J-Link debugging a Freescale i.MX53 running from SD card

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  • J-Link debugging a Freescale i.MX53 running from SD card

    I'm looking to get a Segger J-Link to help debug start-up issues I'm having with our new hardware, which is based on the i.MX53 Quick Start Board.

    I know initially we can load some code to the internal RAM using JTAG, and run from there. Additionally, the J-Link advertises as a feature its ability to write to flash, but I haven't found what sort of flash it can write to and debug from. Can I easily debug bare-bones code (such as the OBDS - On-Board Diagnostic Suit for the i.MX53 Quick Start Board) running from the SD card? Can I use the J-Link to program the SD-card too? (Less important, since I can program it with an SD writer too.)

    Also, I'm considering the standard J-Link or J-Link Ultra. Is the Ultra worth it? It's quite a price increase. In practice, does the extra speed get me anything apart from faster RAM and flash downloads?

    In practice, what benefits would the "unlimited flash breakpoints" software give me? If I can live without setting multiple breakpoints at once throughout the code, does it matter? It looks like the 2 hardware breakpoints are enough to step through the code. Are the unlimited breakpoints fiddly to use? It looks like they only work with Windows as your host, and not Linux, is that right?

    Are there any other problems debugging in a Linux host environment, rather than Windows? I'm really only planning on using command line GDB, or Sourcery Codebench, but the J-Link software page lists much more software available for Windows.

  • Hi,

    Additionally, the J-Link advertises as a feature its ability to write to flash, but I haven't found what sort of flash it can write to and debug from

    The direct download into flash memory feature of the J-Link DLL supports internal flash memory of most popular microcontrollers (segger.com/jlink_supported_devices.html)
    and also download into external CFI compliant flash memory.

    Can I easily debug bare-bones code (such as the OBDS - On-Board Diagnostic Suit for the i.MX53 Quick Start Board) running from the SD card?

    Since the code is not directly running from the SD-Card but copied by the i.MX53 ROM bootloader from the SD-Card to internal / external RAM, there is no problem with debugging this.

    Can I use the J-Link to program the SD-card too?

    Not with the direct download to flash memory feature of the DLL, since a SD card is non-memory mapped "flash".
    It is possible via J-Flash but requires a so-called custom RAMCode, since the connection to the SD-Card is device (i.MX53) specific.

    Also, I'm considering the standard J-Link or J-Link Ultra. Is the Ultra worth it? It's quite a price increase. In practice, does the extra speed get me anything apart from faster RAM and flash downloads?

    Yes, debugging in general is faster due to the USB Hi-Speed interface of J-Link Ultra.

    n practice, what benefits would the "unlimited flash breakpoints" software give me? If I can live without setting multiple breakpoints at once throughout the code, does it matter? It looks like the 2 hardware breakpoints are enough to step through the code. Are the unlimited breakpoints fiddly to use?

    Usage: For the debugger there is no difference when unlimited flash breakpoints are used, it only sets a breakpoint and does not care about how J-Link implements it.

    It looks like they only work with Windows as your host, and not Linux, is that right?

    No, this is wrong. They also work on Linux as well as Mac OS X.


    Best regards
    Alex
    Please read the forum rules before posting.

    Keep in mind, this is *not* a support forum.
    Our engineers will try to answer your questions between their projects if possible but this can be delayed by longer periods of time.
    Should you be entitled to support you can contact us via our support system: segger.com/ticket/
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  • Thanks very much Alex.

    FYI, the reason I asked about Linux support is because the J-Link product pages on the Segger website have a "Supported OS" section which lists a large number of different Windows versions without mentioning Linux.

    Final question: With the standard base model J-Link, can you confirm that "Unlimited breakpoints" can be ordered later, and function correctly with this hardware?