User's Guide updates

Capture various bits of useful information that have come up on the
list but haven't yet gotten into the documentation:

 - Watchdog timers firing during JTAG debug need attention;

 - Some chips have special registers to help JTAG debug;

 - Cortex-M3 stepping example with IRQs and maskisr;

 - Clarifications re adaptive clocking:  not all ARMs do it, and
   explain it a bit better.

Signed-off-by: David Brownell <dbrownell@users.sourceforge.net>
This commit is contained in:
David Brownell 2010-01-13 23:33:53 -08:00
parent 73566405b6
commit b60dd35e33
1 changed files with 87 additions and 22 deletions

View File

@ -942,6 +942,33 @@ handling issues like:
@itemize @bullet
@item @b{Watchdog Timers}...
Watchog timers are typically used to automatically reset systems if
some application task doesn't periodically reset the timer. (The
assumption is that the system has locked up if the task can't run.)
When a JTAG debugger halts the system, that task won't be able to run
and reset the timer ... potentially causing resets in the middle of
your debug sessions.
It's rarely a good idea to disable such watchdogs, since their usage
needs to be debugged just like all other parts of your firmware.
That might however be your only option.
Look instead for chip-specific ways to stop the watchdog from counting
while the system is in a debug halt state. It may be simplest to set
that non-counting mode in your debugger startup scripts. You may however
need a different approach when, for example, a motor could be physically
damaged by firmware remaining inactive in a debug halt state. That might
involve a type of firmware mode where that "non-counting" mode is disabled
at the beginning then re-enabled at the end; a watchdog reset might fire
and complicate the debug session, but hardware (or people) would be
protected.@footnote{Note that many systems support a "monitor mode" debug
that is a somewhat cleaner way to address such issues. You can think of
it as only halting part of the system, maybe just one task,
instead of the whole thing.
At this writing, January 2010, OpenOCD based debugging does not support
monitor mode debug, only "halt mode" debug.}
@item @b{ARM Semihosting}...
@cindex ARM semihosting
When linked with a special runtime library provided with many
@ -964,7 +991,12 @@ via the @code{WFI} instruction (or its coprocessor equivalent, before ARMv7).
You may want to @emph{disable that instruction} in source code,
or otherwise prevent using that state,
to ensure you can get JTAG access at any time.
to ensure you can get JTAG access at any time.@footnote{As a more
polite alternative, some processors have special debug-oriented
registers which can be used to change various features including
how the low power states are clocked while debugging.
The STM32 DBGMCU_CR register is an example; at the cost of extra
power consumption, JTAG can be used during low power states.}
For example, the OpenOCD @command{halt} command may not
work for an idle processor otherwise.
@ -6699,8 +6731,10 @@ to debug remote targets.
Setting up GDB to work with OpenOCD can involve several components:
@itemize
@item OpenOCD itself may need to be configured. @xref{GDB Configuration}.
@item GDB itself may need configuration, as shown in this chapter.
@item The OpenOCD server support for GDB may need to be configured.
@xref{GDB Configuration}.
@item GDB's support for OpenOCD may need configuration,
as shown in this chapter.
@item If you have a GUI environment like Eclipse,
that also will probably need to be configured.
@end itemize
@ -6803,6 +6837,24 @@ With that particular hardware (Cortex-M3) the hardware breakpoints
only work for code running from flash memory. Most other ARM systems
do not have such restrictions.
Another example of useful GDB configuration came from a user who
found that single stepping his Cortex-M3 didn't work well with IRQs
and an RTOS until he told GDB to disable the IRQs while stepping:
@example
define hook-step
mon cortex_m3 maskisr on
end
define hookpost-step
mon cortex_m3 maskisr off
end
@end example
Rather than typing such commands interactively, you may prefer to
save them in a file and have GDB execute them as it starts, perhaps
using a @file{.gdbinit} in your project directory or starting GDB
using @command{gdb -x filename}.
@section Programming using GDB
@cindex Programming using GDB
@ -6947,36 +6999,48 @@ is jim, not real tcl).
In digital circuit design it is often refered to as ``clock
synchronisation'' the JTAG interface uses one clock (TCK or TCLK)
operating at some speed, your target is operating at another. The two
clocks are not synchronised, they are ``asynchronous''
operating at some speed, your CPU target is operating at another.
The two clocks are not synchronised, they are ``asynchronous''
In order for the two to work together they must be synchronised. Otherwise
the two systems will get out of sync with each other and nothing will
work. There are 2 basic options:
In order for the two to work together they must be synchronised
well enough to work; JTAG can't go ten times faster than the CPU,
for example. There are 2 basic options:
@enumerate
@item
Use a special circuit.
Use a special "adaptive clocking" circuit to change the JTAG
clock rate to match what the CPU currently supports.
@item
One clock must be some multiple slower than the other.
The JTAG clock must be fixed at some speed that's enough slower than
the CPU clock that all TMS and TDI transitions can be detected.
@end enumerate
@b{Does this really matter?} For some chips and some situations, this
is a non-issue (i.e.: A 500MHz ARM926) but for others - for example some
Atmel SAM7 and SAM9 chips start operation from reset at 32kHz -
program/enable the oscillators and eventually the main clock. It is in
those critical times you must slow the JTAG clock to sometimes 1 to
4kHz.
is a non-issue, like a 500MHz ARM926 with a 5 MHz JTAG link;
the CPU has no difficulty keeping up with JTAG.
Startup sequences are often problematic though, as are other
situations where the CPU clock rate changes (perhaps to save
power).
Imagine debugging a 500MHz ARM926 hand held battery powered device
that ``deep sleeps'' at 32kHz between every keystroke. It can be
painful.
For example, Atmel AT91SAM chips start operation from reset with
a 32kHz system clock. Boot firmware may activate the main oscillator
and PLL before switching to a faster clock (perhaps that 500 MHz
ARM926 scenario).
If you're using JTAG to debug that startup sequence, you must slow
the JTAG clock to sometimes 1 to 4kHz. After startup completes,
JTAG can use a faster clock.
Consider also debugging a 500MHz ARM926 hand held battery powered
device that enters a low power ``deep sleep'' mode, at 32kHz CPU
clock, between keystrokes unless it has work to do. When would
that 5 MHz JTAG clock be usable?
@b{Solution #1 - A special circuit}
In order to make use of this, your JTAG dongle must support the RTCK
In order to make use of this,
both your CPU and your JTAG dongle must support the RTCK
feature. Not all dongles support this - keep reading!
The RTCK signal often found in some ARM chips is used to help with
The RTCK ("Return TCK") signal in some ARM chips is used to help with
this problem. ARM has a good description of the problem described at
this link: @url{http://www.arm.com/support/faqdev/4170.html} [checked
28/nov/2008]. Link title: ``How does the JTAG synchronisation logic
@ -7013,8 +7077,9 @@ ARM11 cores use an 8:1 division.
Note: Many FTDI2232C based JTAG dongles are limited to 6MHz.
You can still debug the 'low power' situations - you just need to
manually adjust the clock speed at every step. While painful and
tedious, it is not always practical.
either use a fixed and very slow JTAG clock rate ... or else
manually adjust the clock speed at every step. (Adjusting is painful
and tedious, and is not always practical.)
It is however easy to ``code your way around it'' - i.e.: Cheat a little,
have a special debug mode in your application that does a ``high power