Texas Instruments MSP50C6xx - Manual (Page 354)

Reported Bugs With Code Development Tool
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5.9 Reported Bugs With Code Development Tool
The following are reported bugs for code development tool version 2.39.
Breakpoint: Placement of hardware breakpoints is important for reliable
operation. Pipeline latency and sleep modes affect the scan logic and prevent
hardware breakpoints from working in the following cases. Placing a
breakpoint within two cycles of an IDLE instruction causes a breakpoint while
the part is still in a low power mode. This will cause the code development tool
to lose sync with the hardware. This is the same effect as trying to stop
execution from the tool while the part is in a low power mode. Hardware
breakpoints should not be placed within two cycles of a label accessed with
a CALL instruction or as an ISR. This results in unreliable performance of the
breakpoint. The breakpoint may not be triggered even though the code is
executed. Placing the breakpoint a few lines into the routine solves this issue.
Placing a hardware breakpoint within two cycles of a RET can be unreliable
also. In general it is best not to place hardware breakpoints at the very
beginning or end of subroutines or ISRs.
Hardware Presence: If the tool tries to communicate with the hardware and
the hardware is not connected or is powered down it will lose sync. It is
important to always keep the chip in the socket and powered unless the tool
is stopped. The tool also communicates with the hardware after linking and
when the tool is started.