It has been a while since I published my ‘build my own DIY IDE’ (see “DIY Free Toolchain for Kinetis: Part 1 – GNU ARM Build Tools“). I have used that approaches in my classes successfully. Now a new semester is coming up, so time to update the instructions using the latest Eclipse IDE (Mars) and tools (GCC ARM Embedded (launchpad) with GNU ARM Eclipse).
Eclipse Mars Splash Screen
Some might say that Eclipse is too powerful and has too many features. But to me, the many small and somehow hidden gems can make a big difference in my daily life. One of these features is ‘Step Into Selection’ while debugging.
Very often I have a source line with nested function calls like this:
Nested Function Calls
In “CodeWarrior Flash Programming from a DOS Shell” I showed how to program a device from the DOS shell. Because that example was for ColdFire and CodeWarrior for MCU10.2, here is the same for a Kinetis (FRDM-KL25Z) and CodeWarrior for MCU10.6. In my workspace (c:\tmp\wsp_10.6) I have a project folder (FRDM-KL25Z).
I’m using the ‘Flash Programmer’ to sneak the needed commands:
Sneaking Commands from Flasher
Segger releases often new application and firmware updates. If I install an IDE like the Freescale Kinetis Design Studio, it comes with that firmware version available at that time. How to take advantage of a new Segger release?
Segger Download Page
I need to program several boards with a firmware: a number too small for serious batch/factory programming, but a number too high doing this with the debugger. I want this:
Need to program a few boards…
I have published a Sneak Preview how GNU gprof profiling looks for an embedded target ARM Cortex-M in an earlier post:
This tutorial explains how to profile an embedded application (no RTOS needed) on ARM Cortex-M devices with GNU gprof. Additionally I explain the inner workings to generate the data necessary for gprof.
Continue readingThe STMicroelectronics STM32F103 (ARM Cortex-M3) Nucleo boards include the on-board ST-Link v2 circuit which allows to debug the board. This circuit is similar to the OpenSDA circuit found on Freescale boards. Unlike the Freescale OpenSDA, the ST-Link is only the ST-Link: it is not possible to load a P&E Multilink or Segger J-Link or firmware on it. Luckily, the ST-Link has a SWD connector, but this connector is a non-standard one. So how can I debug that board with an Eclipse based environment with GNU ARM Eclipse plugins and a Segger J-Link?
Connected J-Link with Nucleo Board
Stack overflows are a big problem: If I see a system crash, the first thing usually is I try to increase the stack size to see if the problem goes away. The GNU linker can check if my global variables fit into RAM. But it cannot know how much stack I need. So how cool would it be to have a way to find out how much stack I need?
Static Stack Usage Analysis with GNU
And indeed, this is possible with the GNU tools (e.g. I’m using it with the GNU ARM Embedded (launchpad) 4.8 and 4.9 compilers :-). But it seems that this ability is not widely known?
In “Unboxing the Freescale FRDM-KL43Z Board” I was using the FRDM-KL43Z board the first time. The FRDM-KL43Z board has an on-board debug interface (Kinetis K20, OpenSDA). In this post I show how to use the FRDM-KL43Z board to debug another ARM board.
FRDM-KL43Z Board debugging custom (tinyK20) Board
To build an application for a modern microcontroller today is not a simple thing. Well, it depends what ‘simple’ means. But compared to the ‘old days of 8bit micro controllers’ (which are still in use!) developing for a complex 32bit device is definitely a different thing. Not only the complexity has changed, but as well the breath of tools and helpers. In my view, the only constant is ‘change’, and I have changed the way how to develop several times in my career. In this post I present several different techniques I’m using in my development.
Processor Expert CPU View
MCU on Eclipse 