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Pico Debug

John edited this page Aug 4, 2026 · 12 revisions

Pico Debug Hardware

The pico_debug project provides a PCB which can host a Pico, plus another to act as a debugger.

By developing for the pico via a debugger, the target UART connection for debug trace is more convenient, as it does not renegotiate with the host whenever the target resets. You can also flash the Pico without using the host filesystem. The debugger also provides the conventional breakpoint, stepping etc functions.

It is not required to use Yarg, which only requires a standard Raspberry Pi Pico. The circuit follows the Raspberry Pi suggestion.

If you want to manufacture your own, I ordered PCBs from PCBWay, and aside from selecting HASL Lead Free, used defaults for all other items.

Features

The PCB provides these features:

  • Pico to use as a development target (can be Pico 1 or Pico 2)
  • The Hello_button circuit
  • Pico to use as a debugger (The Pico 1 is most straightforward)
  • Reset buttons for each Pico
  • A header to connect the debug pico to a debugger, should that be necessary.

Documentation

Raspberry Pi Original Circuit

debug-pico implements the circuit 'Debug with a second Pico or Pico 2' from the 'Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico-series' data sheet. In the revision I consulted (24), this is A2, figure 9, pages 16-22. This includes notes on how to use the debug probe firmware from a host PC.

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