Remote Debug Windows to Mac

Bill_Sanders · February 12, 2019, 12:27am

I’m working with Remote Debugger for the first time. My development machine is Windows 10 and I have access to a Mac to try stuff on.

When I try to remotely run my app from Win 10 to Mac, I get an error “Windows cannot debug 64 bit targets at this time”. On the Mac, I see no Remote Debugger Desktop for 32 bit. Am I missing something, or is it just not an option to remotely run from Windows to Mac?

Also, on Windows, I can’t compile to 64 bit Mac apps. 32 bit works and both Windows and Linux build compile 64 bit just fine.

Pro license
2018R4

AlbertoD · February 12, 2019, 1:05am

You can’t build 64bit Mac from Windows or Linux:
https://documentation.xojo.com/topics/application_structure/coding_guidelines_for_64-bit_apps.html#Other_64-bit_Information

My guess is that because of that, you can’t remote debug a 64bit Mac from Windows 10.

Bill_Sanders · February 12, 2019, 2:27am

So, is there a 32 bit remote debugger for Mac, or is it that using Windows as my IDE means I can’t remote run to Mac at all?

Also, is the ability to remote debug a 64bit Mac from Windows 10 in the works, or just simply not going to happen?

AlbertoD · February 12, 2019, 2:51am

IIRC I was able to run the 64bit remote debugger on Windows and debug a 32bit app from Mac. I haven’t done it yet, but try to run the 64bit remote debugger on Mac and send a 32bit app from Windows. My guess is that for Windows and Linux they ship a 32bit and 64bit version because people could have a 32bit OS, all the Mac OS supported versions are 64bit, so no need for Xojo to ship a 32bit remote debugger for Mac (my guess).

I hope the 64bit Mac from Windows and Linux is in the works and possible. It is a wanted feature.

Robin_Lauryssen-Mitc · February 12, 2019, 7:07am

Hi Bill,
As a work-around (until 64bit Win to Mac debugging is working) you can use a 32bit debugger from one of the older releases of Xojo. I’ve used the version from Xojo2015r4.1 quite successfully. That debugger version is 2.0.2. The old Xojo releases are available from https://www.xojo.com/download/archives.php (login required).

Jason_Parsley · February 12, 2019, 3:28pm

Just to be clear - this should work whether you use the 32 or 64 bit stub since its just what the IDE sends files to. It unpacks the files and then starts the app. In this case, you just need to send a 32 bit app. A 64 bit stub allows you to send either 32 or 64 bit apps.

Bill_Sanders · February 12, 2019, 3:43pm

[quote=424646:@Robin Lauryssen-Mitchell]Hi Bill,
As a work-around (until 64bit Win to Mac debugging is working) you can use a 32bit debugger from one of the older releases of Xojo. I’ve used the version from Xojo2015r4.1 quite successfully. That debugger version is 2.0.2. The old Xojo releases are available from https://www.xojo.com/download/archives.php (login required).[/quote]

This works nicely so far. Thanks Robin!

Bill_Sanders · February 12, 2019, 3:45pm

Hi Jason,

Perhaps I’m not understanding how to send 32 bit to the remote debugger? Under build settings, I choose 32 bit for Mac. It won’t allow 64 to be compiled anyway. Any tips?

Jason_Parsley · February 12, 2019, 4:06pm

Hi Bill,

Select Build Settings - MacOS
Change the Architecture property in the inspector to x86_32 bit
That should do it.

AlbertoD · February 12, 2019, 4:14pm

[quote=424718:@Jason Parsley]Hi Bill,

Select Build Settings - MacOS
Change the Architecture property in the inspector to x86_32 bit
That should do it.[/quote]
I tried this with remote Mac from Windows 7, but was not able to make it work, it always say “Windows cannot debug 64 bit targets at this time”

Jason_Parsley · February 12, 2019, 4:52pm

Okay. Probably my mistake, sorry about that. That’s what I get for not trying it first! As Robin suggested, using the stub from Xojo2015r4.1 should work.

Jason_Parsley · February 12, 2019, 7:56pm

This bug has been fixed:

<https://xojo.com/issue/54911>

Note: Windows will still only send a 32bit application to Mac. The fix does not enable 64bit remote debugging from Windows to Mac.

Bill_Sanders · February 13, 2019, 9:49pm

Glad to hear that bug is fixed and 2019R1 will permit debugging Win to Mac, 32bit. The workaround Robin suggested is also appreciated.

Bill_Sanders · April 9, 2019, 3:17pm

I just updated to 2019R1 to deal with Feedback Case #54911

In prior versions, I had to use an older 32 bit debugger on my Mac. Happily, under 2019r1, I can use the 64 bit debugger included in the new release.

In order to debug, I do have to tell the IDE macOS Build Settings that my Architecture is x86 32-bit still. If I leave it at 64, I get “Windows cannot debug 64 bit targets at this time”. Is that how it has to be? I was hoping for the remote debug process to simply send a 32 bit version, regardless of the build settings.

AlbertoD · April 9, 2019, 3:34pm

Check Jason’s note:

Windows can’t build 64bit Mac apps yet.

Bill_Sanders · April 9, 2019, 3:55pm

[quote=432067:@Alberto De Poo]Check Jason’s note:

Windows can’t build 64bit Mac apps yet.[/quote]
I understood that.

I was hoping for the remote debug process to simply send a 32 bit version, regardless of the build settings. Otherwise, I have to adjust build settings frequently. I can live with this, I just wanted to know if this having to churn settings was what was expected after fix 54911

AlbertoD · April 9, 2019, 4:11pm

Oh, ok, yes I think that is what is expected. If you select 64bit it will try to build a 64bit Mac app and send it to remote debug and Windows can’t do that, so you manually need to change that to 32bit.

Once you want to compile it in 64bit you will need to use the Mac to compile it, so you will need to change the setting from 32bit to 64bit.

Maybe a feature request that when you set 64bit for Mac apps on windows a pop-up show that Windows can’t build 64bit and will build 32bit but you can save the project with the option set to 64bit, and then when you remote debug Windows will automatically create a 32bit app and send to your Mac to test. Of course, this will change as soon as Windows can build 64bit Mac apps.