Windbg kernel debugging over USB?

After Win10 1703 canceled Firewire kernel debugging, I tried to switch to USB 3.0.

Procedure following
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/setting-up-a-usb-3-0-debug-cable-connection
but no success.

Anybody got it working? Or are things in 2017 not better than in 2006?
http://www.osronline.com/article.cfm?article=456

What I did in detail:

  1. Target has no debug-USB ports built in, so I bought a PCIE USB 3.0 card with Fresco FL1100 chipset. This chipset has debug support.
    The card is “Inateck KT4006”
    Device Manager shows no Power Management tab for this card.

  2. I bought a USB debugging cable from DataPro:
    https://www.datapro.net/products/usb-3-0-super-speed-a-a-debugging-cable.html

  3. Usbview.exe on target says:
    4 USB3.0 ports with debug support.
    bus.device.function = 4.0.0
    Debug port number: 0

  4. Host setup with
    bcdedit /debug on
    bcdedit /dbgsettings usb targetname:test05
    bcdedit /set “{dbgsettings}” busparams 4.0.0
    bcdedit /dbgsettings
    and reboot

  5. I launch a windbg 10.0.14321,
    kernel connect to USB, targetname=“test05”
    Many tries, never any connections

I tried 2 different hosts (Notebook and desktop)

I heard something about “enabling USB debug support in BIOS”, but have no such menu items.

Thanks for caring,
Joerg

What target OS are you trying to test? Debugging via USB3.0 wasn’t an
option for Windows 7 and earlier. Bought that same data pro cable years
ago, and never was able to use it. Since Windows 8+ supports debugging via
network, the usb 3.0 seemed irrelevant. I’m curious to hear if anyone has
had any luck with this as well.

On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 5:54 AM wrote:

> After Win10 1703 canceled Firewire kernel debugging, I tried to switch to
> USB 3.0.
>
> Procedure following
>
> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/setting-up-a-usb-3-0-debug-cable-connection
> but no success.
>
> Anybody got it working? Or are things in 2017 not better than in 2006?
> http://www.osronline.com/article.cfm?article=456
>
> ####
> What I did in detail:
>
> 1) Target has no debug-USB ports built in, so I bought a PCIE USB 3.0 card
> with Fresco FL1100 chipset. This chipset has debug support.
> The card is “Inateck KT4006”
> Device Manager shows no Power Management tab for this card.
>
> 2) I bought a USB debugging cable from DataPro:
>
> https://www.datapro.net/products/usb-3-0-super-speed-a-a-debugging-cable.html
>
> 3) Usbview.exe on target says:
> 4 USB3.0 ports with debug support.
> bus.device.function = 4.0.0
> Debug port number: 0
>
> 4) Host setup with
> bcdedit /debug on
> bcdedit /dbgsettings usb targetname:test05
> bcdedit /set “{dbgsettings}” busparams 4.0.0
> bcdedit /dbgsettings
> and reboot
>
> 5) I launch a windbg 10.0.14321,
> kernel connect to USB, targetname=“test05”
> Many tries, never any connections
>
> I tried 2 different hosts (Notebook and desktop)
>
> I heard something about “enabling USB debug support in BIOS”, but have no
> such menu items.
>
> Thanks for caring,
> Joerg
>
> —
> WINDBG is sponsored by OSR
>
> OSR is hiring!! Info at http://www.osr.com/careers
>
>
> MONTHLY seminars on crash dump analysis, WDF, Windows internals and
> software drivers!
> Details at http:
>
> To unsubscribe, visit the List Server section of OSR Online at <
> http://www.osronline.com/page.cfm?name=ListServer&gt;
></http:>

Jesse,

both host and target are Win 10 1703 “Creator” x64.

I also tried network debugging before, also to no success.
However my network card is in the approved list, and instructions are quite clear.
I followed the windbg help “Setting Up Kernel-Mode Debugging over a Network Cable Manually”.

Did you need to solve any special problems?

best,
Joerg

Hi Joerg,
Although i haven’t tried the very latest Win 10 build yet, I’ve had very good luck with kernel debugging over USB 3.0. There are a couple of things you could check.

  1. If you don’t open windbg as administrator it can’t install the drivers needed to connect to the target. You only need to open it as Admin once. After the drivers are setup it will work when run normally. I see that mentioned in the OSR instructions you linked to but i think that should be in BOLD in the instructions because it really is important.
    Sometimes i’ve found it helpful to reboot the target with windbg open already on the host.

  2. Check which version of the Fresco FL1100 is on your card. Only the FL1100EX and newer support debug over USB. The easiest way to tell is to look in device manager at the host’s revision #. FL1100EX is Rev 0x10. Look at the Compatible Ids property. One of the entries should be “PCI\VEN_1B73&DEV_1100&REV_10”

  3. For completeness, make sure you are using a USB 3.0 port on the host system. The host system USB 3 controller does not need to support USB debug but you do need a USB 3.0 port.

Hope you get it working.
Eric Wittmayer

hello Joerg,
Not all USB3.0 cables and PCIE to USB3 boards are supported as windbg debug , But you can find some mature product to avoid cost time .I can share the details ,You can buy them from the link and there are details how to setup the debug.
USB 3.0 debug cable https://www.ebay.com/itm/402650436755
PCIE to USB3.0 debug device https://www.ebay.com/itm/402677745334

Good luck!
iihacker

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