Debugging C++ code on a Raspberry Pi Pico using the Raspberry Pi Pico Debug Probe and Visual Studio Code.

Settings.json and launch.json/launch2350.json for debugging C++ code on a Raspberry Pi Pico using the Raspberry Pi Pico Debug Probe in combination with Visual Studio Code.

Note

Use launch.json for Pico and launch2350.json for Pico 2. (rename launch2350.json to launch.json in your .vscode folder0

Tested with Ubuntu Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Works also using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS in Windows Subsystem for Linux V2 (WSL2) on Windows 11

In general

Copy settings.json and launch.json from this repository to the .vscode folder of your Raspberrt Pi Pico C++ Project.

Setup de correct udev settings to connect to probe as non-admin user:

cd ~
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raspberrypi/openocd/rp2040/contrib/60-openocd.rules
sudo mv 60-openocd.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
sudo service udev restart
sudo udevadm control --reload

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2)

When using WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) with the probe attached to your usb device you need to do these additional steps:

Restart wsl from a Windows command prompt for the udev settings to become in effect:

wsl --shutdown
wsl

Install zadig on Windows.

Install usbipd on Windows: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/connect-usb Use an admin command prompt.

winget install usbipd

In an admin command prompt on Windows:

usbipd list

PS C:\Users\fhoed> usbipd list
Connected:
BUSID  VID:PID    DEVICE                                                        STATE
1-2    1b1c:1b8e  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared
1-5    2e8a:000c  CMSIS-DAP v2 Interface, Serieel USB-apparaat (COM4)           Attached
1-13   048d:8297  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared
1-14   8087:0029  Intel(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R)                                Not shared
6-2    1b1c:0c23  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared
6-3    1b1c:1b62  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared
7-1    1b1c:0c10  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared
11-4   1b1c:0c17  USB-invoerapparaat                                            Not shared

Find the line with 'CMSIS-DAP v2 Interface' and issue this command using the bus id from the above command. For this example i use bus id 1-5

usbipd bind --busid 1-5

In a non-admin normal command prompt on Windows, you can attach the device to WSL:

usbipd attach --wsl --busid 1-5

In WSL, you can use lsusb to see if the device is attached:

First, install usbutils when not present:

sudo apt-get install usbutils

lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2e8a:000c Raspberry Pi Debug Probe (CMSIS-DAP)
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

Note

Attaching the device in WSL is not persistent. You can use the AttachPicoProbeinWSL.ps1 powershell script as a Windows scheduled task executed at login. It will automatically detect the Debug Probe and attaches it to WSL.