How do I fix a "broken" debugger in EclipseME (MTJ)?

Question

How do I fix a broken debugger, one that just won't start, in EclipseME (now Mobile Tools Java)?

(This question has an answer which will be transferred from another question soon)

Answer 1

most debuggers are just plug-ins that also have a command-line interface; try running the debugger from the command-line and see if it works. If it does, then check the plug-in configuration; you may have to re-install the plug-in.

caveat: I have not used EclipseME, but had similar problems with the Gnu C debugger in Eclipse for Ubuntu.

Answer 2

The most annoying issue with EclipseME for me was the "broken" debugger, which just wouldn't start. This is covered in docs, but it took me about an hour to find this tip when I first installed EclipseME, and another hour when I returned to JavaME development a year later, so I decided to share this piece of knowledge here, too.

If the debugger won't start,

1. open "Java > Debug" section in Eclipse "Preferences" menu, and uncheck "Suspend execution on uncaught exceptions" and "Suspend execution on compilation errors" and
2. increase the "Debugger timeout" near the bottom of the dialog to at least 15000 ms (so the docs say; in fact, a binary search on this value could find optimal delay for your case).

After that, Eclipse should be able to connect to KVM and run a midlet with a debugger attached.