Renesas VS Code Extensions Release Information

8th May 2024

Version 2024.4

Renesas Build Extension

Version 2024.4.6

Small bug fixes and improvements.

Renesas Debug Extension

Version 2024.1.16

R-Car support files now appear in the support files download manager tool.
RX IO Register files are now loaded correctly in the Peripherals view.
IO Register addresses are now treated correctly by the debugger. The IO Register access widths are now passed to the debugger back-end so memory read/write failures no longer occur.
RA, RX, RL, DA, RE, RZ and Synergy are now all on GDB 12 which supports Python 3.10. Other device families remain on Python 2.7.
Support has been added to support the new FSP Standalone configurator’s CMake output. This now uses CMake kits for better usability.
Ninja is now the recommended build tool rather thanb Mingw. The instructions on using this area available in the user guide.
Improvements have been made to the integration with other extensions. This improves the Intellisense function meaning far fewer false negative issues in the editor.

Notes

GDB Server is not terminated after disconnecting when debugging on Linux target OS. Workaround is to kill GDB Server manually and then connect again.
In VS Code 1.86 there is a problem noted where the Register PC address is different between the Registers view and Disassembly view.
The "Run To Line" feature in VS Code adds a breakpoint to that line and resumes to hit that breakpoint. If running to a valid source line that has a disabled breakpoint, using the "Run To Line" feature will resume the execution without breaking at that line.
Step return is not working well for some combinations of debugger including LLVM for RL78 and the RL78/FR5F10JGC device.
When using CC-RL, CC-RX or CC-RH there can be flase negatives shown by the clangd extension.

CCRH

Unknown argument '-Xcpu=g3kh'; did you mean '-mcpu=g3kh'?clang(drv_unknown_argument_with_suggestion)
Unknown argument: '-gdb_compatible'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-Xcharacter_set=utf8'clang(drv_unknown_argument)

CCRL (NOT WORKING)

Unknown argument: '-isa=rxv1'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nofpu'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nomessage'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nologo'clang(drv_unknown_argument)

CCRX

Unknown argument: '-isa=rxv1'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nofpu'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nomessage'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Unknown argument: '-nologo'clang(drv_unknown_argument)
Return type of 'main' is not 'int' (fix available)clang(-Wmain-return-type)

When using multicore debugging with the Amalgamator component the Peripherals view shows no data.
When debugging with R-Car you may see "Failed to update peripheral…" errors when the Peripheral view loads the IO registers. This can happen with ARM CR52 and CA55.

9th February 2024

Version 2024.1

Renesas Build Extension

Version 2024.1.1

Small bug fixes and improvements. Latest release has had some bug fixes.

Renesas Debug Extension

Version 2024.1.4

Improvements made to automatically select the correct version of Python on debugger launch. Required python version is resolved by reading the "dbdeps.properties" file in the device family support folder.
When debugging RX devices the incorrect RX core version was being used. This is now checked for each RX device and passed to the debugger correctly. This automatically handles the "gdbArguments": ["-rx-force-isa=v3"] value in the launch configuration.
Initial support for Peripheral Inspector has been added to view the IO Registers for the connected debugger device. Only SVD file support for ARM devices is available in this release.
In certain situations a Segmentation Fault was caused when debugging ARM devices under Linux. This has been resolved.
A problem for RH850 debugging was fixed where the program did not stop at main when using the E2 emulator.

Notes

GDB Server is not terminated after disconnecting when debugging on Linux target OS. Workaround is to kill GDB Server manually and then connect again.
In VS Code 1.86 there is a problem noted where the Register PC address is different between the Registers view and Disassembly view.
The "Run To Line" feature in VS Code adds a breakpoint to that line and resumes to hit that breakpoint. If running to a valid source line that has a disabled breakpoint, using the "Run To Line" feature will resume the execution without breaking at that line.
Note: ARM based devices are now using Python 3.10. RX, RL, RH based devices are remaining on Python 2.7.
Peripheral Inspector has limited support in this release. The IO Register access widths are not passed to the debugger back-end so can cause memory read/write failures for certain registers.

25th October 2023

Version 2023.10.10

Latest release has had bug fixes and usability enhancements.

In addition the following enhancements have been added to the extension.

Renesas Debug Extension

The debug adaptor has been restructured to make it easier to use and reduce the complexity of the debugger launch.json file. The "renesas" debugger type has been removed. It has been replaced with new debugger types:
- renesas-hardware: Renesas GDB Hardware Target: For running the debug session on RA, RH850, RL78, RX or RZ device families.
- renesas-simulator : Renesas GDB Simulator Target: For running the debug session on RL78 or RX device family simulators.
- renesas-rcar: Renesas RCAR Target: For running the debug session on RCAR family devices but not based on Linux OS.
- renesas-rcar-linux: Renesas RCAR Linux Target: For running the debug session on RCAR family Linux devices.
- Upon choosing one of the above options. VS Code will generate "launch.json" file will be created inside ".vscode" folder with some default settings.

launch.json format

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "<type>",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "<display name of the configuration>",
            "target": {
                "deviceFamily": "<device family (RA, RCAR, RE, RH850, RL78, RX or RZ)>",
                "device": "<device code>",
                "debuggerType": "<debugger type (type of the simulator or emulator)>"
            }
        }
    ]
}

When using a multicore device there are additional implemented features for:
- Resume all
- Suspend all
The usage of whether a Hardware or Software breakpoint should be used will now be automatically detected by the supported breakpoint type gdb command.
- If a device supports hardware breakpoints then it will use hardware breakpoints until they are exhausted.
- If there are no hardware breakpoints a software breakpoint will be used.
- In the case when neither hardware breakpoints nor software breakpoints are available, an error message is displayed and no breakpoint is set.
The debug adaptor now sets the project working directory (pwd) on debugger initiation. If you need to override the value this is set to you can do so in the launch.json using the "projectRoot" debugger launch.json variable.
The askProgramPath command automatically solves the *.elf file locations however it was not solving *.x files which were output binary files for CC-RL and CC-RX toolchains. This implementation will cover scenario where askProgramPath is resolving these extensions for RL and RX families.
RH850 debug support is officially added to the extensions.

Renesas Build Extension

Improved CMake integration provided. The CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH no longer needs to be defined in cross.cmake if the toolchain path already exists in the "PATH" environment variable.
If the toolchain path is not defined by the user, then an error is captured and shown in the "Problems" window of the VSCode.
Users can directly invoke the "RZ/N Smart Configurators" from the VSCode command palette by running the "Create RZ/N project with Smart Configurator" command.
Users can directly invoke the "RA Smart Configurators" from the VSCode command palette by running the "Create RA project with Smart Configurator" command.
R-Car project files creation was not clear, the menu items have been added to support building CMake for "RCar CMake Development board/SoC project files" and "RCar CMake Instruction Set Simulators project files"
CC-RH project files creation and setup for build has been added to the extensions.

Notes

GDB Server is not terminated after disconnecting when debugging on Linux target OS. Workaround is to kill GDB Server manually and then connect again.
The "Run To Line" feature in VS Code adds a breakpoint to that line and resumes to hit that breakpoint. If running to a valid source line that has a disabled breakpoint, using the "Run To Line" feature will resume the execution without breaking at that line.
Note: ARM based devices are now using Python 3.10. RX, RL, RH based devices are remaining on Python 2.7.