Register view not updating when debugging

Hi, I’m really new to PlatformIO so please be kind and patient. When I debug my code, stepping through each instruction the register view doesn’t update - all the values remain 0. I assume that it is meant to update. Any help fixing whatever I have done incorrectly is greatly appreciated. I have tried looking for answers here and with a general web search as well.

My setup: Pop OS, Vscode with PlatformIO and C/C++ extensions, physical Intel CPU computer (not virtual machine).

My project configuration (I am using qemu instead of a physical board):

[env:hifive1]
platform = sifive
board = hifive1
framework = freedom-e-sdk
debug_tool = qemu
build_type = debug

My test application is trivial so I can ensure my setup works

main.c:

extern int asm_add(int left, int right);
int main()
{
int left = 3;
int right = 5;
int result = 0;
result = asm_add(left, right);
result++;
return result;
}

asm_add.S:

.global asm_add
.align 2
.text
asm_add:
add a0, a0, a1
ret

I just found a post from 2020 highlighting this problem and the issue that has been created, but not resolved, in Github: QEMU Emulation of SiFive Board Does Not Update Registers · Issue #6 · platformio/platform-sifive · GitHub

Original topic: