS thread 0x30974541 name!
Error: Error: null stack pointer in thread
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Unexpected error during fence execution
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0xddbad00c)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Warn : Error reading thread list item object in FreeRTOS thread list!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x400212B8, debug_reason=00000001
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FF0504E, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Hart unexpectedly reset!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Hart unexpectedly reset!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Reset cause (7) - (HP WDT resets system)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Reset cause (7) - (HP WDT resets system)
Error: unable to halt core
Error:   dmcontrol=0x00000001
Error:   dmstatus =0x00430ca2
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] could not remove breakpoint #61411024 on this target
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] failed to remove breakpoint at address 0x400212b8
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FC05186, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Halt cause (5) - (PMP Load access fault)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FF0504E, debug_reason=00000000
Info : Detected FreeRTOS version: (10.5.1)

[sobuch]

Hi @dhugoexe , based on the WARNING: Memory protection support is not implemented yet! message, this is an older version (memory protection support was added last year), multiple other fixes were certainly added since.

Could you please try with latest version?

[erhankur]

@dhugoexe any update on your side?

[dhugoexe]

Sorry for waiting.
So I've tried with the latest release and I observe two things:

• Can't run debug when I have the debug flags -d3 -l log.txt
• If I use appimage_offset (needed in my case, it can't find flash maps)

Command used

 .\bin\openocd.exe -s .\share\openocd\scripts -f board/esp32p4-builtin.cfg -c "init; halt; esp appimage_offset 0x20000"

Result

Open On-Chip Debugger v0.12.0-esp32-20250422 (2025-04-22-13:02)
Licensed under GNU GPL v2
For bug reports, read
        http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html
Info : only one transport option; autoselecting 'jtag'
Info : esp_usb_jtag: VID set to 0x303a and PID to 0x1001
Info : esp_usb_jtag: capabilities descriptor set to 0x2000
Info : esp_usb_jtag: serial (60:55:F9:F9:89:13)
Info : esp_usb_jtag: Device found. Base speed 24000KHz, div range 1 to 255
Info : clock speed 24000 kHz
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap0 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap1 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] datacount=1 progbufsize=2
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Core 0 made part of halt group 1.
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Examined RISC-V core; found 2 harts
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]  XLEN=32, misa=0x40901125
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Examination succeed
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] datacount=1 progbufsize=2
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Core 1 made part of halt group 1.
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Examined RISC-V core; found 2 harts
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1]  XLEN=32, misa=0x40901125
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Examination succeed
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] starting gdb server on 3333
Info : Listening on port 3333 for gdb connections
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FF0504E, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FF0BD28, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Found 3 triggers
Warn : Failed to get flash maps (-9)!
Warn : Failed to read flash size!
Warn : Failed to get flash mappings (-4)!
Info : Using flash bank 'esp32p4.hp.cpu0.irom' size 0 KB
Warn : Failed to get flash maps (-9)!
Warn : Failed to read flash size!
Warn : Failed to get flash mappings (-4)!
Info : Using flash bank 'esp32p4.hp.cpu0.drom' size 0 KB
Warn : Failed to get flash maps (-9)!
Warn : Failed to read flash size!
Warn : Failed to get flash mappings (-4)!
Error: Failed to probe flash, size 0 KB
.\share\openocd\scripts/target/esp_common.cfg:9: Error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File ".\share\openocd\scripts/target/esp_common.cfg", line 9, in script

Current partition table

# Name,   Type, SubType,  Offset,  Size, Flags
# Note: if you have increased the bootloader size, make sure to update the offsets to avoid overlap
nvs,      data, nvs,      0x11000, 0x6000,
phy_init, data, phy,      0x18000, 0x1000,
factory,  app,  factory,  0x20000, 4M,
flash,    data, littlefs, ,        0xF0000, 

[erhankur]

@dhugoexe Could you enable the stub flasher logs and send us the output?

-c 'init; reset halt; esp stub_log on; esp appimage_offset 0x20000'   

And any chance to test with the master branch? You can directly install the built for windows. https://github.com/espressif/openocd-esp32/actions/runs/15714728498/artifacts/3347945283

[dhugoexe]

With the main branch, got the following error:

Info : Using flash bank 'esp32p4.hp.cpu1.flash' size 16384 KB
Info : Listening on port 6666 for tcl connections
Info : Listening on port 4444 for telnet connections
Info : accepting 'gdb' connection on tcp/3333
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FC00B10, debug_reason=00000001
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FC027EE, debug_reason=00000000
Warn : No symbols for FreeRTOS!
Info : New GDB Connection: 1, Target esp32p4.hp.cpu0, state: halted
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Disabling abstract command reads from FPRs.
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Disabling abstract command reads from FPRs.
Memory Map (10 regions):
----------------------------------------
Type    Start Addr    Length    BlockSize
----------------------------------------
FLASH   0x00000000  0x01000000  0x00001000
R/W     0x01000000  0x3f000000  0x00000000
FLASH   0x40000000  0x0015f000  0x00001000
R/W     0x4015f000  0x00001000  0x00000000
FLASH   0x40160000  0x00112000  0x00001000
R/W     0x40272000  0x0f98e000  0x00000000
ROM     0x4fc00000  0x00020000  0x00000000
R/W     0x4fc20000  0x004e0000  0x00000000
ROM     0x50100000  0x00004000  0x00000000
R/W     0x50104000  0xafefc000  0x00000000
----------------------------------------
Info : Detected FreeRTOS version: (10.5.1)
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via system bus.
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via program buffer.
Warn : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory via abstract access.
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0xde408118)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Warn : Error reading FreeRTOS thread 0xde4080e7 name!
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Failed to read memory (addr=0x850a8434)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0]   progbuf=failed, sysbus=failed, abstract=failed
Warn : Error reading thread list item object in FreeRTOS thread list!
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap0 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : JTAG tap: esp32p4.tap1 tap/device found: 0x00012c25 (mfg: 0x612 (Espressif Systems), part: 0x0012, ver: 0x0)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Reset cause (24) - (JTAG CPU reset)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Target halted, PC=0x4FC00B10, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FC027EE, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Reset cause (24) - (JTAG CPU reset)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Found 3 triggers
Info : Detected FreeRTOS version: (10.5.1)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Unexpected read of fp via program buffer.
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Unexpected read of fp via program buffer.
Error: Failed to read mcause register. Unknown exception reason!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Target halted, PC=0x4FF050F8, debug_reason=00000000
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Hart unexpectedly reset!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Hart unexpectedly reset!
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] Reset cause (7) - (HP WDT resets system)
Info : [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] Reset cause (7) - (HP WDT resets system)
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] could not remove breakpoint #59168800 on this target
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] failed to remove breakpoint at address 0x4001e00a
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] could not remove breakpoint #59166104 on this target
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] failed to remove breakpoint at address 0x4001e00a
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] could not remove breakpoint #59163408 on this target
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu0] failed to remove breakpoint at address 0x4005d732
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] could not remove breakpoint #59168800 on this target
Error: [esp32p4.hp.cpu1] failed to remove breakpoint at address 0x4005d732

So VSCode starts a debug session, but nothing happens on the ESP32P4 - it starts normally without being halted. Unfortunately, I have only this board and can't try with other MCU. I can recreate the bug every time I set FREERTOS_HZ=1000 on esp32p4 devkit.