What is JTAG Debug Level 3 for Nios II?

Dear Embedded_guy,

While Q18 is already released, I'm not quite sure that this document is still useful (December 2009??). Let me desribe what I'm talking about.

• First description of Debug I can find on the page 3-6: Nios II GDB Console and GDB Commands

This kind of debug is about GDB, no word about trace

• There is a few words about FS2 Console, which gives ability to trace(!). Here is the quote:

For more details about the Nios II-compatible version of the FS2 console, refer to the FS2-provided documentation in your Nios II installation, at \bin\fs2\doc.

Let's look inside:

There is no FS2 directory inside to check any information. There is no ability to call it from Nios2 Shell or cmd.

• SignalTap II Embedded Logic Analyzer - I can use it for tracing BUT I don't even need the debugger in Nios core for it, so it doesn't count
• Lauterbach Trace32 - this kind of debug needs extra hardware, also it is an OFF-CHIP trace

That's all. It doesn't answer my question about ON-CHIP trace abilities promised by Platform Designer.