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Using the Debugger

This guide will give you a walkthrough of using Linux Graphics Debugger for the first time. Linux Graphics Debugger connects to either the local machine for local debugging, or a target machine using SSH. As such, the target machine must be capable of connecting via remote SSH clients.

Launching Applications with Linux Graphics Debugger:

From a terminal prompt, start Linux Graphics Debugger by running the nvidia-gfx-debugger executable.
The first prompt selects whether you are targeting a 32-bit or 64-bit application.
The second prompt is where you add the connection information for your target. Enter the IP or hostname of the target (if you are debugging on the local machine, use localhost), select the port number to use, and the username and password.
Note that when you are debugging on the local machine, port number, user name, and password are not required.
The Launch and Connect to Application dialog will appear and default to your connected device.
The Linux Graphics Debugger GUI supports launching applications with the interposer preloaded. This requires pushing the interposer .so file to the target system. Once you select your target device, the button in the upper right corner will show the current status of the interposer.
If the button has an X, the interposer is not on the target device. Click the button to push the interposer to the target device.
In the middle of the Launch and Connect to Application screen, you can select the drop-down next to Launch Environment to set any specific environment variables needed for your application. Existing environment variables may be edited by double-clicking their value.
Choose the application you are interested in debugging from the list of applications, and press the Launch button in the lower right hand corner of the dialog. Once the application has started you should see the main screen transition to the Performance Dashboard.
Once the application has started you should see the main screen transition to the Performance Dashboard.

Attaching to Applications with Linux Graphics Debugger

If you are not using SSH, or if launching the application doesn't work, uncheck the Enable SSH box, enter the IP/host name of the target, and click OK.
Note: If you want to re-enable SSH, check the Enable SSH box, and enter the username and password to connect to the target device.
If you previously launched your application and disconnected the debugger, then want to reattach to debug other issues, select the Attach tab on the Launch and Connect to Application dialog, and click the refresh button just above the Process Name list to see the application of interest.
Applications that were previously launched for Frame Debugging will appear in the list.
1. You can choose Show All if you want to view all applications that are running on the target machine; applications that cannot be debugged will appear with their names grayed out.
2. To quickly locate a specific application by name, you can type the first few letters of its name, or its process ID in the Search field, and only matching applications will appear in the list.
Select the application and click Attach in the lower right corner to start using Linux Graphics Debugger.

Custom Launch Parameters

If a particular application requires custom launch parameters beyond what the Launch Environment section of the Launch tab provides, it may be launched via a custom shell script. The frame debugging mechanisms relies on the LD_PRELOAD linker environment variable. After clicking the Install button from the debugger's launch tab, set LD_PRELOAD to ~/.tgd/libs/libNvidia_gfx_debugger.so.