Xamarin Native iOS breakpoints not getting hit VS2017

Question

I cannot hit a breakpoint in VS when debugging any native iOS app through VS2017 Pro. I have trawled the Xamarin/Stack forums and seen this has been a problem in the past and I have tried the suggestions but they relate to a 3.xxx version of Xamarin. Even an out-the-box new project untouched except for placing a breakpoint still does not hit, the build server pops up the simulator and runs as expected. Android is fine

This was working, I have recently downgraded from Enterprise to Pro but think this may be a red herring. I have 2015/13 pro installed with the same problem.

Is this an issue build server side or the windows side? I get the following generated in my bin App.app, App.exe, App.pdb but no app.mdb i do get the referenced dll.mdb files.

Current vs setup...

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2017 (2) Version 15.1 (26403.7) Release VisualStudio.15.Release/15.1.0+26403.7 Microsoft .NET Framework Version 4.6.01586

Installed Version: Professional ... Visual Studio Tools for Universal Windows Apps 15.0.26403.07 The Visual Studio Tools for Universal Windows apps allow you to build a single universal app experience that can reach every device running Windows 10: phone, tablet, PC, and more. It includes the Microsoft Windows 10 Software Development Kit.

Xamarin 4.4.0.34 (3f99c5a) Visual Studio extension to enable development for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

Xamarin.Android SDK 7.2.0.7 (b16fb82) Xamarin.Android Reference Assemblies and MSBuild support.

Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Mac SDK 10.8.0.174 (7656cc6) Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Mac Reference Assemblies and MSBuild support.

The Mac Xamarin Studio 6.3 VS for Mac 7

Answer 1

See this similar answer: Xamarin iOS debugger not hitting breakpoints

Also, make sure you don't have a firewall blocking Port 10000.

Answer 2

I ran into something similar, and it turns out my debug settings for my physical device had some defaults that prevented debugging from working. This may not fix your issue, but you might want to at least check your project settings for a few things.

Under iOS Build I changed my Linker Behavior from Link All to Link Framework SDKs Only. Also, for some reason in a default debug profile, the Strip native debugging symbols option on that same page was checked. Make sure it's unchecked.

This one was already enabled for me but you should verify anyway: double check that on the page iOS Debug that Enable Debugging is checked.