Target request failed: No symbol table is loaded.

Sorry I don't mean to cross-post but I first asked this question in the following thread:

http://alteraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22007

However that thread was originally created to deal with other more generic problems and my question is now more relevant to this forum.

I'm receiving the following error when I try debug on my DE2 board:

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Unable to set temporary breakpoint in main.

Reason: Target request failed: No symbol table is loaded. Use the "file" command..

Continue?

Yes | No

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GDB console output:

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mi_cmd_stack_list_frames: No stack.

No symbol table is loaded. Use the "file" command.

165-target-select remote :50681

165^connected,thread-id="0",frame={addr="0x00040020",func="??",args=[]}

(gdb)

166-gdb-set new-console

&"No symbol table is loaded. Use the \"file\" command.\n"

166^error,msg="No symbol table is loaded. Use the \"file\" command."

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The debug symbols obviously aren't being loaded for some reason however I'm unsure why. I am compiling and running debug mode so I'm unsure what the problem is.

Any help would be appreciated.