Re: GDB support for Flash memory programming

[Jim Blandy <jimb at codesourcery dot com>]

"Nathan J. Williams" <nathanw@wasabisystems.com> writes:
> Jim Blandy <jimb@codesourcery.com> writes:
>
>> GDB will have a new write-flash variable. This variable will have
>> three possible states:
>> 
>>     * on
>>     * load
>>     * off
>
> How about breakpoints? Should using memory breakpoints require full
> "on" access? (There are some possible optimizations there; the whole
> "step: insert breakpoints, run, remove breakpoints" model is kind of
> bad when the breakpoints are being written to flash).

Flash breakpoints are a challenge.  You can use hardware breakpoints,
if available; you can use an MMU and shadow flash pages with RAM
pages, if available; etc.

For the time being, let's assume that GDB will do the best it can with
breakpoints under all settings.  Together with the stub, it has enough
information to do as well as can be done.