Application Debugging Over Ethernet Using Visual Studio 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Icon for Colibri

Icon for ColibriOne of the simplest setups in order to carry out application debugging on Colibri System on Modules (SoMs), is to connect the Host PC to the Colibri target via a USB cable (ActiveSync) and Ethernet. There are instances, however, wherein the USB client port is unavailable, so only Ethernet can be used for debugging.

 Given below is the outline on how to setup the host PC and the target to carry out the application debugging;

One Time Preparation

Lookup the Colibri's IP Address

On the target device, either

  • double click on the Ethernet icon in the Windows CE system tray, or
  • open a command prompt and type
    ipconfig

In the default configuration, the Colibri is setup to get its IP address from a DHCP server. So the address can change after a reboot of the target.

Prepare Visual Studio 2008 (VS2008)

In VS2008, select the menu
Tools -> Options ==> Device Tools ==> Devices

Visual Studio 2008

  • Select any existing device and click on
    Save As...
  • Give the device a reasonable name, e.g.
    Colibri: Ethernet (10.0.1.173)
  • Optionally, you can change the Default device to the new device.
  • Select the newly created device and click on
    Properties 
    to get to the next dialog.
    Ethernet Debugging
  • Select Transport:
    TCP Connect Transport 
    and press
    _Configure_
    TCP Connect Transport
  • Select
    Use specific IP address 
    and enter the Colibri's IP address
  • Press OK three times to close all open dialogs.

Locate the Target Files and Copy Them to the Colibri

There are several files which need to be copied to the target device manually. Amongst these, are 2 applications which are required to be started manually each time when commencing a debugging session.

  • Locate the files. In a standard VS2008 installation, they are here:
  C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\CoreCon\1.0\Target\wce400\armv4i
  or 
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\CoreCon\1.0\Target\wce400\armv4i
  
  • On a USB flash drive, or an SD card, create a folder \AutoCopy
  • Copy the following files into the AutoCopy folder
    • clientshutdown.exe
    • CMAccept.exe
    • ConmanClient2.exe
    • DeviceAgentTransport.dll
    • DeviceDMA.dll
    • eDbgTL.dll
    • TcpConnectionA.dll

Repeat for Each Debug Session

Commence the Debug Session on the Colibri

  • Insert the storage device into your target Colibri and boot the module. The files will be copied to the Colibri's root folder.
  • Through the Start menu, open a command prompt and type
    conmanclient2 
    to start this service. The command prompt will remain blocked.
  • Through the Start menu, open a 2nd command prompt and type
    cmaccept 
    to start this service.
    After you have started CMAccept, you only have 3 minutes to commence the debug session on the VS2008 side.

Start the Debug Session on VS2008

  • in VS2008, select the menu
    Tools -> Connect To Device...
  • Select the newly generated device and click on Connect

VS2008 will start to communicate with the Colibri. Another dialog will appear and announce a successful connection.
Connection Succeeded

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