Published December 2, 2021 © GPL3+

Portenta H7 Dual Core Debugging

If you want to debug both cores on your Portenta H7 Industrial Arduino at the same time, this shows you how to get started easily!

AdvancedFull instructions provided1,584

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Portenta H7

Arduino Portenta H7 Breakout Board

Segger J-Link Debug Probe

Segger Cortex M Adapter

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Microsoft Visual Studio 2017

Visual Micro

Story

The Arduino Portenta H7 boasts a wide variety of features, and the ability to run your code on two separate cores, which can also communicate with each other!

We all run into problems with our projects from time to time, so here we show how you can use a Segger JLink to debug the code running on both cores, at the same time!

Hardware Setup

Once you have your Portenta H7 mounted on the breakout board, you will need to connect your MIPS 20-pin converter to breakout the debugging pins.

Then you can wire your converter to the Segger J-Link as shown in the images below.

If you have the right pitch connectors (0.05") you can also wire up your own connector as shown in the second image:

1 / 2 • Portenta H7 Breakout Board to Segger JLink Connections

Software Setup

We assume that you have already installed the Arduino IDE on your machine (if not download here).

Then install Visual Studio (2017/2019/2022), and the Visual Micro Extension, with full instructions available here.

You will also need to install the Board Package for Arduino Mbed OS Portenta Boards from the Visual Micro Explorer (or from Boards Manager in Arduino IDE).

You will need to replace the USB Driver on Interface 0 of your Segger J-Link using the Zadig.exe tool (see video at the bottom for a walkthrough).

Lets Code!

Now we need to setup a separate project, one for each core of our Portenta Board. The code attached is a simple Blink example, where each core blinks a different coloured LED. For debugging set up each core in a separate instance of Visual Studio.

Don't forget to ensure you call the bootM4() function on your M7 Core project to ensure both cores are running.

Debug Setup: M7 Core

Open your M7 Core Sketch and select the Debug > Hardware, and the Segger J-Link Debugger (NOT the "NoOpenOCD version)

Debugging Settings for Portenta H7 M7

Build and upload your M7 Sketch to the M7 core at this point.

Software Setup: M4 Core

Open your Sketch and select the Debug > Hardware, and the Segger J-Link Debugger (NoOpenOCD)

Build and upload your M4 Sketch to the M4 core at this point.

Start Debugger

First start debugging using the M7 Core sketch by using "Debug > Attach to Process".

Then start debugging using the M4 Core sketch by using "Debug > Attach to Process".

You should now be able to add a breakpoint to either sketch, and watch the debugger stop on it..... with each core being able to stop/step/continue independently!!

Dual Core Debugging running on the M7 (left) and M4 (right) cores simultaneously!

Walkthrough Video

See a walkthrough for this process below on YouTube....

Walkthrough Video of this project.

Useful Links

Documentation + Wiring Diagram

Portenta Breakout Board

Segger JLink

Code

// Code to Demonstrate Blink on the Portenta M4 Core
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // initialize digital pin 13 as an output.
  pinMode(LED_BLUE, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BLUE, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(LED_BLUE, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
}

// Code to Demonstrate Blink on the Portenta M7 Core
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
	bootM4();
  // initialize digital pin 13 as an output.
  pinMode(LED_RED, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_RED, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(LED_RED, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
}

Credits

arduinocc

5 projects • 13 followers

Arduino compatible IDE for Microsoft Visual Studio and Atmel Studio 7 with unique USB Debugger, Trace, Pin Viewer and Plotter, GDB Debugging

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Portenta H7 Dual Core Debugging

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Hardware Setup

Software Setup

Lets Code!

Debug Setup: M7 Core

Software Setup: M4 Core

Start Debugger

Walkthrough Video

Useful Links

Schematics

Potenta H7 to Segger J-Link Connections

Code

H7 M4 Blink Code

H7 M5 Blink Code

Credits

arduinocc

Comments

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Portenta H7 Dual Core Debugging

Portenta H7 Dual Core Debugging

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Hardware Setup

Software Setup

Lets Code!

Debug Setup: M7 Core

Software Setup: M4 Core

Start Debugger

Walkthrough Video

Useful Links

Schematics

Potenta H7 to Segger J-Link Connections

Code

H7 M4 Blink Code

H7 M5 Blink Code

Credits

arduinocc

Comments

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