pyavrocd 1.5.4

A cross-platform GDB server for AVR MCUs

PyAvrOCD

PyAvrOCD is a GDB server for 8-bit AVR MCUs (see list of supported MCUs and supported boards), enabling you to debug programs running on these MCUs using the GNU Project Debugger GDB. PyAvrOCD communicates with Microchip's debug probes, such as the very affordable MPLAB Snap, and it provides a pass-through service for the UNO-based debug probe dw-link and the simulation tool simavr (see list of supported debug probes).

So, why another open-source GDB server for AVR MCUs? The main intention is to provide a cross-platform AVR GDB server. In other words, it is the missing AVR debugging solution for the Arduino IDE 2 and PlatformIO. In particular, the integration with Arduino IDE 2 is pretty tight, allowing one to start debugging without much hassle (see quickstart guides). Additionally, PyAvrOCD excels in minimizing flash wear and protects single-stepping against interrupts.

Interested in giving PyAvrOCD a try? You are welcome to install it. Want to learn more about it? Read the docs. Any feedback, be it bug reports, crazy ideas, or praise, is welcome.

What has been done so far, and what to expect in the future

Meanwhile, PyAvrOCD covers all debugWIRE, JTAG (Megas), and UPDI MCUs. I am unsure whether it makes sense to extend its coverage to Xmegas. There is the idea of basing everything on more recent versions of the GCC toolchain because it will probably solve a number of problems on the debugging front. Additionally, I am working on integrating PyAvrOCD more tightly with PlatformIO and with the Arduino Maker Workshop VSCode extension. Finally, I am committed to fixing some of the more obvious bugs in the AVR part of the GDB debugger.