On Chip Debugging with GALEP-5 and OpenOCD

The GALEP-5 device programmer series can be used as a hardware interface for OpenOCD. The OpenOCD project is a free software project for accessing microcontrollers (MCUs) via JTAG interface. This way software can be debugged on the original MCU and on the original board. Hardware and software breakpoints can be triggered, the program can be interrupted and executed in single step mode... without emulator and - except for GALEP - without any additional hardware. The JTAG interfaces can be used for -

GALEP-5 is especially well suited as an interface for OpenOCD due to its on-board ARM Linux system. The OpenOCD software runs natively on GALEP-5 and offers a gdb debugging interface via Ethernet or emulated USB port. This allows easy configuration and effective development.

GALEP-5 offers several other features that improve JTAG debugging. Its Ethernet interface ensures fast data transfer. Its front side button can be used for starting OpenOCD functions. The JTAG signals can be assigned to arbitrary pins of the programmer socket. This feature is only offered by the GALEP-5 series.

Content




Overview

The following part of the documentation is for developers who want to use OpenOCD for debugging their target system.

For using GALEP-5 as interface for OpenOCD debugging, you can just install a pre-compiled OpenOCD version. It's a snapshot of the OpenOCD project at the time of writing this documentation. OpenOCD is permanently improved, so it could make sense to patch and compile the latest OpenOCD version yourself. This is decribed in Part II of this document.

What you're getting from us

The OpenOCD archive on http://www.conitec.net/down/g5ocd.zip contains:

doc/g5ocd_e.htm
This document in html format.
g5ocd-bin-svn-xyzM.tar.bz2
The GALEP-5 OCD port, pre-compiled in a Linux archive.
g5ocd-bin-svn-xyzM.tar.zip
The GALEP-5 OCD port, pre-compiled in a Windows™ archive.
g5ocd-svn-xyzM.patch.bz2
GALEP patch for OpenOCD (for compiling OpenOCD yourself).
g5API-abcM.tar.bz2
The GALEP-5 API for developers.

The “xyz” resp. “abc” represent the version numbers.

What the GALEP-5 / OpenOCD port can do

This software package lets you combine a fast hardware interface (the GALEP-5 device programmer) with an Open Source software (OpenOCD) for debugging MCUs and programming many Flash device types. The GALEP-5 / OpenOCD combination offers the same convenience as high-priced JTAG debuggers. It has already proven itself by inhouse debugging ARM9TDMI and ARM9-EJIS cores (at the moment of writing this document the EJIS core support was not yet fully developed).

What the GALEP-5 / OpenOCD port can not do

Just like OpenOCD, the GALEP-5 port is an Open Source project with no warranty of functions and stability. We will continue developing the software further, but also give you all sources - the full GALEP-5 API - for improving and extending the software yourself.

JTAG Debugging with GALEP-5

A configuration file is required for configuring the JTAG debugger with your target system. This is a simple text file with configuration data for the OpenOCD program and the GALEP port. As mentioned, OpenOCD runs natively on the programmer. For this it has to be transferred first to GALEP together with the configuration file. It is transferred with a FTP client and started with a Telnet client.

The configuration file

The configuration file contains settings for the interface, the target system, and for OpenOCD. Example:

# Example that uses the galep5 hardware as ocd interface. 
# The socket is configured to interface the arm&eva hardware. 
# (See http://www.conitec.com/english/linuxboard.htm) 

# interface 
interface galep5 
interface_speed 0 
jtag_speed 100 
logic_level 1800 
socket_assign TargetDetect 24 
socket_assign GND          26 
socket_assign GND          27 
socket_assign GND          28 
socket_assign GND          29 
socket_assign GND          30 
socket_assign GND          31 
socket_assign GND          32 
socket_assign GND          33 
socket_assign GND          34 
socket_assign NTRST        23 
socket_assign TDI          22 
socket_assign TMS          21 
socket_assign TCK          20 
socket_assign TDO          18 
socket_assign NRESET       17 

# daemon configuration 
telnet_port 4444 
gdb_port 3333 

# use combined on interfaces or targets that can’t set TRST/SRST separately 
reset_config trst_and_srst 

# jtag scan chain 
#format L IRC IRCM IDCODE (Length, IR Capture, IR Capture Mask, IDCODE) 
jtag_device 4 0x1 0xf 0xe 

# target configuration 
daemon_startup reset 
# target <type> <endianess> <reset mode> 
target arm9tdmi little reset_run 0 arm920t 
working_area 0 0x200000 0x4000 backup 
run_and_halt_time 0 5000 

# flash bank <driver> <base> <size> <chip_width> <bus_width> [driver_options ...] 
flash bank cfi 0x10000000 0x800000 2 2 0

Interface Settings

The interface settings contain GALEP and socket specific data - see example above.

Interface type  
The settings begin with the interface  = galep5 statement that determines the use of the GALEP-5 / OpenOCD port. This port supports the whole GALEP-5 series (GALEP-5M, GALEP-5D and GALEP-5P).

Speed  
Next the number of delay cycles are given: interface_speed  = 0 and jtag_speed  = 100. The higher the value, the more wait cycles are inserted between JTAG activities (one wait cycle = 1 / 60MHz). As long as no problems with JTAG data transfer occur, no wait cycles are required.

Logic level  
The logic_level  = 1800 statement determines the logical high levels of the JTAG signals between 1200 and 4500 mV.  !!  Check the MCU data sheet for the required signal levels. Wrong values can destroy your target system!

Socket pins  
GALEP-5 allows for free assignment of JTAG signals to socket pins. Assignment start with the keywort socket_assign and expects a signal name and a pin number. The signal names and their meaning can be found in the following table:

Signal name Meaning Direction Parameter Remark
TargetDetect See below Target ► GALEP-5 1.2 - 25V
VCC1 See below GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2 - 25V a b
VCC2 See below GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2 - 25V a b
VCC3 See below GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2 - 25V a b
GND See below GALEP-5 ► Target 0V a
NRESET3v3 Target Reset Signal GALEP-5 ► Target 3.3V
NRESET Target Reset Signal GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2V - 4.5V c
NTRST JTAG Reset GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2V - 4.5V c
TDI GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2V - 4.5V c
TMS GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2V - 4.5V c
TCK GALEP-5 ► Target 1.2V - 4.5V c
TDO Target ► GALEP-5 1.2V - 4.5V c

a Can be assigned to several pins.
b Value depends on vcc_level  VCCx  = mV.
c Parameter (range) depends on logic_level  = mV.

The JTAG relevant signals must be only specified once. GND and VCC however can be specified several times for different pins. The following image displayes the socket pins of the example:

PIC

Fig: Socket pin assignment of the example config file.

Additional Voltages

GALEP-5 can generate three different voltages - VCC1..VCC3 - on any pin of the socket. All voltages can be adjusted in the 1.2V - 25V range.  !!  The current per voltage must not exceed 250mA, and the power must not exceed 1.2W! When using the GALEP-5 pocket programmer, please connect the external power adapter when using the adjustable voltages.

In the config file you can set up the voltages this way:

# interface 

# ... 

vcc_level VCC1 3300 
vcc_level VCC2 4500 
vcc_level VCC3 5000 

socket_assign VCC1        1 
socket_assign VCC2        2 
socket_assign VCC3        3 

# ... 

In this configuration, socket pin 1 is set to 3.3V, pin 2 is set to 4,5V and pin 3 is set to 5V. The voltages are switched on immediately after start of the program, and are switched off at terminating OpenOCD.

Target detection

TheTargetDetect signal is an input line that can be pulled to logical high by the target system (f.i. the supply voltage of the target system). If the signal is assigned to a socket pin (f.i. through socket_assign  TargetDetect  = 24), the software checks at startup whether the target system delivers a logical high on that pin, and otherwise aborts with an error message. If the signal is not given in the config file, the test is skipped.

Button functions (GALEP-5D only)

GALEP-5D has a button on the front panel. This button can be used to trigger up to three functions with OpenOCD. A function is an OpenOCD script that can contains the same commands that are also available on the Telnet console.

The functions are triggered by pressing the the button for a certain time. The LED below the button indicates the function. By releasing the button the function is started.

Button hit
LED
Button release
short
Doesn't blink
Function 1
long
Blinks twice
Function 2
very long
Blinks 3x
Function 3

The functions are determined through button_assign statements. Example:

# interface 
# ... 
button_assign 1        btShort.script
button_assign 3        btLong.script
# ...

The scripts btLong.script und btShort.script are files containing commands. The console from which OpenOCD was started, and the first Telnet connection (if any) to OpenOCD is used for the command output.

OpenOCD Settings

All further statements in the config file are OpenOCD settings. Please refer to the OpenOCD documentation for details.

Getting Started

As mentioned, OpenOCD runs on the programmer and thus has to be transferred before, together with the config file. For this you can use any FTP client. After the following steps you can start with debugging:

  1. Unpack the pre-compiled archive (g5ocd-bin-svn-xyz.tar.bz2) resp. the .zip version into any directory.
  2. Add your config file (see above).
  3. Transfer all data to GALEP-5.
  4. Log in on GALEP-5 with a Telnet client.
  5. Set the executable attribute for the program “openocd” and the script “ocd”. Only required when you're working under Windows™, because attributes such as 'executable' can't be stored in ZIP archives or sent with Windows™-based FTP clients.
  6. Start OpenOCD via Telnet.

Connect the target system with GALEP-5

You can either order a socket connection cable from Conitec (OCD-JTAG-Cable20, part no. 095540) or put it together yourself. The wiring corresponds to a standard ARM9 JTAG connector as used by other JTAG debuggers. Because the assignment between socket pins and JTAG signals can be freely configured, you can use any other cable as well.

Set up the connection

When GALEP-5 is started, but neither OpenOCD is running nor a connection to the PC Galep software is established, all pins of the socket have high resitance. In this state you can connect the unpowered target system with GALEP-5.  !!  The target system must not be connected to a power supply when connecting it with GALEP. Also, GALEP must not be connected with the Galep PC software!

After connecting, the target system can be switched on. If the GALEP socket is used as a power supply, the target is switched on by starting the OpenOCD Software. The following figure illustrates the connection between GALEP-5 and the ARM & EVA Linux board.

PIC

Fig: ARM&EVA connected through the OCD-JTAG-Cable20.

Start OpenOCD on GALEP

On GALEP-5 a Telnet server is running. Only the user “root” is valid. A password is not required.

PIC

Fig: Log in via Telnet.

After logging in, GALEP expects commands via Telnet. All programs that were transferred via FTP can be found in the GALEP directory "/home/ftp". In the image above the following commands were already entered:

cd /home/ftp
chmod 777 ocd openocd
./ocd g5_carmeva.cfg

The last command starts the OpenOCD software. It can be terminated with [Ctrl+C] and anytime started again. If the target system is found, a message like the following appears:

./ocd g5_carmeva.cfg
Open On-Chip Debugger 1.0 (2008-04-04-12:28) svn:538M
$URL: svn://svn.berlios.de/openocd/trunk/src/openocd.c $
Setting interface speed: No delay.
Assigning "TargetDetect"-> Socket pin 24
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 26
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 27
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 28
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 29
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 30
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 31
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 32
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 33
Assigning "GND"-> Socket pin 34
Assigning "NTRST"-> Socket pin 23
Assigning "TDI"-> Socket pin 22
Assigning "TMS"-> Socket pin 21
Assigning "TCK"-> Socket pin 20
Assigning "TDO"-> Socket pin 18
Assigning "NRESET"-> Socket pin 17
Assigning button function 1 -> exec "btShort.script"...
Assigning button function 3 -> exec "btLong.script"...
Info:    options.c:50 configuration_output_handler(): jtag_speed: 100, 100
Setting up socket...
Using 1.8V logic levels.
Target supply detected.
Info:    jtag.c:1346 jtag_examine_chain(): JTAG device found: 0x05b0203f (Manufacturer: 0x01f, Part: 0x5b02, Version: 0x0)

OpenOCD Interfaces  

The OpenOCD software opens two network ports:

Telnet port

This port is defined in the config file, in the example above through the statement telnet_port  = 4444. This port number must be given when connecting with a Telnet client. Via Telnet, debugging commands can be directly sent the the OpenOCD software, for instance:

The output by OpenOCD scripts assigned to the GALEP-5D button (see above) are also sent to the Telnet port. For detailed information please refer to the OpenOCD documentation.

gdb port

This port is also defined in the config file, for instance through gdb_port  = 3333. The gdb (Gnu Debugger) port is used by the gdb software for source level debugging.

Debugging with gdb

The debugger (“gdb”) runs on the target system. It has to be compiled for the target processor and is normally part of the tool chain for a certain target system. When debugging an ARM based target you'll need a gdb comüiled with ARM support. The gdb source code is freely available, thus anyone can compile the debugger for any target. It runs on many platforms and can also be downloaded as a pre-compiled executable.

There are many frontend for easier debugging. Some scenarios are described below.

The shell frontend

The gdb shell frontend is text based and looks puristic at a first glance. Nevertheless it's often the most practical way of debugging. The graphical frontends sometimes fail, especially with JTAG debugging.

Take your time to make yourself familiar with the debugger! It is a very powerful and well-working tool.

Preparations

Start your target system. Depending on what you're debugging, several steps might be required. Examples:

  1. You're using USB for transferring the software to debug.
    1. Reset the target system, transfer the software and start your program.
    2. Start the OpenOCD software on GALEP-5. 
    3. The target system is immediately stopped at OpenOCD start (dependent on the reset_halt parameter of the target config statement - see. OpenOCD documentation) and now you can connect to gdb.
  2. Your software starts automatically (f.i. out of a flash memory).
    1. Start the OpenOCD software on GALEP-5. 
    2. You can now connect to gdb.
Under some circumstances it makes sense to additionally open a Telnet connection to OpenOCD (see above).

Establishing the connection

(gdb) target remote 192.168.1.13:3333 

After the connection is established, gdb commands such as “continue”, “ss”, “ni” or “break” can be sent for controlling the program. Please have a look at the really good gdb command reference on http://www.cs.dal.ca/studentservices/refcards/gdbref.pdf.

More frontends for gdb

You have the choice between several frontends for gdb:

All those development systems support the gdb debugger. A detailed description would be outside the scope of this document, but can be found on the Internet.

Developing with OpenOCD and the GALEP API  

Conitec has published all libraries required for controlling GALEP-5 under the GPL. The source development kit is contained in the g5api-abcM.tar.bz2 archive. The archive contains the source code as well as the compiled library that direction runs on GALEP-5.

Compiling OpenOCD yourself

This chapter is for developers that are familiar with Linux and tools such as cross compilers, make, subversion, etc.

Required software

For compiling OpenOCD for GALEP-5, you'll need:

  1. A cross toolchain for ARM
  2. Make, Automake, Autoconf-2.13, ...
  3. The GALEP-5 API (see above)
  4. The current GALEP-5 OCD patch (see above)
  5. The official OpenOCD distribution.

Cross Toolchain for ARM

A cross toolchain consist of a cross compiler and linker for the ARM9 platform. You can use our Arm&Eva Linux Board toolchain that is precompiled for Linux (32bit) and available from:

http://armeva.conitec.net/i686/tar_bz2/carmeva-dev-cc-3.4.1-glibc-2.3.3-bin-1.1-9_i386.tar.bz2

GALEP-5 -API und g5ocd-Patch

You'll find them under http://www.conitec.net/down/g5ocd.zip.

Open OCD Sources

The OpenOCD project offers a Subversion repository where you can get the current sources (links see below).

Compiling OpenOCD with GALEP-5 Support

At first preperare the source files.

g5ocd 
   |-- g5API 
   |   |-- hdw 
   |   |   ‘-- openocd.bin 
   |   |-- include 
   |   |   |-- ... 
   |   |-- lib 
   |   |   ‘-- libg5api.so 
   |   |-- src 
   |   |   |-- ... 
   ‘-- openocd 
       |-- doc 
           |-- ... 
       |-- ecosflash 
           |-- ... 
       |-- testing 
           |-- ... 
       |-- src 
           |-- ... 
       |-- g5ocd-svn-538M.patch.bz2 
         

cd g5ocd/openocd 
bzip2 -dc g5ocd-svn-xyz.patch.bz2 |patch -p0 
      

./bootstrap 
./configure --enable-galep5 
      

OpenOCD has to be cross-compiled for ARM9: 

# We use this for cross compiling... 
PREFIX=/usr/local/carmeva/bin/compiler/gcc-3.4.1-glibc-2.3.3/∖ 
        arm-9tdmi-linux-gnu/bin/arm-9tdmi-linux-gnu- 
export PREFIX 
           
# Build the stuff... 
make CC=${PREFIX}gcc CPP=${PREFIX}gcc CXX=${PREFIX}gcc 
           
# Strip the result... 
${PREFIX}strip src/openocd 
       

After compiling you'll find the binary “openocd” in the “src” directory.

Information and Details about OpenOCD 

A complete description of all OpenOCD features is outside the scope of this document. Here some links:

OpenOCD home page - here you'll find the complete documentation of the OpenOCD project: http://openocd.berlios.de/web/

OpenOCD mailing list - a quite active mailing list through which the OpenOCD developers answer relevant questions.

Informations about the GNU debugger (gdb) - you'll find a command reference on http://www.cs.dal.ca/studentservices/refcards/gdbref.pdf and the documentation on http://sourceware.org/gdb/documentation.