Troubleshooting the application using SFR dump

With the SFR dump method you can determine what CPU registers were changed between two points (e.g. between reset and some function, function entry and exit, CPU reset and CPU initialization etc.) and find issues via low-level debugging by revealing and comparing the content of two CPU registers.

Note that you must be familiar with which changes are relevant for the issue at hand.

Solution:

1. Right-click in the SFR window and select Options. Make sure all three options (Full, after; Group, after; Group if access error occurs) in the Abort refresh  section are disabled.

2. Right-click on the specific register in the SFR window and select Save.

3. In the Export dialog, make sure the Text (all) option in the Format field and the Selection option in the Scope section are selected.

Example:  

CPU runs correctly only when debugger is physically detached, otherwise it misbehaves. Using Hot Attach, it is possible to connect to a running CPU.

1. Generate a SFR dump when CPU is stopped on a specific breakpoint.
2. Disable Hot Attach.
3. Start the debug session and run the CPU until it hits the same breakpoint.
4. Generate another SFR dump and compare it to the first one.