Debugging Cortex-M7 Firmware on i.MX8MPlus EVK(with and without Cortex-A53)

Subrahmanyam1 — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 12:24:34 GMT

Hello,
I am working with the i.MX8MPlus EVK and using the MCUXpressoSDK (not MCUXpressoIDE or VS Code) for cortex-M7 development. I can successfully build my project and generated the output files(.elf and .bin) using ARM GCC Compiler.

Now i need some information regarding:

Debugging the M7 Firmware :
1. with cortex-A53:
what is the detailed process to flash and run the M7 firmware using the Cortex-A53 side.(for example via u-boot commands or linux remoteproc)

2. without Cortex-A53 :

What is the detailed process to flash and debug the M7 firmware directly, without depending on the A53 core?
How is the M7 firmware typically loaded into OCRAM/TCM, and can it be run fully standalone?

Debugging Tools and Probes

Which debug probes are officially supported for connecting directly to the Cortex-M7 on this EVK?
Which probes/tools work well with bare-metal development (no IDE, only MCUXpressoSDk and GCC Tool chain)?
Is it possible to debug the M7 independently with JTAG/SWD, or must the A53 be involved for initialization?

NOTE: I am using Ubuntu (Linux pc not windows) operating system for MCUXpresso SDK.

i.MX Processors中的主题 Debugging Cortex-M7 Firmware on i.MX8MPlus EVK(with and without Cortex-A53)

Debugging Cortex-M7 Firmware on i.MX8MPlus EVK(with and without Cortex-A53)