J-Link v9 and MPLABX

thanhpm · Jul 1st 2014, 7:49am

Hi, I dont know if it is relevant.

Can I use J-Link with MPLABX 2.10, 2.15 now? The IDE does not list J-Link in its hardware tool list. GDB server is able to detect the PIC32

SEGGER - Alex · Jul 2nd 2014, 9:53am

Hi,

J-Link support has been added in MPLAB X V2.15 (which is not the final version, since PIC32MZ support is also going to be added etc.).
Please note that GDBServer is *not* necessary to use J-Link in MPLAB X. MPLAB X supports J-Link natively.

GDBServer allows using J-Link also with other IDEs than MPLAB X, which are based on GDB (e.g. emIDE: emide.org/).

Anyhow, we will also add MPLAB X to the list of supported IDEs and will also have a small dedicated MPLAB X page, as available for most other IDEs.

Best regards
Alex

DMStern · Jul 8th 2014, 6:55pm

Related to this, I tried using a J-link v8 EDU (latest firmware) with MPLAB X 2.15, but only got an error message about the combination of a MIPS CPU and JTAG not being supported on this hardware. Are there any extra hardware limitations over those mentioned on the PIC32 support info page? The CPU I was trying to connect to was a PIC32MX795F512L, using 4-wire JTAG.

SEGGER - Alex · Jul 9th 2014, 11:24am

Hi,

Sorry for the confusion.
Min hardware requirements:

J-Link BASE / EDU V9 or later
J-Link ULTRA+ / PRO V4 or later

We will also add this to the PIC32 info page.

- Alex

thanhpm · Jul 10th 2014, 5:25pm

Hi,

I was able to use J-Link v9, software 4.86b, with MPLABX 2.15 and PIC32MX795F512L. However:
- Download speed is very low compare to ICD3
- While debugging, the MCU runs at very low speed. Reset and let the PIC32 runs alone then everything is normal.
- Hit "halt" I got this mesasge "Unable to halt the target device.JLINK_Halt command failed with value -142"
- Is it possible to have live update watch like in IAR or Keil MDK in the future?

SEGGER - Alex · Jul 10th 2014, 5:56pm

Hi,

- Download speed is very low compare to ICD3

We are currently working on a new version of the DLL in which the download speed has been improved (see PIC32 info page which already shows the new values)
J-Link is more than 2 times faster than the ICD3, on the PIC32MX...

Just to be sure: You are debugging via the 14-pin header, correct?
Since the RJ11 connector is for 2-wire JTAG (different pins) which is not supported by the PIC32MX795.
See PIC32 info page for more information.

- Is it possible to have live update watch like in IAR or Keil MDK in the future?

Maybe, but it will not be the same like on for example Cortex-M because the PIC32 does not support reading/writing memory without halting the CPU.

Best regards
Alex

thanhpm · Jul 11th 2014, 3:47am

Hi Alex,

Now I see, I'm using the 2-wire ICSP!

SEGGER - Alex · Jul 11th 2014, 7:02am

Hi,

Alright, unfortunately, 2-wire ICSP is not usable for debugging and the MX795 does not support 2-wire JTAG debugging.
What ICD3 does: Downloading a special handler into flash which communicates via a proprietary protocol,
causing the target application to stop immediately in case no debugger is connected, making it impossible to perform post-mortem debugging of release versions.

Best regards
Alex

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