Running VTune Amplifier 2014 for Android Systems on Windows using Eclipse

Question

I am new to VTune Amplifier and I am developing an Android application on Intel Atom processor. When I try to run profiling I get the following error

I am using Intel Vtune Amplifier 2014 for Android Systems.

amplxe: Error: Cannot enable Hardware Event-based Sampling: problem with the driver (sep*/sepdrv*). Check that the driver is running and the driver group is in the current user group list. See "Building and Managing the Sampling Driver" help topic for further details.

I have tried to follow the steps provided on this link https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/topic/372533#comment-1791207 and "Peter Wang (Intel)" comments on this thread.

I am running VTune Amplifier with eclipse on my windows.

I was not able to interrupt previous comments by Mr Wang for re installing the drivers from the thread provided in the link.

Can somebody please elaborate to resolve the issue.

NOTE: I am more of a windows guy, steps friendly with windows will be of great help to me.

Thanks in advance for any help in resolving this issue.

Answer 1

The error message indicates that you missing the required drivers for an Advanced Hotspots analysis. These drivers are required as the analysis is using a dedicated hardware inside the CPU called Performance Monitoring Unit (PMU). On production devices you can buy in a store it's unlikely to have these drivers preinstalled.

You have the following options to workaround this:

1. Use the Basic Hotspots analysis. This works without special drivers on any Intel based Android device. If your device is not rooted you also need to configure the application in debug mode. There is an article available: Using Intel® VTune™ Amplifier 2014 for Systems on non-rooted Android* devices.
2. If you are using a "Dell Venue 8" you can turn this device into a developer device. This basically means you flash it with a special firmware that contains the drivers for VTune and is also rooted by default. With such a configuration you can also do an Advanced Hotspots Analysis. Instructions can be found here: How to use Intel® VTune™ Amplifier 2014 for Systems on a Dell Venue 8
3. You rebuild the required drivers for the Advanced Hotspots Analysis by yourself. This is only possible if you have a device with an open boot loader and the sources to rebuild the kernel. In general I wouldn't recommend this option until you are working for a device manufacture. If you are interested in this option let me know and I will add an explanation about it.

Out of curiosity: What is the device you are using? What kind of application are you trying to profile?