That’s fine, but I’m unable to debug this part of the code because I’m unable to place a breakpoint. So I want to place a “break” in my code that’s return back to GDB. (exactly like you can launch the debugger within Python w/ a simple pdb.set_trace().

This is quite easy to do, and really useful but not really popular. The main trick is to call the interrupt number 3. This will rise a SIGTRAP signal in the Linux kernel that GDB can intercept .. so in your code simply add a macro :

#define GDB()  asm("int $0x3")
int main()
{
 int a = 12;
 GDB();
 printf("A ==> %u \n",a);
 return 0;   
}

Call the GDB(); macro in your code, compile it with gcc -g, simply run your program in GDB, and wait for the macro to be called :)

/Enjoy gdb

The AVR Dragon is nice because you can use it as a small developpement device without any other requirement: Simply drop the needed ATMega on the board, some little wrapping for : Jtag + power supply.

As you can see, this is compact and nothing else is needed. The power supply come from the USB port, and I soldered a DIP on the board.. and that’s it.

I use the Jtag connector, so now I can use a real debugger instead of playing with the UART. Simply put a breakpoint, and enjoy :) By this way, I figure out that most of the time I simply push some stuff in arrays, and inspect them with debugger. This is really efficient. For example, last week I need to fix a timing issue with a IR sensor, simply wrap the little board, and push all interrupts in a array with the related timing. Of course, this can be done with a serial connection too, but it will take more time, and even worst if you encounter a bug, you will have to find where is it (the UART printf, or the code itself) ..

So, how to use this with a Linux OS ?

First you need to use AVaRICE to program the ATMega with a command like this :

avarice -g -j usb --erase --program --file main.hex :4242

Here the result:

AVaRICE flash the hex file to the ATMega, and wait for a GDB connection on port 4242. GDB is fine, but not really visual ;)

Let’s take a look at DDD

To use DDD with avr-gdb (the gdb for AVR), you need to edit a config file, for example gdb.conf and put this in :

file main.out
target remote localhost:4242

And the final command, just launch DDD like this :

ddd --debugger "avr-gdb -x gdb.conf"

Next step: Simply place some breakpoint, and the press “Cont” inue button in DDD. Et voilà :

I hope this little tuto will help people looking for a nice AVR debuger for the AVR on Linux (or any OSS system). The AVR Dragon is definitively a must have for low budget user in AVR scene.

Enjoy bug ? :)