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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PIC debugger
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vk4tec Senior Member  Joined: 24/03/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 239 |
Hello Thank you for your help with the PicKit3 - I can now program and make my LED flash PIC debugger - what is it and what can it do for me ? - Andrew - Andrew Rich VK4TEC www.tech-software.net |
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Bryan1 Guru  Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1344 |
Hi Andrew, A quick FRUUUUUUUgle found this and this and this. Ok it aint for pic32's but you ask about debuggers.... |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
Personally, I wouldn't worry about debuggers until you are fully proficient with PIC programming (unless you already are). Keep to small blocks of code that are easily visually debuggable. What I used to do with my home grown assembler/programmer was to hook up a led display to the i2c pins and have a small routine that always worked and move it around the programme to ascertain where the programme was up to and display data accordingly. Alternatively, something similar with a bank or one or two leds to indicate where in the programme you are. I'm sure the help section in MPLAB will have a section on debuggers - have you looked there? David M. |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3802 |
The better ones let you debug at the level you wrote the code (so, C if you wrote in C) and also let you drop down levels (to ASM with C) if you wish. They let you single step or breakpoint at any function or line number. You can examine program variables by name, including things on the stack. You can peek/poke memory (or I/O). You can watch where your program is in the actual source code. You can intercept interrupts (but may upset the target device). They'll disassemble if you wish. And so on. However, good though they can be they're arguably no substitute for writing code carefully in the first place so that it will work and thus need no (or almost no) debugging. It depends how you like to go about writing code. Many CPUs have JTAG and can allow software via a hardware debugger to get right at the internals of the CPU. An example is OpenOCD. It can also read/write flash or EEPROM etc if set up right. Some people like to use it with Eclipse & gdb. John |
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| vk4tec Senior Member Joined: 24/03/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 239 |
Sorry I think my question was off the mark. I am fluent with the 16F628A and 16F877 I have done bit/byte operations, LCD, GPS, A/D D/A Comparator. Maths, Interrupts. USART etc etc I got back into PIC's to try and understand a bit more. I made things like GPS trackers and GPS LCD displays. I was more after a high level decsription. I am familiar with break points. Does the debugger get any info from the PIC ? of is more like a fancy "step through" I have only done "dump the code and run" before. - Andrew - Andrew Rich VK4TEC www.tech-software.net |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
The pickit 3 has jtag facilities which allows data to be read back from the pic to the pc via the jtag device. I've never had to use it although once or twice it could have come in handy. You can also debug your programme using a simulator where the code is run outside of the pic. It looks from your history and abilities that pretty expert at using pics already. I'm not sure what more you are seeking. David M. |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3802 |
With a proper debugger of the types mentioned you can get anything at all. You can change anything, too (subject to it being connected in the hardware!). E.g. in OpenOCD you can set up external chips (flash or whatever) and program them, as well as accessing the CPU(s). John |
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