Added runtime debug levels selectable via LCD menu and serial command

[Yukti007]

Links

• Closes Firmware, Make Debug Levels Selectable at Run Time. Through LCD Menu, Rev 0.47 #390

What & Why

• Replaced two competing compile-time #define DEBUG values (one in GPAD_API.ino set to 1, one in GPAD_HAL.cpp set to 0) with a single global gpad_debug_level variable in a new gpad_debug.h / gpad_debug.cpp module
• Converted all 17 #if (DEBUG > N) preprocessor guards across GPAD_API.ino, GPAD_HAL.cpp, and WiFiManagerOTA.cpp to runtime if (gpad_debug_level > N) checks so debug output can be toggled without recompiling or reflashing
• Added a Debug Lvl FIELD (0–3) to the Krake LCD menu so debug level can be changed on the device itself using the rotary encoder
• Added a d0–d3 serial command so debug level can be changed live from the Serial Monitor without touching the device

Validation / How to Verify

• Flash firmware, open Serial Monitor, send d1 — device should immediately start printing basic debug info (MAC address, WiFi start, UART setup) without reboot
• Open Krake Menu via rotary encoder, navigate to Debug Lvl, rotate to 2, press button — verbose output (RSSI, MQTT topics) should appear on Serial Monitor in real time

Artifacts (attach if relevant)

• Screenshots / PDFs / STLs
• Logs

Checklist

• Only related changes : gpad_debug.h , gpad_debug.cpp, GPAD_API.ino, GPAD_HAL.cpp ,GPAD_menu.cpp ,WiFiManagerOTA.cpp
• Folder structure respected, work directory : Firmware/GPAD_API/GPAD_API
• Validation steps written

[Yukti007]

What was done

Replaced the scattered compile-time #define DEBUG values across the firmware with a single global gpad_debug_level variable. All debug print guards were converted from #if preprocessor checks (which required a recompile) to runtime if checks, so the level can be changed while the device is running.

How to use

Via LCD menu: Open Krake Menu with the rotary encoder → navigate to Debug Lvl → rotate to pick a value → press button to confirm

Via Serial Monitor: Type d0, d1, d2, or d3 and press enter

Debug levels

• 0 — off, normal production mode
• 1 — basic: MAC address, WiFi start, UART setup, MQTT payload echo
• 2 — verbose: RSSI values, MQTT topic verification, HAL setup trace
• 3 — trace: SPI raw packets, per-message level and content details

Files changed

• gpad_debug.h / gpad_debug.cpp — new module, single source of truth for the debug level
• GPAD_API.ino — removed #define DEBUG 1, converted 7 guards to runtime
• GPAD_HAL.cpp — removed local #define DEBUG 0, converted 8 guards, added d0–d3 serial command
• GPAD_menu.cpp — added Debug Lvl field to Krake Menu
• WiFiManagerOTA.cpp — converted 1 orphaned guard to runtime

[chatgpt-codex-connector]

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[chatgpt-codex-connector]

Initialize debug level before boot-time logging

Setting gpad_debug_level to 0 by default disables every debug print in setup() and GPAD_HAL_setup(), but the new mechanisms that change this value (interpretBuffer() serial command and the LCD FIELD) only run after setup has completed. In practice, sending d1 after boot cannot expose startup diagnostics like MAC/Wi-Fi/UART logs, so boot-time debugging regresses compared with the previous default (DEBUG 1 in GPAD_API.ino).

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[nk25719]

GPAD_API v0.054

levels 1, 2 and 3 report the same :

online, RSSI:-62.00|
| online, RSSI:-48.00|
| online, RSSI:-65.00|
Publish RSSI: -48.00