Re: transfer own data via GDB remote protocol, flash a micro

[Thierry Moreau <Thierry.Moreau@Connotech.com>]

Torsten Mohr wrote:

> Hi,
>
> lets say i'm building a hardware debugger that understands
> GDB remote protocol.  And further, that debugger needs
> some info about the hardware that it is attached to.
>
> Can i somehow transfer this data via GDB remote protocol?
>
> I didn't see anything in the info pages, so i think
> this does not work.
>
> As an example, i may want to tell the hardware the
> target voltage, the quarz frequency, some settings
> like, ...
>
> Another question, is it somehow possible to "flash"
> an attached micro via GDB remote protocol?
>

My understanding is that *hardware debugger* is somehow outside the
scope of the GDB project. The various commercial hardware debuggers I
worked with (three of them) used a combination of a) implicit knowledge
of the target processor/debug port architecture, b) editable definition
files, and c) debugger command script files.

I guess that you need to implement at least a) and c) in your GDB
project. GDB sould have a command and protocol frame that selects the
target architecture, so the flavor of a) can be selected among the
target families that you support. If you find necessary or convenient to
use some editable definition files (b)), you might find useful to
download these files with some protocol.

The flash algorithm is perhaps part of a). Alternatively, the flash
operation can be performed by the target itself if you can download a
program in the target RAM and let this program do the flash programming
(I found this approach effective, but my target HW has plentiful RAM
resources).

Sincerely,


--

- Thierry Moreau

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