Debugging problems in vscode for esp32c6 (devkit) (IDFGH-12122) (VSC-1297)

[vandy]

Answers checklist.

• I have read the documentation ESP-IDF Programming Guide and the issue is not addressed there.
• I have updated my IDF branch (master or release) to the latest version and checked that the issue is present there.
• I have searched the issue tracker for a similar issue and not found a similar issue.

General issue report

I've installed vscode (Windows 10), cloned esp-idf repository (v5.1.2), installed tools to %userProfile% with install.bat, installed extension for vscode, set everything up. I can build, flash and monitor my firmware.
Wanted to setup debugging via usb-jtag and faced some problems.

1. I've used the default approach with esp-idf debug adapter (https://github.com/espressif/vscode-esp-idf-extension/blob/master/docs/DEBUGGING.md#use-the-esp-idf-debug-adapter). When I run the Launch (in debug tab), the program stops at app_main (which is expected). I can use Step over (or other steps) to proceed. But I can't use Continue (F5) to break at the next breakpoint (to jump from line 9 to line 15 at once). There are errors in the console:

2024-02-14 09:54:26,872 - Debug Adapter (main) - ERROR - can't create new thread at interpreter shutdown
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "%userProfile%\.vscode\extensions\espressif.esp-idf-extension-1.7.0\esp_debug_adapter\debug_adapter\command_processor.py", line 52, in __call__
    on_request(protocol_message)
  File "%userProfile%\.vscode\extensions\espressif.esp-idf-extension-1.7.0\esp_debug_adapter\debug_adapter\command_processor.py", line 208, in on_continue_request
    self.da.resume_exec()
  File "%userProfile%\.vscode\extensions\espressif.esp-idf-extension-1.7.0\esp_debug_adapter\debug_adapter\debug_adapter.py", line 932, in resume_exec
    self.start_target_poller(dbg.TARGET_STATE_STOPPED)
  File "%userProfile%\.vscode\extensions\espressif.esp-idf-extension-1.7.0\esp_debug_adapter\debug_adapter\debug_adapter.py", line 738, in start_target_poller
    self.target_poller.start()
  File "C:\Program Files\Python312\Lib\threading.py", line 992, in start
    _start_new_thread(self._bootstrap, ())
RuntimeError: can't create new thread at interpreter shutdown

But if I use command line approach (https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32c6/api-guides/jtag-debugging/debugging-examples.html#command-line), everything is fine. I can step or continue to jump to the next breakpoint.

Also, using "type": "cppdbg" in launch.json with specified gdb binary (from .espressif tools) works ok, I can use Continue to jump between breakpoints.

2. There is the second problem with command line approach. It's said that freertos objects could be debugged using freertos-gdb python package. The package is installed. But riscv-...-gdb (from .espressif tools) says that # Python scripting is not supported in this copy of GDB. I just cannot import the python package in gdb session.

show configuration
This GDB was configured as follows:
   configure --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32 --target=riscv32-esp-elf
             --with-auto-load-dir=$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load
             --with-auto-load-safe-path=$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load
             --with-expat
             --with-gdb-datadir=//share/gdb (relocatable)
             --with-jit-reader-dir=//lib/gdb (relocatable)
             --without-libunwind-ia64
             --without-lzma
             --without-babeltrace
             --without-intel-pt
             --without-mpfr
             --without-xxhash
             --without-python
             --without-python-libdir
             --without-debuginfod
             --without-guile
             --disable-source-highlight
             --with-separate-debug-dir=//lib/debug (relocatable)

Should I obtain riscv-...-gdb another way?

Example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
#include "freertos/task.h"

#include "esp_log.h"

static const char *TAG = "MYTAG";

void app_main(void) {
    uint16_t counter = 0;
    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "App main");
    // printf("app_main");
    while (1) {
        counter++;
        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Counter is %d", counter);
        vTaskDelay(2000 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
    }
}

[vandy]

The second problem was solved after update to esp-idf v5.2 and running install.bat again (to install new tools in another directory using %IDF_TOOLS_PATH% env variable). Configuration has changed:

show configuration
This GDB was configured as follows:
   configure --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32 --target=riscv32-esp-elf
             --with-auto-load-dir=$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load
             --with-auto-load-safe-path=$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load
             --with-expat
             --with-gdb-datadir=//share/gdb (relocatable)
             --with-jit-reader-dir=//lib/gdb (relocatable)
             --without-libunwind-ia64
             --without-lzma
             --without-babeltrace
             --without-intel-pt
             --without-mpfr
             --without-xxhash
             --without-python
             --with-python-libdir=/opt/python-x86_64-w64-mingw32-3.12.0/lib
             --without-debuginfod
             --without-guile
             --disable-source-highlight
             --with-separate-debug-dir=//lib/debug (relocatable)

But to use freertos command inside (gdb) session it's required to run idf.py gdb (instead of riscv...gdb -x gdbinit), or mess with env variables to add python virtual env with installed freertos_gdb package (didn't do that).

The first problem is still there. Is

 File "C:\Program Files\Python312\Lib\threading.py", line 992, in start
    _start_new_thread(self._bootstrap, ())

part weird? Shouldn't it use python from virtualenv (%userProfile%/.espressif directory)?

[radurentea]

Hi @vandy,

It does look strange, my first thought is that the VS Code extension is misconfigured.

Can you please run the "Doctor Command" from VS Code's Command Palette and paste the output from your clipboard here, so we can take a look at VS Code configuration?

[vandy]

Hi, @radurentea. It looks like it's ok. I played with forward and backward slashes in settings.json. But it doesn't play a role I think, it works in both ways for idf.customExtraPaths setting.

---------------------------------------------- ESP-IDF Extension for Visual Studio Code report ---------------------------------------------
OS win32 x64 10.0.19045 
System environment variable IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH 
 undefined 
System environment variable PATH 
 C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Python312\Scripts\;C:\Program Files\Python312\;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;C:<HOMEPATH>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:<HOMEPATH>\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin;C:<HOMEPATH>\.dotnet\tools;
System environment variable PYTHON 
 undefined 
Visual Studio Code version 1.86.2 
Visual Studio Code language en 
Visual Studio Code shell C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe 
ESP-IDF Extension version 1.7.0 
Workspace folder d:\dev\project\firmware 
---------------------------------------------------- Extension configuration settings ------------------------------------------------------
ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) ${env:ADF_PATH}
ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) D:\dev\github.com\esp-idf
ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) ${env:MDF_PATH}
ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) ${env:ESP_MATTER_PATH}
Custom extra paths (idf.customExtraPaths) C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ccache/4.8/ccache-4.8-windows-x86_64;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/cmake/3.24.0/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/dfu-util/0.11/dfu-util-0.11-win64;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp-rom-elfs/20230320;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/idf-exe/1.0.3;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ninja/1.11.1;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.12.0-esp32-20230921/openocd-esp32/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp32ulp-elf/2.35_20220830/esp32ulp-elf/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/riscv32-esp-elf/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/xtensa-esp-elf/bin;C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/bin
Custom extra vars (idf.customExtraVars)
    OPENOCD_SCRIPTS: C:<HOMEPATH>\.espressif\idf5.2\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20230921\openocd-esp32\share\openocd\scripts
    ESP_ROM_ELF_DIR: C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp-rom-elfs/20230320
Virtual env Python Path (idf.pythonBinPath) C:<HOMEPATH>\.espressif\idf5.2\python_env\idf5.2_py3.12_env\Scripts\python.exe
Serial port (idf.port) COM5
OpenOCD Configs (idf.openOcdConfigs) board/esp32c6-builtin.cfg
ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) C:<HOMEPATH>\.espressif\idf5.2
Git Path (idf.gitPath) C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe
Notification Mode (idf.notificationMode) All
-------------------------------------------------------- Configurations access -------------------------------------------------------------
Access to ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) false
Access to ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) true
Access to ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) false
Access to ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) false
Access to ESP-IDF Custom extra paths
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ccache/4.8/ccache-4.8-windows-x86_64: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/cmake/3.24.0/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/dfu-util/0.11/dfu-util-0.11-win64: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp-rom-elfs/20230320: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/idf-exe/1.0.3: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ninja/1.11.1: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.12.0-esp32-20230921/openocd-esp32/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp32ulp-elf/2.35_20220830/esp32ulp-elf/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/riscv32-esp-elf/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/xtensa-esp-elf/bin: true
Access to C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/bin: true
Access to Virtual env Python Path (idf.pythonBinPath) true
Access to CMake in environment PATH undefined
Access to Ninja in environment PATH undefined
Access to ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) true
-------------------------------------------------------- Configurations has spaces -------------------------------------------------------------
Spaces in system environment Path true
Spaces in ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Custom extra paths
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ccache/4.8/ccache-4.8-windows-x86_64: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/cmake/3.24.0/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/dfu-util/0.11/dfu-util-0.11-win64: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp-rom-elfs/20230320: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/idf-exe/1.0.3: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/ninja/1.11.1: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.12.0-esp32-20230921/openocd-esp32/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/esp32ulp-elf/2.35_20220830/esp32ulp-elf/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/riscv32-esp-elf/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/riscv32-esp-elf-gdb/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/xtensa-esp-elf/bin: false
Spaces in C:/Users/user/.espressif/idf5.2/tools/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/12.1_20231023/xtensa-esp-elf-gdb/bin: false
Spaces in Virtual env Python Path (idf.pythonBinPath) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) false
----------------------------------------------------------- Executables Versions -----------------------------------------------------------
Git version 2.43.0.windows.1
ESP-IDF version 5.2.0
Python version 3.12.1
Python's pip version 24.0
-------------------------------------------------- Project configuration settings ----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------- Python packages in idf.pythonBinPath ----------------------------------------------------
bitarray version: 2.9.2
bitstring version: 4.1.4
CacheControl version: 0.14.0
certifi version: 2024.2.2
cffi version: 1.16.0
charset-normalizer version: 3.3.2
click version: 8.1.7
colorama version: 0.4.6
construct version: 2.10.70
contextlib2 version: 21.6.0
cryptography version: 41.0.7
ecdsa version: 0.18.0
esp-coredump version: 1.10.0
esp-debug-backend version: 1.0.3
esp-idf-kconfig version: 1.4.2
esp-idf-monitor version: 1.4.0
esp-idf-panic-decoder version: 1.0.1
esp-idf-size version: 1.1.1
esptool version: 4.7.0
filelock version: 3.13.1
freertos-gdb version: 1.0.2
idf-component-manager version: 1.5.1
idna version: 3.6
intelhex version: 2.3.0
kconfiglib version: 14.1.0
markdown-it-py version: 3.0.0
mdurl version: 0.1.2
msgpack version: 1.0.7
packaging version: 23.2
pip version: 24.0
pyclang version: 0.4.2
pycparser version: 2.21
pyelftools version: 0.30
pygdbmi version: 0.11.0.0
Pygments version: 2.17.2
pyparsing version: 3.1.1
pyserial version: 3.5
pywin32 version: 306
PyYAML version: 6.0.1
reedsolo version: 1.7.0
requests version: 2.31.0
requests-file version: 1.5.1
requests-toolbelt version: 1.0.0
rich version: 13.7.0
schema version: 0.7.5
setuptools version: 69.1.0
six version: 1.16.0
tqdm version: 4.66.2
urllib3 version: 1.26.18
windows-curses version: 2.3.2
---------------------------------------------------- Check ESP-IDF python requirements.txt -------------------------------------------------
Check ESP-IDF Python packages Python requirements are satisfied.
---------------------------------------------------- Check ESP-IDF debug adapter requirements.txt ------------------------------------------
Check Debug AdapterPython packages Python requirements are satisfied.
---------------------------------------------------- Visual Studio Code launch.json --------------------------------------------------------
{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "espidf",
      "name": "Launch",
      "request": "launch",
      "logLevel": 4,
      "initGdbCommands": [
        "target extended-remote :3333",
        "set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit 2",
        "mon reset halt",
        "maintenance flush register-cache",
        "thb app_main",
        "c",
      ],
    },
    {
      "name": "Launch GDB ESP32",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/build",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/gwfirmware.elf",
      "miDebuggerPath": "${command:espIdf.getXtensaGdb}",
      "setupCommands": [
        { "text": "target extended-remote :3333" },
        { "text": "set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit 2"},
        { "text": "mon reset halt" },
        { "text": "maintenance flush register-cache" },
        { "text": "thb app_main" },
      ]
    }
  ]
} 
---------------------------------------------------- Visual Studio Code c_cpp_properties.json ----------------------------------------------
{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "ESP-IDF",
            "compilerPath": "${config:idf.toolsPathWin}/tools/riscv32-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20230928/riscv32-esp-elf/bin/riscv32-esp-elf-gcc.exe",
            "compileCommands": "${workspaceFolder}/build/compile_commands.json",
            "includePath": [
                "${config:idf.espIdfPath}/components/**",
                "${config:idf.espIdfPathWin}/components/**",
                "${config:idf.espAdfPath}/components/**",
                "${config:idf.espAdfPathWin}/components/**",
                "${workspaceFolder}/**"
            ],
            "browse": {
                "path": [
                    "${config:idf.espIdfPath}/components",
                    "${config:idf.espIdfPathWin}/components",
                    "${config:idf.espAdfPath}/components/**",
                    "${config:idf.espAdfPathWin}/components/**",
                    "${workspaceFolder}"
                ],
                "limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": false
            }
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[brianignacio5]

Could you share the debug.log file content or the ESP-IDF Output related to debug adapter to see what is the error ?

[vandy]

debug.log

I've used app_trace basic example from esp-idf with modified app_main:

void app_main(void) {
    ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Waiting for OpenOCD connection");

    // while (!esp_apptrace_host_is_connected(ESP_APPTRACE_DEST_JTAG)) {
    //     vTaskDelay(1);
    // }

    ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Sending example data to the host...");

    for (unsigned int cnt = 1; cnt < 51; ++cnt) {
        char buf[32] = {0};
        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "Apptrace test data[%d]:%d\n", cnt, cnt * cnt);
        esp_err_t res = esp_apptrace_write(ESP_APPTRACE_DEST_JTAG, buf, strlen(buf), ESP_APPTRACE_TMO_INFINITE);
        if (res != ESP_OK) {
            ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Failed to write data to host [0x%x] (%s)", res, esp_err_to_name(res));
        }
        esp_apptrace_flush(ESP_APPTRACE_DEST_JTAG, 1000);
        vTaskDelay(50 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
    }

    while (1) {
        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Loop");
        vTaskDelay(250 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
    }

    ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Done!");
}

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale since there are no activities, and this will be closed in 5 days if there are no further activities

[vandy]

Hi, @brianignacio5, I've shared the debug.log.

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale since there are no activities, and this will be closed in 5 days if there are no further activities

[brianignacio5]

We are working on migrating to a new debug adapter that is more stable that our current python one in this PR:

#1131

You are welcome to test it with the PR vsix installer if you like.

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale since there are no activities, and this will be closed in 5 days if there are no further activities