Freertos task stucks at vTaskDelay() when GCC optimization is turned off (O0)

when I put break point right after the vTaskDelay with gcc compiler (00) optimization flag enabled, it doesn’t hit the breakpoint. Same code works well with the optimization (-O1) flag.
Apparently stack and heap is not an issue here.

Below is the code snippet :

Project is generated using cubemx for the mcu stm32H753.
below is the FreeRTOSConfig.h file

/* USER CODE BEGIN Header /
/

  • FreeRTOS Kernel V10.3.1

/* USER CODE END Header */

#ifndef FREERTOS_CONFIG_H
#define FREERTOS_CONFIG_H

/*-----------------------------------------------------------

  • Application specific definitions.
  • These definitions should be adjusted for your particular hardware and
  • application requirements.
  • These parameters and more are described within the ‘configuration’ section of the
  • FreeRTOS API documentation available on the web site.

----------------------------------------------------------/

/* USER CODE BEGIN Includes /
/
Section where include file can be added /
/
USER CODE END Includes */

/* Ensure definitions are only used by the compiler, and not by the assembler. /
#if defined(ICCARM) || defined(__CC_ARM) || defined(GNUC)
#include <stdint.h>
extern uint32_t SystemCoreClock;
#endif
#ifndef CMSIS_device_header
#define CMSIS_device_header “stm32h7xx.h”
#endif /
CMSIS_device_header */

#define configENABLE_FPU 0
#define configENABLE_MPU 0

#define configUSE_PREEMPTION 1
#define configSUPPORT_STATIC_ALLOCATION 1
#define configSUPPORT_DYNAMIC_ALLOCATION 1
#define configUSE_IDLE_HOOK 1
#define configUSE_TICK_HOOK 0
#define configCPU_CLOCK_HZ ( SystemCoreClock )
#define configTICK_RATE_HZ ((TickType_t)1000)
#define configMAX_PRIORITIES ( 56 )
#define configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE ((uint16_t)128)
#define configTOTAL_HEAP_SIZE ((size_t)15360)
#define configMAX_TASK_NAME_LEN ( 16 )
#define configUSE_TRACE_FACILITY 1
#define configUSE_16_BIT_TICKS 0
#define configUSE_MUTEXES 1
#define configQUEUE_REGISTRY_SIZE 8
#define configUSE_RECURSIVE_MUTEXES 1
#define configUSE_COUNTING_SEMAPHORES 1
#define configUSE_PORT_OPTIMISED_TASK_SELECTION 0
/* USER CODE BEGIN MESSAGE_BUFFER_LENGTH_TYPE /
/
Defaults to size_t for backward compatibility, but can be changed
if lengths will always be less than the number of bytes in a size_t. /
#define configMESSAGE_BUFFER_LENGTH_TYPE size_t
/
USER CODE END MESSAGE_BUFFER_LENGTH_TYPE */

/* Co-routine definitions. */
#define configUSE_CO_ROUTINES 0
#define configMAX_CO_ROUTINE_PRIORITIES ( 2 )

/* Software timer definitions. */
#define configUSE_TIMERS 1
#define configTIMER_TASK_PRIORITY ( 2 )
#define configTIMER_QUEUE_LENGTH 10
#define configTIMER_TASK_STACK_DEPTH 256

/* CMSIS-RTOS V2 flags */
#define configUSE_OS2_THREAD_SUSPEND_RESUME 1
#define configUSE_OS2_THREAD_ENUMERATE 1
#define configUSE_OS2_EVENTFLAGS_FROM_ISR 1
#define configUSE_OS2_THREAD_FLAGS 1
#define configUSE_OS2_TIMER 1
#define configUSE_OS2_MUTEX 1

/* Set the following definitions to 1 to include the API function, or zero
to exclude the API function. */
#define INCLUDE_vTaskPrioritySet 1
#define INCLUDE_uxTaskPriorityGet 1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelete 1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskCleanUpResources 0
#define INCLUDE_vTaskSuspend 1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelayUntil 1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelay 1
#define INCLUDE_xTaskGetSchedulerState 1
#define INCLUDE_xTimerPendFunctionCall 1
#define INCLUDE_xQueueGetMutexHolder 1
#define INCLUDE_uxTaskGetStackHighWaterMark 1
#define INCLUDE_xTaskGetCurrentTaskHandle 1
#define INCLUDE_eTaskGetState 1

/*

  • The CMSIS-RTOS V2 FreeRTOS wrapper is dependent on the heap implementation used
  • by the application thus the correct define need to be enabled below
    */
    #define USE_FreeRTOS_HEAP_4

/* Cortex-M specific definitions. /
#ifdef __NVIC_PRIO_BITS
/
__BVIC_PRIO_BITS will be specified when CMSIS is being used. */
#define configPRIO_BITS __NVIC_PRIO_BITS
#else
#define configPRIO_BITS 4
#endif

/* The lowest interrupt priority that can be used in a call to a “set priority”
function. */
#define configLIBRARY_LOWEST_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY 15

/* The highest interrupt priority that can be used by any interrupt service
routine that makes calls to interrupt safe FreeRTOS API functions. DO NOT CALL
INTERRUPT SAFE FREERTOS API FUNCTIONS FROM ANY INTERRUPT THAT HAS A HIGHER
PRIORITY THAN THIS! (higher priorities are lower numeric values. */
#define configLIBRARY_MAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY 5

/* Interrupt priorities used by the kernel port layer itself. These are generic
to all Cortex-M ports, and do not rely on any particular library functions. /
#define configKERNEL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY ( configLIBRARY_LOWEST_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY << (8 - configPRIO_BITS) )
/
!!! configMAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY must not be set to zero !!!
#define configMAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY ( configLIBRARY_MAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY << (8 - configPRIO_BITS) )

/* Normal assert() semantics without relying on the provision of an assert.h
header file. /
/
USER CODE BEGIN 1 /
#define configASSERT( x ) if ((x) == 0) {taskDISABLE_INTERRUPTS(); for( ;; );}
/
USER CODE END 1 */

/* Definitions that map the FreeRTOS port interrupt handlers to their CMSIS
standard names. */
#define vPortSVCHandler SVC_Handler
#define xPortPendSVHandler PendSV_Handler

/* IMPORTANT: After 10.3.1 update, Systick_Handler comes from NVIC (if SYS timebase = systick), otherwise from cmsis_os2.c */

#define USE_CUSTOM_SYSTICK_HANDLER_IMPLEMENTATION 0

/* USER CODE BEGIN Defines /
/
Section where parameter definitions can be added (for instance, to override default ones in FreeRTOS.h) /
/
USER CODE END Defines */

#endif /* FREERTOS_CONFIG_H */

what could be an issue and how to resolve this without changing the gcc compiler optimization?

I don’t think the problem is in the TaskFun code posted.
Can you halt the target with the debugger and have a look where it hangs exactly ?
Or step through the corresponding assembler code for more details.
BTW What’s your MCU/FreeRTOS port+version and also TASK_PRIORITY/CONN_STACK_SIZE ?
Do you use FrreRTOS debugging features like configASSERT macro, enabled stack checking etc. as recommended for development when building with -O0 ?

MCU STM32H753
freeRTOS VERSION 10.3.1, CMSIS-RTOS version 2.00
#define CONN_STACK_SIZE (2048)
#define CONN_TASK_PRIORITY (4)

Thanks :slight_smile: I’ve seen your completion edit of the initial post after posting …
Is the FreeRTOSConfig.h file generated differently for DEBUG/RELEASE builds ?
I’m asking because configASSERT is defined unconditionally :thinking:
However, is it possible that the app hangs in a configASSERT ?

It is generated by cubemx tool and changing build configuration doesn’t effect the FreeRTOSConfig.h. So I assume both builds are referring to same config.

when I step through the code and halt the debugger it shows the configASSERT( xTaskToNotify ) in xTaskGenericNotify function

Well, seems you app hangs somewhere else (waiting for a task notification ?) with the used task handle still being NULL / uninitialized !
I assume magic cube defines configASSERT being empty for RELEASE (optimized) builds because it should behave analog to the std. C assert() macro.
This might cause the app SEEMS to work as RELEASE build but it is running with invalid data (here the task handle) internally, which might lead to undefined behaviour later on.
Hence configASSERT and friends are extremely useful during development :+1:

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