Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Quick checks when things fail

• I can't find ros2 in my terminal

  • Did you source your install: source install/setup.bash?
  • Check echo $ROS_DISTRO to confirm which distro is active.

• Build failures with colcon

  • Re-run with more output: colcon build --event-handlers console_cohesion+
  • Ensure package manifests are valid and setup.py/package.xml match.

• Gazebo won't start or crashes

  • Check Gazebo/GPU drivers; in WSL, ensure WSLg is enabled.
  • Use ps aux | grep gzserver to see if Gazebo backend is running.

• Topic or message type mismatches between distros

  • Compare ros2 interface show <msg_type> on both systems.
  • Check Gazebo plugin versions and update or use the matching distro combo.

• Node doesn't appear in ros2 node list

  • Confirm the node started and did not immediately exit (check terminal where you started it for errors).

Useful diagnostics

• ros2 topic list — see what is being published
• ros2 topic echo /name — view message contents
• ros2 node info /node_name — inspect publishers/subscriptions

If still stuck

• AI is your friend. Ask it what changes have to be done to fix them.
• If major issues are found: Capture terminal outputs, ros2 topic list and ros2 node list, and open an issue with those logs attached.