Debug stopped working with Espressif IDE

[justinmreina]

Hi, Espressif IDE recently stopped being able to launch a Debug session to my ESP32 target. Here is a procedure to reproduce and illustrate my status -

Procedure:

1. Open VS Code

2. Setup Flash Method, Port & Device Target

3. Flash Device (works!)

Output after Step 3

VS Code Example.png (75 KiB) Viewed 1519 times

4. Close VS Code

5. Open Espressif IDE

6. Delete all ESP-IDF GDB Open OCD Debugging configurations

7. Select project from toolbar drop-down -> 'New Launch Configuration...'

______* Debug
______* ESP-IDF GDB OpenOCD Debugging
______* Leave settings default

8. Launch debug session (does not launch)

Output after Step 8

Espressif IDE Example.png (79.81 KiB) Viewed 1519 times

What happened? I am observing the same effect with all of my projects now, do I need to reinstall Espressif IDE?

[justinmreina]

This problem has persisted, I can't figure this out.

I will try a full reset again

[justinmreina]

Wow! Here is what I found, I can debug now with VS Code but the Espressif-IDE is not working -

Status:

• VS Code compiles & debugs project
• Espressif-IDE will not compile or debug project (tried v3.1.0 & v3.3.0)

Where I followed this procedure to get VS Code working again -

Pre:

• zip all locs for safety, uninstall and clean paths. restart machine, cleaning all install locs

0. Install ESP-IDF (ref)

- 0.1 Espressif-IDE 3.1.0 with ESP-IDF v5.3.1 (ref) (to set arch & init contents, select all procs)

• @loc C:\Sw\Espressif

- 0.2 ESP-IDF v5.4.1 (ref) (target SDK)

• @loc C:\Sw\Espressif

1. Install Espressif-IDE (ref)

• @warn This is risky! Go KISS & follow their base flow

• "Download: Windows - Espressif-IDE-win32.win32.x86_64"

• @loc C:\Sw\Espressif\tools\espressif-ide\3.3.0

- Open, install configure & check for updates

• @wksp D:\Documents\MyWorkspaces\Espressif

- Select ESP-IDF (Espressif->ESP-IDF Manager)

- Run "C:\Users\Justin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_qbz5n2kfra8p0\python.exe C:\Sw\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.4.1\tools\idf_tools.py install" (to install missing tools)

- ESP-IDF Manager Error Message.png

- maybe? ESP_IDF_TOOLS_PATH C:\Sw\Espressif ?

- Update Git: C:\Sw\Espressif\tools\idf-git\2.44.0\bin

- Update Python: C:\Sw\Espressif\tools\idf-python\3.11.2\python.exe

- Use an existing ESP-IDF: C:\Sw\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.4.1

- "python -m pip install websocket-client" (it calls for from console report in Espressif-IDE)

2. Test 'hello_world'

- Change Build Configuration Error.png

- set IDF_COMPONENT_MANAGER env variable to '1' & restart (ref)

- Build Not Configured Correctly.png

3. Install Visual Studio Code (ref)

- @warn Default location (some tools depend on that)

- @loc C:\Users\Justin\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code

- Install ESP-IDF extension (auto-update: Y)

Advanced
- ESP-IDF: Find in your system
- ESP-IDF: C:\Sw\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.4.1
- IDF_TOOLS_PATH: C:\Sw\Espressif

- Install pip
python -m ensurepip --upgrade

- 'Configure Tools'

- 'Download Tools'

- restart PC

4. Test Program

- VS Code: flash ok

- Install IDF Component Manager (ref)

- Espressif-IDE?

- Build Not Configured Correctly.png (worked before install of IDF Component Manager?)

- Open this hello_world dir and compile with VS_Code

- Debug: N



Result:

• VS Code is now able to debug!!!!
• Espressif-IDE is not able to compile or debug the project

Request:

• How can I get debug working again for Espressif-IDE?

Thank you for your time

Best Regards,
Justin

[justinmreina]

Hi, now debug doesn't work in either environment. I have tried a full un-install and re-install, for both the Espressif-IDE and VS Code but this is not working

How can I get my debug sessions working again? I will try another round this morning, taking detailed notes for review

[justinmreina]

The 'Build Not Configured Correctly.png' bug listed above happens a lot now -

Bug:

The error message where compilation stops

_build_not_configured_correctly.png (6.54 KiB) Viewed 219 times

This clears it up -

Resolution:

• Clean project, remove build and close project
• Close & re-open Espressif-IDE
• Open project

Might not need to do all of that, but this works

[justinmreina]

Ok, with diligent method & research, this all works now.


VS-Code Debug Sessions:

• RTFM: Starting a Debug Session (forum)

Espressif-IDE Debug Sessions:

• Select your project, then create your project's run or debug configurations by opening 'Run' -> 'Run Configurations...' and double click on either 'ESP-IDF Application' or 'ESP-IDF GDB OpenOCD Debugging' to generate these.
  • And if the configuration listing blanks out, which i have observed periodically which halts everything; just create a new workspace and bring in an ESP-IDF demo to get it started
  • Here is explicit detail from my example project if useful (config)

Switching between development environments:

• With only VS-Code open, perform a full clean with VS-Code, and now either IDE becomes available

Build Not Configured Correctly:

• Full clean & reset, as listed above

I use my esp32_proj to capture these details, and sharing if useful -

* esp32_proj - doc\ here has context for most of these solns



All good now, sharing above if useful for someone else