SAM E70 Xplained

[ehughes]

Just a warning for anyone who may be thinking about the SAM E70 Xplained board (ARM Cortex M7).    I had purchased a couple for some power studies.       The EDBG firmware loaded ( 3.1f) is buggy.   You cannot start a debug session out of the box.    There is a workaround  but it is quite annoying when you are getting started with the platform.   Atmel support has an internal version of firmware that fixes the problem but you have to contact them to get it.

[ataradov]

The EDBG firmware loaded ( 3.1f) is buggy.

What exactly a bug is? I don't have any problems with them, but there many combinations of various tools that come into play.

[ehughes]

You cannot download and start a debug session.      You have to 1st download the flash,   reset the CPU with the reset button and then attach to the target. To stop at main,  you have to put a dummy while() loop that you unlock when you attach the debugger.

Atmel support claimed this is in the 3.1f firmware on the E70 board with the current version of Studio 7.     I have 2 boards and they do exact the same thing.  It is quite annoying.

I have yet to try a real debugger such as a J-Link but that is next on my list when I get some time.

[ataradov]

With Atmel Studio 7 (Version: 7.0.1006) and EDBG Firmware Version  3.19, I don't see any problems. This is the latest version of firmware supplied eith for that version of AS, and I don't want to upgrade, but it looks like a new error. So downgrading your version may help.