unable load back hex file dumped from address above 0x80000000, error from Memory Inspector: Could not apply memory from 'file.hex': Address passed to MemoryMap is negative

[madalinbucur]

Working on a IMXRT1170 board, I want to apply memory from file to an address that is above 0x80000000.
The address seems to be interpreted as signed and I get an error from memory inspector "Could not apply memory from 'file.hex': Address passed to MemoryMap is negative".

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Start debug session
2. Open memory view at a certain address above 0x80000000, i.e. 0x800b5dc0
3. Store memory to file, I save a hex file of 61440 bytes
4. Try to load back same file (or another generated hex) to same address, I get an error:

Expected behavior: hex file loads without issues.

Using MCUXpresso

• OS: [Linux Ubuntu 22.04.1, Windows 11, using Remote Development packages]
• GNU gdb (Ubuntu 12.1-0ubuntu1~22.04.2)
• Zephyr SDK: 0.17.4
• Cross-compiler: arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc 12.2.0 (C and C++)
• Linker (GnuLd): ld.bfd 2.38

launch.json contents:
{
"configurations": [
{
"type": "mcuxpresso-debug",
"name": "Debug",
"request": "launch",
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"executable": {
"elf": ""
},
"stopAtSymbol": "main",
"probeSerialNumber": "1067662867",
"isAttach": false,
"skipBuildBeforeDebug": false,
"gdbInitCommands": [
"set remotetimeout 600",
"set debug-file-directory",
"set non-stop off"
],
"gdbServerConfigs": {
"linkserver": {},
"segger": {},
"pemicro": {}
},
"showDevDebugOutput": "none"
}
]
}

Debug Console writes this on memory save, nothing on memory load:

Reading 32768 bytes @ address 0x800B5DC0
Reading 28672 bytes @ address 0x800BDDC0

Reading 32768 bytes @ address 0x800B5DC0
Reading 28672 bytes @ address 0x800BDDC0

Already tried to report this in the wrong place: Marus/cortex-debug#1225

0x800b5dc0_61440.zip

[jreineckearm]

Thanks for raising this @madalinbucur . I can confirm the problem with a four byte access to a CoreSight component in a similar target device.

The error is thrown by the dependency we use for writing/loading the hex file. In particular this line: https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nrf-intel-hex/blob/fe4e0182ea8b6311413be2e36101fc60458c9cdd/intel-hex.js#L265
We use the latest published version of this package.

Memory Inspector hex file management is implemented here:

• write:

  vscode-memory-inspector/src/plugin/memory-storage.ts

  Line 67 in 4bcf94a

  public async storeMemory(sessionId: string | undefined, args?: StoreMemoryArguments): Promise<void> {

• read:

  vscode-memory-inspector/src/plugin/memory-storage.ts

  Line 165 in 4bcf94a

  public async applyMemory(sessionId: string | undefined, args?: ApplyMemoryArguments): Promise<ApplyMemoryResult> {

Three options to resolve this:

• Raise with the owners of the dependency and see if we can get a fix there.
• Replace the hex reader/writer with a different dependency that handles this better.
• Replace the hex reader/writer with something self-written.

Last option is the least preferred due to the extra maintenance efforts. So first to explore the other two options. Given little activity on the repo, option two might get this fixed more quickly.

@madalinbucur , I can't tell yet when I or someone else in my team would have time to look into this. Would you be interested/confident enough to contribute to get this resolved? This certainly would help to accelerate resolution of the problem.