{"id":8008,"date":"2023-03-27T18:05:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T01:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/?p=8008"},"modified":"2023-03-27T18:12:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T01:12:55","slug":"using-st-link-gdb-server-to-debug-stm32-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/tutorials\/arm\/st-link\/gdbserver\/","title":{"rendered":"Using ST-Link GDB Server to debug STM32 Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"

This tutorial shows how to use the ST-Link GDB server tool instead of OpenOCD in order to program and debug the STM32 devices via ST-Link. We will create a basic application and will show how to configure VisualGDB to run the ST-Link GDB server and connect gdb to it.<\/p>\n

Before you begin, install the STM32CubeIDE<\/strong> and locate the following files inside its directory (typically under <STM32CubeIDE directory>\\STM32CubeIDE\\plugins<\/strong>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
File<\/td>\nDescription<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ST-LINK_gdbserver.exe<\/td>\nInterfaces the gdb debugger with the STM32Cube Programmer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
STM32_Programmer_CLI.exe<\/td>\nProvides programmatic access to the ST-Link devices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
    \n
  1. Start Visual Studio and locate the VisualGDB Embedded Project Wizard<\/strong>:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Enter the name and location for your project: \"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Select “Create a new project -> Embedded Application<\/strong>“. We recommend using the Advanced CMake for all new projects, however the steps shown in this tutorial will also work for other project types.\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Select your ARM toolchain and the exact device you would like to target:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Pick a project sample that will be cloned and click “Next” to proceed to debug settings: \"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. The recommended way to debug STM32 devices with ST-Link is using the OpenOCD tool<\/a>, however it does not always support the latest devices and sometimes doesn’t work in edge cases. So, in this tutorial we will manually use the ST-Link GDB server that is included in the STM32CubeIDE. Switch the “Debug Using<\/strong>” view to “Debug Methods<\/strong>” and select “Custom GDB Stub<\/strong>“. Then enter the following parameters:
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Parameter<\/td>\nValue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Command<\/td>\n<full path to ST-LINK_gdbserver.exe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Arguments<\/td>\n-p 2000 -d -cp <directory containing STM32_Programmer_CLI.exe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    TCP port for GDB<\/td>\n2000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Program FLASH command<\/td>\nload<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    \"\"<\/a>You can also use any other port for gdb, as long as the value in the “TCP port for GDB<\/strong>” field matches the “-p<\/strong>” argument to ST-LINK_gdbserver.exe<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

  7. Press “Finish” to generate the project. Build it via Build->Build Solution<\/strong> and try setting a breakpoint inside the main loop:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Press F5 to begin debugging. VisualGDB will launch ST-LINK_gdbserver<\/strong>, display output from it in Debug->Windows->VisualGDB Output<\/strong>, and will automatically connect gdb to it. The FLASH memory will automatically get programmed and the breakpoint will trigger:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. You can send various raw commands to the ST-LINK_gdbserver<\/strong> by prefixing them with “monitor<\/strong>” in the GDB Session window, e.g. “monitor reset<\/strong>“:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  10. You can configure VisualGDB to automatically run additional commands at the beginning of each debug session via VisualGDB Project Properties -> AdditionalGDB Commands -> After selecting a target<\/strong>:\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some advanced features (e.g. live memory access) won’t work when using the ST-Link GDB server instead of OpenOCD, however it could be a good workaround for new devices that are not yet supported by OpenOCD, or if OpenOCD doesn’t work as expected.<\/p>\n

    You can find a detailed reference of the ST-Link GDB Server commands and command-line options in this document<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This tutorial shows how to use the ST-Link GDB server tool instead of OpenOCD in order to program and debug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[62,61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8008"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8031,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8008\/revisions\/8031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}