diff --git a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/data/launch/src/ExpressionTestApp.cc b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/data/launch/src/ExpressionTestApp.cc
index 182ad94f57b..66f2c4f3a6b 100644
--- a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/data/launch/src/ExpressionTestApp.cc
+++ b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/data/launch/src/ExpressionTestApp.cc
@@ -283,8 +283,8 @@ int testUpdateOfPointer() {
 }
 
 int testCanWrite() {
-	int a;
-	int* b;
+	int a = 1;
+	int* b = &a;
 	struct {
 		int in;
 	} c;
diff --git a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/pom.xml b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/pom.xml
index 5d8009d88db..cc8b7769a67 100644
--- a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/pom.xml
+++ b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/pom.xml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 				<version>${tycho-version}</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<useUIHarness>true</useUIHarness>
-					<argLine>-Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M ${gdbPathOption}</argLine>
+					<argLine>-ea -Xms256m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256M ${gdbPathOption}</argLine>
 					<includes>
 						<include>**/AutomatedSuite.*</include>
 					</includes>
diff --git a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/src/org/eclipse/cdt/tests/dsf/gdb/tests/MIExpressionsTest.java b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/src/org/eclipse/cdt/tests/dsf/gdb/tests/MIExpressionsTest.java
index 4c30c663cfb..f1f7083e23d 100644
--- a/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/src/org/eclipse/cdt/tests/dsf/gdb/tests/MIExpressionsTest.java
+++ b/dsf-gdb/org.eclipse.cdt.tests.dsf.gdb/src/org/eclipse/cdt/tests/dsf/gdb/tests/MIExpressionsTest.java
@@ -3924,11 +3924,11 @@ public class MIExpressionsTest extends BaseTestCase {
 	    IExpressionDMContext[] children = getChildren(castExprDmc, new String[] {"*(((*((array_large)+1)@101))+0)@100", "*(((*((array_large)+1)@101))+100)@1" });
 
 	    assertTrue("Should have seen the child as a partition", children[0] instanceof IIndexedPartitionDMContext);
-	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 1, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 0, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
 	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 100, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getLength());
 	    assertTrue("Should have seen the child as a partition", children[1] instanceof IIndexedPartitionDMContext);
-	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 101, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
-	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 1, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getLength());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 100, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[1]).getIndex());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 1, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[1]).getLength());
 	    
 	    // Now make sure the children of the partitions have the proper casting and start at the proper index
 	    final String[] expectedChildren = new String[100];
@@ -3998,11 +3998,11 @@ public class MIExpressionsTest extends BaseTestCase {
 	    IExpressionDMContext[] children = getChildren(castExprDmc, new String[] {"*(((*(((char[])(array_large))+4)@101))+0)@100", "*(((*(((char[])(array_large))+4)@101))+100)@1"});
 
 	    assertTrue("Should have seen the child as a partition", children[0] instanceof IIndexedPartitionDMContext);
-	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 4, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 0, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
 	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 100, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getLength());
 	    assertTrue("Should have seen the child as a partition", children[1] instanceof IIndexedPartitionDMContext);
-	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 104, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getIndex());
-	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 1, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[0]).getLength());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong start index for partition", 100, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[1]).getIndex());
+	    assertEquals("Wrong partition length", 1, ((IIndexedPartitionDMContext)children[1]).getLength());
 
 	    // Now make sure the children of the partitions have the proper casting
 	    final String[] expectedChildren = new String[100];