Debugger does not honor selected environment

[manuelbl]

The new environment switch in the status bar is a welcome enhancement. Unfortunately, it is not honored by the debugger. Instead, the debugger uses the first environment or the one selected by default_envs.

As the environment switch applies to IntelliSense and the Build and Upload actions in the status bar, users expect that the debugger behaves the same. I did so too.

In my case it even lead to a very confusing situation:

• Clicking the green arrow the debugger pane started a rebuild of the project (debug configuration) – as expected.
• After that, nothing happened anymore.
• It took me quite some time until I remembered to switch to the DEBUG CONSOLE. I found an error basically saying unexpected idcode: 0x0bb11477, expected 1 of 1: 0x2ba01477.
• It took me even more time to figure out that this error message was not due to a Chinese clone of the STM32 chip, but rather due to a mismatch between the environment use by the debugger and the board connected to my computer.

I see two options to fix it:

• Honor the currently select environment when starting the debugger (preferred)
• Label the debug configuration (launch.json) such that it is obvious which one is used

[ivankravets]

I don’t remember, do we provide different debug profiles when you switch to Debugging activity?

[manuelbl]

I'm not sure I fully understand your question. But the below information might answer it.

If you change platformio.ini and either rearrange the order of environments or changed default_envs, then launch.json is updated.

A configuration in launch.json looks like so:

        {
            "type": "platformio-debug",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "PIO Debug",
            "executable": "/Users/me/Documents/my-project/.pio/build/nucleo_f042k6/firmware.elf",
            "toolchainBinDir": "/Users/me/.platformio/packages/toolchain-gccarmnoneeabi/bin",
            "svdPath": "/Users/me/.platformio/platforms/ststm32/misc/svd/STM32F042x.svd",
            "preLaunchTask": {
                "type": "PlatformIO",
                "task": "Pre-Debug"
            },
            "internalConsoleOptions": "openOnSessionStart"
        },

Note that the selected environment is part of the executable path and the board type also affects svdPath. So the selected environment is very relevant.

[ivankravets]

platformio/platformio-vscode-ide#2018 (comment)

You will also need the latest PlatformIO Core 5.0.3 Dev.

Does it work now? Thanks!

P.S: Also would be thankful for the feedback with upcoming chnages in 2.2.0.

[manuelbl]

I've jus tried it and it didn't work. The correct environment was used to build a debug version. But the debugger is then started with a different (incorrect) environment.

launch.json looks ok. But the first line in the DEBUG CONSOLE already points at the incorrect environment (the selected environment is nucleo-f303re, the debugger however used nucleo_f042k6, which is the top most in platformio.ini):

Processing nucleo-f042k6 (board: nucleo_f042k6; platform: ststm32; framework: libopencm3)

Strangely enough, it looks as if the target was build twice: the output of the correct one appears in the TERMINAL view, the output of the incorrect one appears in DEBUG CONSOLE.

[ivankravets]

Do you use the latest PlatformIO Core 5.0.3 Dev?

[manuelbl]

Yes, I do.

And I'm having more troubles. On a project with a single environment, I can't start the debugger anymore. I always get the error message "Could not find the specified task." This is new. It has worked before I upgraded to the development version.

And I don't know if it is related... Quite often Build and Upload in the status bar don't work. Instead of executing something, they just display a pop up (the kind VSC displays to let you select something):

This isn't new. It has occurred from time to time since the environment selector in the status bar was introduced. The workaround is to again select the already selected environment from the status bar.

[ivankravets]

Keep PlatformIO IDe extension at 2.2.0-beta and downgrade PlatformIO Core to the latest stable 5.0.2. I'll try to investigate this issue.

Another workaround is to use "PIO Debug (skip Pre-Debug)" instead of "PIO Debug".

[manuelbl]

I have been using the new core 5.0.3a1 but the old extension (2.1.3). How do I upgrade to the beta version?

[ivankravets]

See instruction by a link above. Thanks.

[ivankravets]

2.2.0 has been released! You will just need the latest PIO Core 5.0.3-dev.