Lpc2000

Hello Everyone,

 I just wanted to post a message introducing myself to the group. You 
cannot imagine how excited I was to find it (via a link from the 
http://www.lpc2100.com/ site).

 I am a hobbyist with plans for a R/C related project (Radio
Controlled) My experience with microcontrollers is getting better,
but I 
still have alot to learn. A friend and I started our project using an
Atmel mega-128. The M128 was great to learn with but, our project 
quickly outgrew it. We planned on using the AT91xxx but, there wasn't 
any way to get into it without spending more than we can afford on a  
hobby project. We opted for the Philips LPC2106 Arm7 using 
hardware and tools available from Ashling. That has not been working 
out well at all.

 The process of converting everything over to the Arm7 has been  both 
frustrating and rewarding. The main source of frustration is  poorly 
written and sometimes incorrect documentation from both 
Ashling and Philips. (Note: Philips has given us wonderful support.)
 
 Adjusting to GCC from codevision-AVR was not a problem. I would like 
to ween our dependence from Ashling tools as soon as possible for 
several reasons that I would rather not go into here. Has anyone been 
able to succesfully build a Gnu-C ARM7 toolchain that will work with
the LPC2106? We need to be able to load ram or flash as well as step
debug. I'd bet it is possible, though I don't know where to begin.

 I am eager to learn and would appreciate any suggestions anyone in 
the group might have for us.

 Thanks in advance,

 shinji

Hi Shinji,
 
Disappointed to hear of your problems with Ashling tools and that you
are not happy with the support from Ashling. As manager of the
development tools group in Ashling I want to address this immediately.
Please let me know what your problems are and I will do my utmost to
help.
 



Hugh @ http://www.ashling.com/support/lpc2100/ 

-----Original Message-----
From: ShinJi [mailto:shinji242@...] 
Sent: 02 December 2003 09:28
To: lpc2100@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [lpc2100] Introduction to the group


Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to post a message introducing myself to the group. You 
cannot imagine how excited I was to find it (via a link from the 
http://www.lpc2100.com/ site).

I am a hobbyist with plans for a R/C related project (Radio
Controlled) My experience with microcontrollers is getting better,
but I 
still have alot to learn. A friend and I started our project using an
Atmel mega-128. The M128 was great to learn with but, our project 
quickly outgrew it. We planned on using the AT91xxx but, there wasn't 
any way to get into it without spending more than we can afford on a  
hobby project. We opted for the Philips LPC2106 Arm7 using 
hardware and tools available from Ashling. That has not been working 
out well at all.

The process of converting everything over to the Arm7 has been  both 
frustrating and rewarding. The main source of frustration is  poorly 
written and sometimes incorrect documentation from both 
Ashling and Philips. (Note: Philips has given us wonderful support.)

Adjusting to GCC from codevision-AVR was not a problem. I would like 
to ween our dependence from Ashling tools as soon as possible for 
several reasons that I would rather not go into here. Has anyone been 
able to succesfully build a Gnu-C ARM7 toolchain that will work with
the LPC2106? We need to be able to load ram or flash as well as step
debug. I'd bet it is possible, though I don't know where to begin.

I am eager to learn and would appreciate any suggestions anyone in 
the group might have for us.

Thanks in advance,

shinji




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At 09:28 AM 12/2/03 +0000, you wrote:
>  Hello Everyone,
>
>  Adjusting to GCC from codevision-AVR was not a problem. I would like
>to ween our dependence from Ashling tools as soon as possible for
>several reasons that I would rather not go into here. Has anyone been
>able to succesfully build a Gnu-C ARM7 toolchain that will work with
>the LPC2106? We need to be able to load ram or flash as well as step
>debug. I'd bet it is possible, though I don't know where to begin.

Yes, although I haven't tried to load a program into RAM.  Actually, why 
would you want to load a program into RAM?  I can help you through the tool 
building process though.  I'm building up the appropriate linker control 
files to define the memory maps and peripheral register locations as I need 
them.

Robert

" 'Freedom' has no meaning of itself.  There are always restrictions,
be they legal, genetic, or physical.  If you don't believe me, try to
chew a radio signal. "

                         Kelvin Throop, III

I hope that my introduction post did not demean Ashling in any way. 
That was not my intention. I tried to word it carefully to point out 
that Ashling dev kit wasn't working out for "our project". We ran 
into alot of problems with it. These problems go beyond what I would 
call normal 'new to platform, RTFM issues'. The eval timed out so 
often it actually affected what little time we have to develop with 
it. Instead of spending time learning, we spent hours reinstalling 
from scratch. Your offer for assistance is appreciated but, The last 
eval kit we bought is about to time out on us now. 

 Neither myself, nor my development partner do embedded work for a 
living. Unless I can figure out a way to convience my wife that the $ 
1500.00 I would spend on the full dev kit is justified, we are done 
messing with our eval kits. I am sure my attitude would be different 
if I did this kind of development professionally or the overall 
experience was better than it was.

 I would recommend to anyone interested in professional Arm7 
development to consider Ashling. Their eval kit has everything you 
need to get started and enough time to decide if the LPC2106 is right 
for your application. The Ashling Full dev kit is attractively priced 
for anyone intending to make a profit producing products with the 
Arm7.

 This brings me to the question for the group that I had about 
building our own GNU C toolset. I know I will miss the nice features 
we have enjoyed using both ASIDE (windows IDE) and Pathfinder (visual 
debugger). Still, I can give those features up if it means we can 
continue working on the project. Something is alot better than 
nothing at all. 

 Robert, I appreciate your offer to help me get started building a 
GCC-Arm7 toolset. With your permission, I can contact you by email. 
We have a prototype board layout finished, now I just need to be able 
to flash and debug to continue the project. Loading the code into RAM 
is nice because it is alot faster than flashing. Also, It doesn't 
restrict the number of breakpoints we can set for debugging. (one) 

 If you can point me in the right direction towards getting the GCC-
arm tools working, I would be greatful.

 shinji242 at yahoo dot com


--- In lpc2100@yahoogroups.com, "Hugh O'Keeffe" <hugh.okeeffe@a...> 
wrote:
> Hi Shinji,
>  
> Disappointed to hear of your problems with Ashling tools and that 
you
> are not happy with the support from Ashling. As manager of the
> development tools group in Ashling I want to address this 
immediately.

> Please let me know what your problems are and I will do my utmost to
> help.
>  
> Hugh @ http://www.ashling.com/support/lpc2100/

At 04:16 AM 12/3/03 +0000, you wrote:
>  This brings me to the question for the group that I had about
>building our own GNU C toolset. I know I will miss the nice features
>we have enjoyed using both ASIDE (windows IDE) and Pathfinder (visual
>debugger). Still, I can give those features up if it means we can
>continue working on the project. Something is alot better than
>nothing at all.

Get thee a good editor.  Actually the only IDE I have ever used that wasn't 
best lest unused was simply an OEM'd high quality editor.


>  Robert, I appreciate your offer to help me get started building a
>GCC-Arm7 toolset. With your permission, I can contact you by email.
>We have a prototype board layout finished, now I just need to be able
>to flash and debug to continue the project. Loading the code into RAM
>is nice because it is alot faster than flashing. Also, It doesn't
>restrict the number of breakpoints we can set for debugging. (one)

Considering the download appears to be dominated by serial transfer times I 
wouldn't have expected the loading time to be a significant 
contributor.  The breakpoint issue I can see (although the user manual says 
you have 2), but I would have thought the much more restrictive level of 
resources available would more than compensate.  Oh well, whatever works best.

Oh, and yes feel fee to contact me.


>  If you can point me in the right direction towards getting the GCC-
>arm tools working, I would be greatful.

First, if you haven't done so already download/install cygwin.  Make sure 
you install GCC.  You can check that by opening a cygwin bash window and 
typing 'gcc --help'.  If you get a help screen you are setup for the next 
steps.

I essentially followed Bill Gatliff's instructions 
(http://www.billgatliff.com/articles/gnu/gnu-arm7t.pdf).  You do have to 
use the recent versions rather than the one's he has suggested.  After that 
you can get the compile process working (commands needed, linker scripts 
etc...).  If you want me to walk you through it let me know, or you can 
follow the outline I've given so far and holler when you hit a road block.

I've got a ld script that is starting to look quite useful.

Robert


" 'Freedom' has no meaning of itself.  There are always restrictions,
be they legal, genetic, or physical.  If you don't believe me, try to
chew a radio signal. "

                         Kelvin Throop, III