68300

Will the common low-end parallel port BDM units work on anything other than
an x86 based host PC?  I've noticed that SingleStep is available for unix,
but I've never heard of anyone using a wiggler under Solaris/Sparc or
HP-UX.  I've read about people using wigglers with gdb, but it seems like
they're running under Linux or Windows on x86 based host hardware.

My motivation is that my >4 year old PC is due for an upgrade.  From
reading the Wind River FAQs, it's gonna be _really_ pricey if I have to get
new node-locked licenses issued for the compiler (diab) and debugger
(singlestep).  Enough that I'll consider migrating new development to
gcc/gdb/rtems.  If I do that, there's not much else stopping me from moving
to a unix based primary workstation, assuming I can debug my '332 hardware!


newell

An interesting idea. As a part of the EFI332 effort, I will say that 
gcc/gdb has proved to be a real PITA to crack. Even if you go half way and 
install CYGWIN, getting a working gcc is doable, but gdb is another matter 
all together.

Many people will jump up now and say "it worked for me, just look at 
<fiddes> website". Well, the the content of his website was removed under 
threat of suit from RedHat because he was redistributing a distribution, 
and his patches don't match the latest distribution.

At work I use Diab as we were able to cough up the $5K for a single seat 
license. For home, I have a copy of Ashware GCC and am hunting for a free 
debugger.

I would consider Codewarrior, but the price is HUGE for a home project.

If you could make gcc/gdb work under a current issue of Cygwin you would 
make a whole bunch of people happy.

Andrei

On Thu, Jul 17, 2003 at 04:27:33PM -0500, Scott Newell wrote:
> Will the common low-end parallel port BDM units work on anything other
> than an x86 based host PC?

with GNU, so you're contractually obligated to have the source and do
with it as you please within the bounds of the GPL.  provided such a
platform has a parallel port, it's theoretically possible to port an the
device driver.

> I've noticed that SingleStep is available for unix, but I've never
> heard of anyone using a wiggler under Solaris/Sparc or HP-UX.  I've
> read about people using wigglers with gdb, but it seems like they're
> running under Linux or Windows on x86 based host hardware.

the other option is an ethernet-based wiggler like the visionICE II or
cybertec's coldfire bench unit (http://www.cybertec.com.au/sfpbdm.htm).
with a little work, you could even cobble your own ethernet to BDM box
from castoff x86 hardware.

> My motivation is that my >4 year old PC is due for an upgrade.  From
> reading the Wind River FAQs, it's gonna be _really_ pricey if I have
> to get new node-locked licenses issued for the compiler (diab) and
> debugger (singlestep).  Enough that I'll consider migrating new
> development to gcc/gdb/rtems.  If I do that, there's not much else
> stopping me from moving to a unix based primary workstation, assuming
> I can debug my '332 hardware!

if you can get over the learning curve of the GNU tools, they can be
extremely rewarding to use, since you don't have to worry about support
contracts or per-seat licenses, and there's enough momentum in the
community that you don't have to worry about support being dropped.  in
the worst case scenario with the GNU tools, you have the code, which
means that either you can fix the problem your self, or hire someone
else to.  with proprietary toolchains your options in the face of vendor
discontinuatino are much more limited.  I have received better support
from other GNU tool and RTEMS users than I ever did from EST, and I
never even paid the GNU users for a support contract.  (:

-- 
  Aaron J. Grier  |   Frye Electronics, Tigard, OR   |  aaron@...

>An interesting idea. As a part of the EFI332 effort, I will say that 
>gcc/gdb has proved to be a real PITA to crack. Even if you go half way and 
>install CYGWIN, getting a working gcc is doable, but gdb is another matter 
>all together.

Really?  I didn't have too much trouble getting RTEMS (partially) up on a
Vesta '332 based board...but I did cheat and use SingleStep for downloading
(sheer laziness prevented me from bothering with GDB).  I may have to look
into it again.


>At work I use Diab as we were able to cough up the $5K for a single seat 

Have you noticed that the Diab assembler (das) doesn't bother to check for
a valid license?  At least 4.2 and 4.3 didn't.


newell

>> Will the common low-end parallel port BDM units work on anything other
>> than an x86 based host PC?
>
>with GNU, so you're contractually obligated to have the source and do
>with it as you please within the bounds of the GPL.  provided such a
>platform has a parallel port, it's theoretically possible to port an the
>device driver.

I'm not sure how much direct access you have the the parallel port signals
on say, an SGI Octane running IRIX.  Even if you wanted to write an IRIX
driver to bit-bang the lines, there's no guarantee that you can get the
docs on the SGI iron to make it work.  NetBSD and OpenBSD support some of
the Sun workstations, so they'd probably be an easier fit.


>the other option is an ethernet-based wiggler like the visionICE II or

Hah!  I bought a VisionICE off ebay some time ago.  Thanks for reminding
me.  But I wasn't planning on spending a lot of time being a
CPU32-wiggler-on-non-x86-platform-pioneer...


>if you can get over the learning curve of the GNU tools, they can be
>extremely rewarding to use, since you don't have to worry about support

Agreed.  I use the GNU tools for my Palm, ARM, and H8 development.


>contracts or per-seat licenses, and there's enough momentum in the
>community that you don't have to worry about support being dropped.  in

Didn't I read on the RTEMS list that gdb dropped i960 recently?


>discontinuatino are much more limited.  I have received better support
>from other GNU tool and RTEMS users than I ever did from EST, and I
>never even paid the GNU users for a support contract.  (:

I also receive better free tech support from the semiconductor vendors
(such as Moto) than I ever did with paid 'support' from diab, SDSI, or
embedded power/empower/quadros systems (RTXC vendor).


newell