How to debug cocos2d-x 3 native code on android device

Question

I could not find any cookbook/tutorial how build in debug build a cocos2d-x 3.1 project for Android and how to debug it directly on device. Please help by pointing out steps.

What I do and what problems I have:

• cd proj.android
• cocos compile -p android -m debug --ndk-mode NDK_DEBUG=1 (to build with debug info)
• cocos run -p android -m debug to deploy on device
• run app on the device
• cd jni
• ndk-gdb

And I get this error:

Nareks-MacBook-Pro:jni Narek$ ndk-gdb
jni/Android.mk:67: *** Android NDK: Aborting.    .  Stop.
ERROR: The device does not support the application's targetted CPU ABIs!
       Device supports:  armeabi-v7a armeabi
       Package supports: Android NDK: 

Into Application.mk I have added:

APP_ABI := armeabi armeabi-v7a
APP_PLATFORM := android-10

but it did not help. What I do wrong?

EDIT: Adding result of ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI command called in projects jni directory:

Nareks-MacBook-Pro:jni Narek$ ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI 
Android NDK: /Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/jni/Android.mk: Cannot find module with tag '.' in import path    
Android NDK: Are you sure your NDK_MODULE_PATH variable is properly defined ?    
Android NDK: The following directories were searched:    
Android NDK:         
/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/jni/Android.mk:67: *** Android NDK: Aborting.    .  Stop.

Emotionalize

Can you check if there are obj files generated for respective ABI's in proj.android\obj\local\armeabi and proj.android\obj\local\armeabi-v7adirectories? – Organza

@VikasPatidar in those directories I have some .a and .so files (libcocos2d.a, libcocos2dcpp.so, libbox2d.a) and also two directories: objs and objs_debug. In each of these directories I have the following directories box2d_static, cocos2dcpp_shared, cocos_extension_static.... In its turn in there directories there are object files of other directories with object files. Is this correct? – Emotionalize

use ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI to find correct ABI and then change it in Application.mk Also make sure APP_PLATFORM is same as running on device. e.g. android-10 is for Android 2.3.3 is version of running device then also update AndroidManiefest.xml to correct target and minimum versions. Set them as android:minSdkVersion="10" android:targetSdkVersion="10" Keep both as same. I have tried with cocos2dx 3.0 version with NDK-r9d in Eclipse. – Organza

@VikasPatidar thanks for your help. Please see the result of ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABIin my edit question text. – Emotionalize

@VikasPatidar I think you saved my life :) After using ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI I saw that NDK_MODULE_PATH is missing. I called cocos compile -p android -m debug --ndk-mode NDK_DEBUG=1. This command shows the NDK_MODULE_PATH that should be set. I have exproted NDK_MODULE_PATH to /Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/cocos:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/external and it solved the problem. – Emotionalize

Glad it worked!!! I usually add this path in Android.mk file. Here is a sample pastebin.com/Pd3gY1p3 – Organza

@VikasPatidar Thanks. But shouldn't be that path set in terminal where I call ndk-gdb? And second question: what denotes APP_PLATFORM? Is it the minimum Android API or which the app should be compiled? – Emotionalize

1) I think you don't need to provide NDK_MODULE_PATH in argument in terminal or command prompt. Instead you should set it either in System Variables or in mk file. If you are using multiple versions of cocos2dx then it's good practice to use. 2) I used APP_PLATFORM as a target platform used in local.properties – Organza

Answer 1

Here is the step-by-stet tutorial to debug cocos2d-x 3.x on Android device. Please correct or optimize my steps if you do it in better way.

1. cd proj.android
2. cocos compile -p android -m debug --ndk-mode NDK_DEBUG=1 (to build with debug info)
3. cocos run -p android -m debug to deploy on device (sometimes it rebuilds, and I don't know why). This command uninstalls former installation, installs the new one and runs the app on the device.
4. make sure in proj.android/libs/armeabi directory you have the following files gdb.setup, gdbserver, libcocos2dcpp.so
5. also make sure that in /proj.android/jni/obj/local/armeabi directory you have app_process, gdb.setup, libc.so, linker
6. ndk-gdb (important! this should be called in projects directory, not in jni directory)

If it worked then congratulations! But in this step you may see such error message:

Nareks-MacBook-Pro:proj.android Narek$ ndk-gdb
jni/Android.mk:67: *** Android NDK: Aborting.    .  Stop.
ERROR: The device does not support the application's targetted CPU ABIs!
       Device supports:  armeabi-v7a armeabi
       Package supports: Android NDK: 

Don't worry :). Lets see what is wrong:

1. here is the result of ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI command called in project's jni directory:

   Nareks-MacBook-Pro:jni Narek$ ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI Android NDK: /Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/jni/Android.mk: Cannot find module with tag '.' in import path
   Android NDK: Are you sure your NDK_MODULE_PATH variable is properly defined ?
   Android NDK: The following directories were searched:
   Android NDK:
   /Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/jni/Android.mk:67: *** Android NDK: Aborting. . Stop.

As you can see NDK_MODULE_PATH is missing. For obtaining the value do the following. Go to step where you compiled code. In first linse of execution of command cocos compile -p android -m debug --ndk-mode NDK_DEBUG=1 you can see something like this:

Runing command: compile
Building mode: debug
building native
NDK build mode: NDK_DEBUG=1
The Selected NDK toolchain version was 4.8 !
running: '/Users/Narek/NoorGames/android-ndk-r9d/ndk-build -C /Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android -j1 NDK_MODULE_PATH=/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/cocos:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/external'

2. copy from the log above you see the necessary value of NDK_MODULE_PATH. Execute the following command export NDK_MODULE_PATH=/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/cocos:/Users/Narek/NoorGames/Games/test2/proj.android/../cocos2d/external (be attentive to copy your path not mine)

That's it. Now run game on device, cd proj.android, call ndk-gdb and you should be able to debug with gdb.

I personally looked for this kind of tutorial already more than 20 days. I hope you enjoy your debugging already. :) And thank you @VikasPatidar for your help with ndk-build DUMP_APP_ABI step!

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EDIT1: As commented Vikas you can add NDK_MODULE_PATH in Android.mk file like this:

NDK_MODULE_PATH := $(LOCAL_PATH)/../../../../cocos
NDK_MODULE_PATH += $(LOCAL_PATH)/../../../../external

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EDIT2: If your app crashed here is a very powerful and easy way to investigate the problem by preventing direct debugging:

adb logcat | $NDK_ROOT/ndk-stack -sym $PROJECT_PATH/obj/local/armeabi

It prints the crash dump.

Emotionalize

Thanks for that - especially the last EDIT2. Never had seen that before. – Jutland

My project built successfully. But in in proj.android/libs/armeabi directory I don't have the files gdb.setup, gdbserver. I only have libcocos2dcpp.so. How do I get them ? – Toplevel

@John -m debug --ndk-mode NDK_DEBUG=1 does not create that files? – Emotionalize

No it didn't. I have cocos2d-x v 3.7, NDK r10c and Android SDK 22. NDK Toolchain version is 4.9. I don't know if any of this matters as I haven't made any android apps before. – Toplevel