Driver Debugging (Windows CE 5.0)
With Platform Builder, you can debug your device driver using debug zones, the kernel debugger, and various hardware-debugging methods.
Debug zones and the Platform Builder debugger provide the following support for driver debugging:
A way to selectively turn the debugging message output from your driver on and off by using macros.
This allows you to trace execution of your device driver code without halting the OS. Tracing is a simple and non-intrusive way of catching problems in your driver code without causing the OS to stop responding.
Process, thread, and debugging status information.
Access to debug zones through the IDE, and the ability to turn them on or off dynamically.
The kernel debugger stops all hardware interrupts, halts the entire OS, and provides the following debugging support:
- Allows you to single step through the OS or kernel code.
- Allows you to retrieve stack trace information.
The following table shows various hardware debugging methods.
| Hardware debug method | Description |
|---|---|
| PC Card extender | Allows you to debug power-draw related problems. PC Card extenders provide their own power, so you can rule out current fluctuations as the cause of your problem. |
| Logic analyzer | Helps you monitor the microprocessor or PCI bus traffic and analyze timing problems in your device driver. For ISA, PCI, and compact PCI busses, many vendors offer software or hardware solutions that allow you to connect a logic analyzer to the bus and decode the bus activity. You can use these for problems that are hard to trace, such as timing problems or direct memory access (DMA) transfers. |
| Background debug monitor | Allows hardware-assisted debugging. Microsoft recommends that your background debug monitor hardware comply with the 1149.1-2001 IEEE Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture 2001 (JTAG) Specification. |
| Debug LEDs, 7-segment LED | Provides an unintrusive way to debug. Use LEDs to signal execution of specified parts of your code. |
Depending on your device driver, the eMbedded Visual C++ debugger is another way to debug your device driver. For more information, see the eMbedded Visual C++ documentation.
See Also
How to Use the CETK to Test a Driver | System Debugging | Windows CE Drivers
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