Questions about west flash and west debug on NXP RT1060 platforms

[ofirshe]

Hi,

I managed to successfully run west flash using the JLink probe, but when I run west debug, I get the following error message: "monitor" command not supported by this target.

Here is the full console output:

C:\Users\ofirs\bsp>west debug  
-- west debug: rebuilding  
ninja: no work to do.  
-- west debug: using runner jlink  
-- runners.jlink: reset after flashing requested  
-- runners.jlink: JLink version: 7.96d  
-- runners.jlink: J-Link GDB server running on port 2331; no thread info available  
GNU gdb (Zephyr SDK 0.16.8) 12.1  
Copyright (C) 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>  
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.  
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.  
This GDB was configured as "--host=x86_64-host_w64-mingw32 --target=arm-zephyr-eabi".  
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.  
For bug reporting instructions, please see:  
<https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/sdk-ng/issues>.  
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:  
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.  

For help, type "help".  
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...  
Reading symbols from C:\Users\ofirs\bsp\build\zephyr\zephyr.elf...  
Remote debugging using :2331  
0x2000007c in nxp_enet_0_tx_buffer ()  
Resetting target  
Loading section rom_start, size 0x22c0 lma 0x60000000  
Loading section .itcm_text_reloc, size 0x1b7f0 lma 0x600022c0  
Loading section text, size 0x6400 lma 0x6001dab0  
Loading section .ARM.exidx, size 0x8 lma 0x60023eb0  
Loading section initlevel, size 0x150 lma 0x60023eb8  
Loading section device_area, size 0x1cc lma 0x60024008  
Loading section sw_isr_table, size 0x500 lma 0x600241d4  
Loading section net_socket_register_area, size 0x10 lma 0x600246d4  
Loading section log_const_area, size 0x200 lma 0x600246e4  
Loading section log_backend_area, size 0x10 lma 0x600248e4  
Loading section rodata, size 0x681c lma 0x600248f8  
--Type <RET> for more, q to quit, c to continue without paging--  
Loading section .ramfunc, size 0x40 lma 0x6002b114  
Remote communication error.  Target disconnected.: Not a directory.  
"monitor" command not supported by this target.  

Has anyone encountered this issue before on these platforms and managed to resolve it?

Another question: Is it possible to run these commands on these boards using the USB connector instead of the JLink probe?

Best Regards.

[DerekSnell]

Hi @ofirshe ,
Can you provide the steps to replicate this using one of the Zephyr samples, and preferrably on one of the RT1060 EVK boards so others can replicate?

Is it possible to run these commands on these boards using the USB connector instead of the JLink probe?

A debug probe is required to debug. The NXP development boards like MIMXRT1060-EVK have a debug probe on the board, connected through USB. Most custom boards do not include a debug probe, and then an external debug probe like JLink must be connected by the SWD interface to the target MCU to debug. If using an on-board debug probe on a development board, you can update the firmware to act as a JLink or CMSIS-DAP probe.

It was not clear to me what you meant by debugging through the USB connector, but hopefully this clarifies for you.

[ofirshe]

Hi @DerekSnell,

To clarify, I performed the experiment specifically on the RT1060-EVK board. I compiled my application as usual and attempted to run west debug, as described in my initial post. For this test, I used a Segger J-Link probe connected to the SWD interface (J21) header. I want to highlight that using the Eclipse IDE with the GDB Segger J-Link Debugging configuration, I was able to successfully flash and debug my application.

However, when running west debug from the command line, the process fails with the error message: "monitor" command not supported by this target. as you can observe above.

Regarding the second point, I'll clarify my question: Is it possible to debug the RT1060 microcontroller using the USB1 connector (J9, marked in red) without requiring the Segger J-Link probe connected to the SWD header (J21)? I'm asking because we are considering removing the SWD header on one of our custom boards to save space, and I’m curious whether it will still be possible to facilitate debugging of the microcontroller through other interfaces, such as the USB1 connector, which we will be retaining on the board.

Best regards,
Ofir.

[DerekSnell]

Hi @ofirshe ,
For the GDB error, do you see the same error debugging one of the Zephyr samples on the same board? Using a Zephyr sample available to all and providing all the details required for someone else to replicate can help others investigate. That includes the Zephyr revision, the Zephyr SDK release, and in this case the JLink release. And then if the sample debugs without the same error, you can compare the two applications to understand what is different.

For the debug probe, no. As I shared earlier, using a debugger requires a debug probe (like JLink) connected to the SWD interface. If you remove the SWD header from your board, then it is recommended to still have a hardware option to connect a debug probe to the SWD signals.

Best regards

[ofirshe]

Thank you, @DerekSnell. Since debugging, as you mentioned, requires a debug probe, and I successfully debug my application using J-Link and Eclipse, the initial question about using west debug is no longer relevant. Therefore, I’m closing this thread.

Thanks again for the help!