Serial.println() doesn't cut it anymore. Need debugging big guns.

Serial monitor debugging has reached its limit in my project and I've decided to invest in something more substantial. Can anyone recommend hardware and software that definitely work on a Due? In addition, it would have to support Arduino's multiple tab format as my code is (dis)organized over 17 tabs.

99% of debugging can be achieved with Serial Prints, a blinking Led, Sam3x datasheet, Graynomad pinout diagram, a voltmetre and maybe something like Saleae logic analyzer if you don't have a scope.

What part of your code is so problematic that you would need another tool ?

I appreciate your advice, ard_newbie, and fully agree with you. Except for the logic analyzer, I have those tools and documents and am no novice with them. In addition, I frequently refer to the schematic and board layout for the PCA I designed, plus data sheets for major components on it. They and serial prints have served me well for over five years, on and off, with this project.

My “sketch” has grown to 360KB of .ino files that compile to 117KB. It's bug-free at this point, but needs planned features added and old ones improved. The difficulty is less about knowing what to print and more following that variable across multiple functions. The debug process turns into a series of repetitive uploads where it would be far easier, as I see it, to add watches and breakpoints.

If you insist on doing more heavy debugging than you can do with Serial.println then you could buy a SAM-ICE and use Atmel Studio (on windows) or GDB on OSX or LINUX. The due does have a JTAG port for SAM-ICE so you can connect it up directly.

Sam-ice is obsolete at this point. An Atmel-ice, pickit4, or mplab Snap would be preferable.

Of course, none of those work with the Arduino IDE, and I’m not sure whether any of the alternatives can easily import a sketch of the complexity you describe.

Since I was considering the Atmel-ice, I downloaded and installed Atmel Studio 7. Even though it claims to support Arduino, it won't support the multiple tabs. I've read it can load the .elf file, but I haven't had any success with that, either.

Thanks for the additional replies,

Jon