[2008.9]Debugging the FreeRunner Kernel?

[Arigead]

Alex Osborne wrote:
> Helo Arigead,
>
> Arigead wrote:
>   
>> Does anybody have an opinion 
>> that it might not be the kernel? As it happens all the time for various 
>> apps I'm assuming that it's something core.
>>   
>>     
> When it locks up, does the device stop responding to ping over USB?  
> That would indicate the whole kernel is getting messed up by the lock ups.
>
>   
>> Would the debug board enable me to get to the bottom 
>> of this? 
>>     
> It would probably help to some extent.  You could see the kernel 
> messages over the serial console and potentially even inspect what the 
> CPU is doing when it hangs over JTAG.  Although if it's a hardware 
> fault, which seems likely if nobody else seems to be experiencing random 
> lockups, I guess it could be really hard to diagnose even with the debug 
> board.
>   
>> Will somebody 
>> please reply so that I can tell it's got to the list
>>   
>>     
> Your mails are getting to the list.  See for example:
>
> http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/openmoko-community/2008/10/1/3465464
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alex
>   
Thanks Alex,
I do think it's most likely a HW problem as it's happening in all the 
Distros. Well I've not really tried with Qtopia to much, would prefer to 
be using [ASU] or [FSO]. Having said that if I tried Qtopia and it locks 
then it would suggest it's HW.

Anyhow perhaps the only way to go is to get the development board. Even 
if it is a HW problem it's locking the SW somewhere. I'll try Qtopia 
over the weekend and try build a SW Image for the FR. I've never built 
the entire system but I might try and see if I can put in a few 
judicious Printf's. Problem with printf's or logging is that the code 
might have passed the printf and lock 20 odd instructions later and 
you'd not see the printout, depending on the implementation. I don't 
know how logging is implemented but I'll have a look.

Thanks again for getting back to me. Don't know whether to invest more 
money in the debug board or try get a replacement. It is a challenge 
though :-)