Pandora Remote Debug Pandora Apps


BaRa

Still Fresh
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
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Hi Guys,


Will it be possible to debug apps running on the Pandora from your development machine? I've searched around but couldn't really find any useful information on this.


Seems to me the development cycle for Pandora apps (e.g. homebrew games) is something like this:

1. Build your app using a cross-compiler.
2. Transfer to SD card.
3. Power up your Pandora and run the app from the card.

Of course you build the app with a native compiler as well and test and debug it on your development machine.

But some problems are bound to appear in step 3 (Murphy's law) when you finally run it on the Pandora. Will it be possible to debug the app directly in that case, in other words debug the cross-compiled code running on Pandora?


-- BR
 
there are serial and jtag on the board (Don't remember if there are external plugs for them though)

pretty sure early dev boards were using the serial connection
 
remote GDB?


EDIT
To elaborate a little more:
For the gp2x I compile with the crossdev toolchain from open2x on my linux PC and then I shove the binaries over to the GP2x via the USB-network (which will be the WLAN in the Pandora terms :)). Further I had GDB running on the GP2x itself for a quick trace of segvaults for example. For bigger stuff oyu need to copy the source code over to the GP2x which is not always feasible. Therefore I used INSIGHT on my PC and the gdb-server on the Gp2x.
 
On my Nokia I build the application on my laptop (cross-compiling SDK), then (if I'm in the testing phase) use SSH (specifically: scp) to copy the application over to the Nokia over wi-fi.

If the application can be started from the command line I then execute it from a remote-logged in ssh, sometimes with a local GDB.

If it's a graphical application I start it from the Nokia itself, from an xterm command line shell to start with.

What I don't bother with is copying over SD card, that cycle is just too long-winded.
 
Yes, the GP2X fully supports gdb, so theres no reason why the Pandora shouldn't. For the record, on the gp2x I mount a samba share on my pc from the gp2x, and run my builds from there (saves copying to sd). On the Pandora (well, Mistral EVM), the kernel is tftp'd from my pc (so I can change it as many times as I like with no firmware flashing), and then the kernel mounts a nfs share on my pc which is its entire file system (root). This means I can run multi distros, update/change libraries, kernel modules, etc, with extreme ease, as the only thing in flash is X-Loader and UBoot (which are pretty much static).

I'd be suprised if most people don't use a similar method for developing, as it kills pretty much all ways of corrupting your Pandora file system whilst playing around.
 
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