Yocto Programming with Eclipse v2

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DART-MX8M-MINI - Yocto Programming with Eclipse

This guide describes how to use Eclipse to develop and debug applications on the DART-MX8M-MINI.

Create your rootfs with Eclipse debug support

Append the following to the conf/local.conf file in your Yocto build directory:

...
EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES = " \
    eclipse-debug \
    ssh-server-openssh \
    "

For Yocto Zeus and above, using dropbear, one may need to append the following to the conf/local.conf file to avoid SSH compatible ciphers issues:

...
PACKAGECONFIG_remove_pn-dropbear = " disable-weak-ciphers"

Now bitbake your image.

Setup Host Computer Environment

Please follow the steps below to prepare a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 installation for Eclipse debugging:

Install Dependencies

$ sudo apt-get -y update
$ sudo apt-get -y install build-essential gdb gdb-multiarch git default-jre

Install Yocto Toolchain

To install the toolchain follow Yocto Toolchain installation guide.

Download Eclipse

Download Eclipse 2021-06 from here: https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/technology/epp/downloads/release/2021-06/R/eclipse-cpp-2021-06-R-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz
Run the following command to unpack and install the downloaded Eclipse IDE tarball into a clean directory using the default name eclipse:

$ cd ~
$ tar -xf ~/Downloads/eclipse-cpp-2021-06-R-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz

Create and run a simple application

Run the Eclipse IDE

Run the Eclipse IDE with the following commands:

$ cd eclipse
$ ./eclipse

Select a new workspace (you can just click OK).

Create the Project

You can create different types of projects: C Managed Build, CMake, Meson, or Makefile. This section describes how to create "C Managed Build" projects from within the Eclipse IDE. To create a new project from a "Hello World" template and then display the source code, follow these steps:

  • File->New->C/C++ Project
  • Select C Managed Build and click Next.
  • Enter a name for the project under the Project name field. Do not use hyphens as part of the name.
  • Select Hello World ANSI C Project.
  • Select Cross GCC toolchain

Prj1 V2.png

  • Click Next.
  • Add information in the Author field and make sure the License field is correct and click Next.
  • Accept the default Debug/Release configurations and click Next.
  • Enter aarch64-fslc-linux- under Cross compiler prefix
  • Enter /opt/fslc-xwayland/3.3/sysroots/x86_64-fslcsdk-linux/usr/bin/aarch64-fslc-linux under Cross compiler path

Prj1 compiler V2.png

  • Click "Finish".
  • Click on "Workbench".
  • You should now be in the C/C++ perspective. The left-hand navigation pane shows your project. You can display your source by double clicking the project's source file.

C perspective v2.png

Configure Cross Compiler

The sysroot flag must be added to the linker and C/C++ compilers within Eclipse:

  • Right click on the project and select Properties
  • Under C/C++ Build, select Settings
  • Add the following include path to Cross GCC Compiler->Includes
/opt/fslc-xwayland/3.3/sysroots/cortexa53-crypto-fslc-linux/usr/include

C/C++ Build -> Settings -> Cross GCC Compiler -> Includes

Toolchain include.png

  • Append the following to Cross GCC Compiler -> Miscellaneous -> Other Flags:
--sysroot=/opt/fslc-xwayland/3.3/sysroots/cortexa53-crypto-fslc-linux

C/C++ Build -> Settings -> Cross GCC Compiler -> Miscellaneous

Toolchain settings.png

  • Append the following to Cross GCC Linker -> Miscellaneous -> Other Flags:
--sysroot=/opt/fslc-xwayland/3.3/sysroots/cortexa53-crypto-fslc-linux

C/C++ Build -> Settings -> Cross GCC Linker -> Miscellaneous

Toolchain settings 2.png

Configure Remote Debugging

Using the console of your target set a password with "passwd" command. choose a simple one named "root".
The target should be connected to the network via Ethernet or WIFI.
Use the "ifconfig" command on the target to get its IP address.
From Eclipse:

  • Click Run->Debug Configurations...
  • Double click on C/C++ Remote Application.
  • In the Main tab, section C/C++ Application, type Debug/hello-world.
  • Next, click on New... to create a new connection.

GDB Conn V2.png

  • Select SSH for the connection type and click OK.
  • Enter the Target IP Address.
  • Enter root for the user.
  • Change to "Password based authentication" and enter password configured in previous step.
  • Click Finish
  • Type "/home/root/hello-world" in the Remote Absolute File Path for C/C++ Application field
  • Click on the Debugger tab
  • Enter aarch64-fslc-linux-gdb in the GDB debugger field

GDB Conn 2.png

  • Click Apply and Close to finish configuring the debugger

Remote debug

Follow the below steps to remotely debug your application on the DART-MX8M-MINI.

  • Use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-b to rebuild the application.
  • Click the bug icon in the toolbar and select "hello-world debug" (or whichever name you supplied in the previous step)
  • Follow the prompt to switch to the Debug perspective

Dbg2 v2.png



You can now run and debug your program via eclipse. The actual program execution is done on the target, and the output is seen on the Remote Shell on Eclipse.