The Interrupt Watchdog is responsible for ensuring that ISRs (Interrupt Service Routines) are not blocked for a prolonged period of time. The TWDT is responsible for detecting instances of tasks running without yielding for a prolonged period.
:not esp32c2:- Main System Watchdog Timer (MWDT_WDT) - used by Interrupt Watchdog Timer (IWDT) and Task Watchdog Timer (TWDT).
:esp32c2:- Main System Watchdog Timer (MWDT_WDT) - used by Interrupt Watchdog Timer (IWDT).
- RTC Watchdog Timer (RTC_WDT) - used to track the boot time from power-up until the user's main function (by default RTC Watchdog is disabled immediately before the user's main function).
Refer to the :ref:`bootloader-watchdog` section to understand how watchdogs are utilized in the bootloader.
The app's behaviour can be adjusted so the RTC Watchdog remains enabled after app startup. The Watchdog would need to be explicitly reset (i.e., fed) or disabled by the app to avoid the chip reset. To do this, set the :ref:`CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_WDT_DISABLE_IN_USER_CODE` option, modify the app as needed, and then recompile the app. In this case, the following APIs should be used:
The purpose of the IWDT is to ensure that interrupt service routines (ISRs) are not blocked from running for a prolonged period of time (i.e., the IWDT timeout period). Preventing ISRs from running in a timely manner is undesirable as it can increase ISR latency, and also prevent task switching (as task switching is executed form an ISR). The things that can block ISRs from running include:
The IWDT utilizes the MWDT_WDT watchdog timer in {IDF_TARGET_IWDT_TIMER_GROUP} as its underlying hardware timer and leverages the FreeRTOS tick interrupt on each CPU to feed the watchdog timer. If the tick interrupt on a particular CPU is not run at within the IWDT timeout period, it is indicative that something is blocking ISRs from being run on that CPU (see the list of reasons above).
When the IWDT times out, the default action is to invoke the panic handler and display the panic reason as ``Interrupt wdt timeout on CPU0`` or ``Interrupt wdt timeout on CPU1`` (as applicable). Depending on the panic handler's configured behavior (see :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_SYSTEM_PANIC`), users can then debug the source of the IWDT timeout (via the backtrace, OpenOCD, gdbstub etc) or simply reset the chip (which may be preferred in a production environment).
If for whatever reason the panic handler is unable to run after an IWDT timeout, the IWDT has a second stage timeout that will hard-reset the chip (i.e., a system reset).
- Note that the default timeout is higher if PSRAM support is enabled, as a critical section or interrupt routine that accesses a large amount of PSRAM takes longer to complete in some circumstances.
- The timeout should always at least twice longer than the period between FreeRTOS ticks (see :ref:`CONFIG_FREERTOS_HZ`).
If you find the IWDT timeout is triggered because an interrupt or critical section is running longer than the timeout period, consider rewriting the code:
- Critical sections should be made as short as possible. Any non-critical code/computation should be placed outside the critical section.
- Interrupt handlers should also perform the minimum possible amount of computation. Users can consider deferring any computation to a task by having the ISR push data to a task using queues.
Neither critical sections or interrupt handlers should ever block waiting for another event to occur. If changing the code to reduce the processing time is not possible or desirable, it is possible to increase the :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_INT_WDT_TIMEOUT_MS` setting instead.
The Task Watchdog Timer (TWDT) is used to monitor particular tasks, ensuring that they are able to execute within a given timeout period. The TWDT primarily watches the Idle Tasks of each CPU, however any task can subscribe to be watched by the TWDT. By watching the Idle Tasks of each CPU, the TWDT can detect instances of tasks running for a prolonged period of time without yielding. This can be an indicator of poorly written code that spinloops on a peripheral, or a task that is stuck in an infinite loop.
The {IDF_TARGET_NAME} has only a single Timer Group, used by Interrupt Watchdog (IWDT). Thus, the Task Watchdog is built around the ``esp_timer`` component in order to implement a software timer. When a timeout occurs, an interrupt is triggered, notifying the ``esp_timer``'s main task. The latter then executes the TWDT callback previously registered.
Users can define the function ``esp_task_wdt_isr_user_handler`` in the user code, in order to receive the timeout event and extend the default behavior.
In the case where applications need to watch at a more granular level (i.e., ensure that a particular functions/stub/code-path is called), the TWDT allows subscription of ``users``.
The default timeout period for the TWDT is set using config item :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_TIMEOUT_S`. This should be set to at least as long as you expect any single task needs to monopolize the CPU (for example, if you expect the app will do a long intensive calculation and should not yield to other tasks). It is also possible to change this timeout at runtime by calling :cpp:func:`esp_task_wdt_init`.
Erasing large flash areas can be time consuming and can cause a task to run continuously, thus triggering a TWDT timeout. The following two methods can be used to avoid this:
-:ref:`CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_INIT` - the TWDT is initialized automatically during startup. If this option is disabled, it is still possible to initialize the Task WDT at runtime by calling :cpp:func:`esp_task_wdt_init`.
-:ref:`CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_CHECK_IDLE_TASK_CPU0` - {IDF_TARGET_IDLE_TASK} is subscribed to the TWDT during startup. If this option is disabled, it is still possible to subscribe the idle task by calling :cpp:func:`esp_task_wdt_init` again.
On a TWDT timeout the default behaviour is to simply print a warning and a backtrace before continuing running the app. If you want a timeout to cause a panic and a system reset then this can be configured through :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_PANIC`.
One of the optional clock inputs to the {IDF_TARGET_NAME} is an external 32 kHz crystal oscillator (XTAL32K) that is used as a clock source (``XTAL32K_CLK``) to various subsystems (such as the RTC).
The XTWDT is a dedicated watchdog timer used to ensure that the XTAL32K is functioning correctly. When ``XTAL32K_CLK`` works as the clock source of ``RTC_SLOW_CLK`` and stops oscillating, the XTWDT will detect this and generate an interrupt. It also provides functionality for automatically switching over to the internal, but less accurate oscillator as the ``RTC_SLOW_CLK`` source.
Since the switch to the backup clock is done in hardware it can also happen during Deep Sleep. This means that even if ``XTAL32K_CLK`` stops functioning while the chip is in Deep Sleep, waiting for a timer to expire, it is still able to wake-up as planned.
If the ``XTAL32K_CLK`` starts functioning normally again, you can call ``esp_xt_wdt_restore_clk`` to switch back to this clock source and re-enable the watchdog timer.
- When the external 32 KHz crystal or oscillator is selected (:ref:`CONFIG_RTC_CLK_SRC`) the XTWDT can be enabled via the :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_XT_WDT` configuration option.
- The timeout is configured by setting the :ref:`CONFIG_ESP_XT_WDT_TIMEOUT` option.
- The automatic backup clock functionality is enabled via the ref:`CONFIG_ESP_XT_WDT_BACKUP_CLK_ENABLE` configuration option.
While debugging using OpenOCD, the CPUs are halted every time a breakpoint is reached. However if the watchdog timers continue to run when a breakpoint is encountered, they will eventually trigger a reset making it very difficult to debug code. Therefore OpenOCD will disable the hardware timers of both the interrupt and task watchdogs at every breakpoint. Moreover, OpenOCD will not re-enable them upon leaving the breakpoint. This means that interrupt watchdog and task watchdog functionality will essentially be disabled. No warnings or panics from either watchdogs will be generated when the {IDF_TARGET_NAME} is connected to OpenOCD via JTAG.
-:example:`system/task_watchdog` demonstrates how to initialize, subscribe and unsubscribe tasks and users to the task watchdog, and how tasks and users can reset (feed) the task watchdog.
