Perf on Embedded Systemsp

Hi,
I have been trying without success to get perf running on an arm board. I have written a sample application (called sample_static_application) and it links to a static library. In linking the file I use the linker directive (as advised in https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Tutorial)

After I generate my binary I do the following:
arm-xilinx-linux-gnueabi-objcopy --only-keep-debug ./sample_static_application sample_static_application.debug

as suggested in (http://sourceware.org/gdb/onlinedocs/gdb/Separate-Debug-Files.html)
I copy both of these files to
/usr/bin
so that I have
/usr/bin/sample_static_application
and
/usr/bin/sample_static_application.debug
When I run perf I get:
Failed to open /usr/bin/sample_static_application, continuing without symbols

If I run perf buildid-cache and then run perf buildid-list I just get 5b52.....................................255a [kernel-kallsyms]

What do I need to do to be able to see the symbols for my sample_static_application? I have searched the web for days without any luck. Is there some way to register the .debug files or should perf just find them, where does it look for them.

I know there is a command

perf-buildid-cache --add , but what format is this looking for and how would I add my application symbols using this command.

Just for the record I also copied sample_static_application.debug to /usr/bin/debug and /usr/bin/.debug but still I get the same message:
Failed to open /usr/bin/sample_static_application, continuing without symbols

Any suggestions?

regards
John