Fresh RPi OS install, openocd permission issues.

[ObligedTester]

Describe the bug
After a fresh rpi os install, openocd fails due to permission issue.

This fails:
/home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/openocd.exe -c "gdb_port 50000" -c "tcl_port 50001" -c "telnet_port 50002" -s /home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/scripts -f /home/pi/.vscode-server/extensions/marus25.cortex-debug-1.12.1/support/openocd-helpers.tcl -f interface/cmsis-dap.cfg -f target/rp2350.cfg -c "adapter speed 5000"

Works with sudo:
sudo /home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/openocd.exe -c "gdb_port 50000" -c "tcl_port 50001" -c "telnet_port 50002" -s /home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/scripts -f /home/pi/.vscode-server/extensions/marus25.cortex-debug-1.12.1/support/openocd-helpers.tcl -f interface/cmsis-dap.cfg -f target/rp2350.cfg -c "adapter speed 5000"

Extension Logs
[2026-07-11T20:34:24.372Z] SERVER CONSOLE DEBUG: onBackendConnect: gdb-server session connected. You can switch to "DEBUG CONSOLE" to see GDB interactions.
/home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/openocd.exe -c "gdb_port 50000" -c "tcl_port 50001" -c "telnet_port 50002" -s /home/pi/.pico-sdk/openocd/0.12.0+dev/scripts -f /home/pi/.vscode-server/extensions/marus25.cortex-debug-1.12.1/support/openocd-helpers.tcl -f interface/cmsis-dap.cfg -f target/rp2350.cfg -c "adapter speed 5000"
Open On-Chip Debugger 0.12.0+dev (2026-07-03-14:48)
Licensed under GNU GPL v2
For bug reports, read
http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html
DEPRECATED! use 'gdb port', not 'gdb_port'
DEPRECATED! use 'tcl port' not 'tcl_port'
DEPRECATED! use 'telnet port', not 'telnet_port'
CDLiveWatchSetup
Info : [rp2350.cm0] Hardware thread awareness created
Info : [rp2350.cm1] Hardware thread awareness created
ocd_process_reset_inner
adapter speed: 5000 kHz
Info : Listening on port 50001 for tcl connections
Info : Listening on port 50002 for telnet connections
Error: unable to find a matching CMSIS-DAP device

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Fresh install
2. Connect with vscode over ssh
3. install vscode pico extension
4. create new project
5. Start "debug"
6. See errorExpected behavior
   Debug and connect to CMSIS-DAP as normal

Platform (please complete the following information):

• OS: Raspberry Pi OS
• Architecture: Arm64]

[will-v-pi]

The udev rules to make it work without sudo should be installed by default in Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm and Trixie as part of the openocd package - pinging @XECDesign to check if something has changed recently that might break this?

[XECDesign]

Nope, I don't think I've touched anything in that area in a very long time.

[will-v-pi]

@ObligedTester Are you using Raspberry Pi OS Lite, Raspberry Pi OS, or Raspberry Pi OS Full? OpenOCD is not installed by default on the Lite version, so you will need to run sudo apt install openocd to install it, and you will probably also need to install the other Linux dependencies as they are only pre-installed in Raspberry Pi OS, not in Raspberry Pi OS Lite.

[ObligedTester]

Hey!

Using RPi OS lite.
Then openocd is installed via this script i guess?

Also, this is purely a permission issue. Openocd is present and working when ran as root.

If openocd/picoprobe is not part of this script, then maybe im barking up the wrong tree and some other automation within vscode pulled it in?

[will-v-pi]

To install the permissions, you have to run sudo apt install openocd - this extension installs a separate copy of OpenOCD which it actually uses, but the udev rules to make it work without sudo are part of the apt package.

[ObligedTester]

Oh.. then thats probably it then 😂

Will check it out and confirm.

Feels like it should be done by the script though?

[will-v-pi]

Feels like it should be done by the script though?

This VS Code extension doesn’t have sudo access to install the udev rules, so they have to be installed separately - I will fix the readme to make it clear that on Raspberry Pi OS Lite you have to install the normal Linux pre-requisites.

[ObligedTester]

Cool. I test this and report back

Thanks!