doc: develop: Add a general section on gdb usage

Mashed up from different sources linked below, including the now gone
Wiki and doc/README.arm-relocation file.  Tested on a custom board with
AT91 SAMA5D2 SoC and Segger J-Link Base adapter.  This is only generic
advice here, the usage is not board specific.  Some board docs have more
specific instructions on using gdb with a particular board.

Link: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embedded-recipes-2019-introduction-to-jtag-debugging/177511981
Link: https://boundarydevices.com/debugging-using-segger-j-link-jtag/
Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20141224200032/http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/DebuggingUBoot
Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20141206064148/http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/GDBScripts1
Suggested-by: Marek Vasut <marex@denx.de>
Signed-off-by: Alexander Dahl <ada@thorsis.com>
Reviewed-by: Heinrich Schuchardt <heinrich.schuchardt@canonical.com>

2 files changed, 172 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/develop/gdb.rst b/doc/develop/gdb.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4e359c7f226
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/develop/gdb.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
+.. Copyright (c) 2024 Alexander Dahl
+
+Debugging U-Boot with GDB
+=========================
+
+Using a JTAG adapter it is possible to debug a running U-Boot with GDB.
+A common way is to connect a debug adapter to the JTAG connector of your
+board, run a GDB server, connect GDB to the GDB server, and use GDB as usual.
+
+Similarly QEMU can provide a GDB server.
+
+Preparing build
+---------------
+
+Building U-Boot with with reduced optimization (-Og) and without link time
+optimization is recommended for easier debugging::
+
+    CONFIG_CC_OPTIMIZE_FOR_DEBUG=y
+    CONFIG_LTO=n
+
+Otherwise build, install, and run U-Boot as usual.
+
+Using OpenOCD as GDB server
+---------------------------
+
+`OpenOCD <https://openocd.org/>`_ is an open source tool supporting hardware
+debug probes, and providing a GDB server. It is readily available in major Linux
+distributions or you can build it from source.
+
+Here is example of starting OpenOCD on Debian using a J-Link adapter and a
+board with an AT91 SAMA5D2 SoC:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    $ openocd -f interface/jlink.cfg -f target/at91sama5d2.cfg -c 'adapter speed 4000'
+    Open On-Chip Debugger 0.12.0
+    Licensed under GNU GPL v2
+    For bug reports, read
+            http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html
+    Info : auto-selecting first available session transport "jtag". To override use 'transport select <transport>'.
+    adapter speed: 4000 kHz
+
+    Info : Listening on port 6666 for tcl connections
+    Info : Listening on port 4444 for telnet connections
+    Info : J-Link V10 compiled Jan 30 2023 11:28:07
+    Info : Hardware version: 10.10
+    Info : VTarget = 3.244 V
+    Info : clock speed 4000 kHz
+    Info : JTAG tap: at91sama5d2.cpu tap/device found: 0x5ba00477 (mfg: 0x23b (ARM Ltd), part: 0xba00, ver: 0x5)
+    Info : at91sama5d2.cpu_a5.0: hardware has 3 breakpoints, 2 watchpoints
+    Info : at91sama5d2.cpu_a5.0: MPIDR level2 0, cluster 0, core 0, mono core, no SMT
+    Info : starting gdb server for at91sama5d2.cpu_a5.0 on 3333
+    Info : Listening on port 3333 for gdb connections
+
+Notice that OpenOCD is listening on port 3333 for GDB connections.
+
+Using QEMU as GDB server
+------------------------
+
+When running U-Boot on QEMU you can used the '-gdb' parameter to provide a
+GDB server:
+
+     qemu-system-riscv64 -M virt -nographic -gdb tcp::3333 -kernel u-boot
+
+Running a GDB session
+----------------------
+
+You need a GDB suited for your target. This can be the GDB coming with your
+toolchain or *gdb-multiarch* available in your Linux distribution.
+
+.. prompt:: bash $
+
+    gdb-multiarch u-boot
+
+In the above command-line *u-boot* is the U-boot binary in your build
+directory. You may need to adjust the path when calling GDB.
+
+Connect to the GDB server like this:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    (gdb) target extended-remote :3333
+    Remote debugging using :3333
+    0x27fa9ac6 in ?? ()
+    (gdb)
+
+This is fine for debugging before U-Boot relocates itself.
+
+For debugging U-Boot after relocation you need to indicate the relocation
+address to GDB. You can retrieve the relocation address from the U-Boot shell
+with the command *bdinfo*:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    U-Boot> bdinfo
+    boot_params = 0x20000100
+    DRAM bank   = 0x00000000
+    -> start    = 0x20000000
+    -> size     = 0x08000000
+    flashstart  = 0x00000000
+    flashsize   = 0x00000000
+    flashoffset = 0x00000000
+    baudrate    = 115200 bps
+    relocaddr   = 0x27f7a000
+    reloc off   = 0x0607a000
+    Build       = 32-bit
+    current eth = ethernet@f8008000
+    ethaddr     = 00:50:c2:31:58:d4
+    IP addr     = <NULL>
+    fdt_blob    = 0x27b36060
+    new_fdt     = 0x27b36060
+    fdt_size    = 0x00003e40
+    lmb_dump_all:
+     memory.cnt = 0x1 / max = 0x10
+     memory[0]      [0x20000000-0x27ffffff], 0x08000000 bytes flags: 0
+     reserved.cnt = 0x1 / max = 0x10
+     reserved[0]    [0x27b31d00-0x27ffffff], 0x004ce300 bytes flags: 0
+    devicetree  = separate
+    arch_number = 0x00000000
+    TLB addr    = 0x27ff0000
+    irq_sp      = 0x27b36050
+    sp start    = 0x27b36040
+    Early malloc usage: cd8 / 2000
+
+Look out for the line starting with *relocaddr* which has the address
+you need, ``0x27f7a000`` in this case.
+
+On most architectures (not sandbox, x86, Xtensa) the global data pointer is
+stored in a fixed register:
+
+============ ========
+Architecture Register
+============ ========
+arc          r25
+arm          r9
+arm64        x18
+m68k         d7
+microblaze   r31
+mips         k0
+nios2        gp
+powerpc      r2
+riscv        gp
+sh           r13
+============ ========
+
+On these architecture the relocation address cat be determined by
+dereferencing the global data pointer stored in register, *r9* in the example:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+     (gdb) p/x (*(struct global_data*)$r9)->relocaddr
+     $1 = 0x27f7a000
+
+In the GDB shell discard the previously loaded symbol file and add it once
+again with the relocation address like this:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    (gdb) symbol-file
+    Discard symbol table from `/home/adahl/build/u-boot/v2024.04.x/u-boot'? (y or n) y
+    No symbol file now.
+    (gdb) add-symbol-file u-boot 0x27f7a000
+    add symbol table from file "u-boot" at
+            .text_addr = 0x27f7a000
+    (y or n) y
+    Reading symbols from u-boot...
+    (gdb)
+
+You can now use GDB as usual, setting breakpoints, printing backtraces,
+inspecting variables, stepping through the code, etc.
diff --git a/doc/develop/index.rst b/doc/develop/index.rst
index f82e148b101..f9c4bf839ee 100644
--- a/doc/develop/index.rst
+++ b/doc/develop/index.rst
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ Debugging
    :maxdepth: 1
 
    crash_dumps
+   gdb
    trace
 
 Packaging