Debugging under VS Code

[kk7xo]

I have MCUXpressoIDE set up and working with my LPCXpresso 845MAX development board.  I would like to shift to the VS Code IDE (that is the IDE standard in my company) and debug using the CMSIS-DAP port so I can also use the VCOM port.  I understand that I can use my J-Link adapter but to do so I need to keep the LPC11U3x in reset state using a jumper, and then I lose the VCOM port.

Is there any way to debug under VS Code using the LPC11U3x CMSIS-DAP port? 

[ErichStyger]

I don't recommend LinkServer for such a thing (at least what is available these days). There are some rather obscure ways to call LinkServer: basically you need to inspect how exactly it gets called from the Eclipse based MCUXpresso IDE. You need to keep in mind that you need to use the exact same device and settings for this. At the end: I don't recommend this. Rather go with a J-Link connection: that works.

Sorry for the bad news.

[kk7xo]

I don't know how to access LinkServer as a stand alone program.  I have been trying openocd and pyocd, and have had limited success, although I still need to do several operations manually from a terminal window.  I can't seem to get the configuration right in the launch.json.  I was hoping that there was a seamless way to do it using LinkServer but I can't seem to find the executable or any instructions on how to set it up.  It seems to be tightly integrated into MCUXpressoIDE and I'm not sure it can be used on its own.  Do you know anything about this?

[ErichStyger]

I assume you would use the LinkServer debug connection to the CMSIS-DAP. However, the LinkServer (at least in the current version) does not have a gdb server port, which would be required for this. So currently you would need to use a P&E or SEGGER gdb server. But with SEGGER you could use the RTT (https://mcuoneclipse.com/2015/07/07/using-segger-real-time-terminal-rtt-with-eclipse/) instead of the VCOM which is faster and does not require any physical pins. This is what I use for my boards.