inexpensive way to get into ARM?

Hi,

For hardware see:

with an olimex JTAG wiggle. Very low cost.

For compiler see:

(free), or (eval version is not time limited)

Regards,

Richard.

The Philips LC210x is the easiest ARM chip to use, see my web page:

Leon

Michael Noone wrote in news:Xns95BB5D4818107mnooneuiucedu127001@204.127.199.17:

Oops - just wanted to clarify that I meant AVRISP, not AVRICE.

-Michael

"Richard" wrote in news:_Jjud.792$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Is this what you mean by the JTAG wiggle?

jtag.html. The price is right - but it seems that they're syaing that it has a limitation with programming Philips LPC21xx chips that only the Rowley compiler can overcome, and at $200/license for the educational version of that, I don't see that as a feasible option. Will that limitation be a serious problem if I use other compilers? Or do all reasonably (a relative term I know, but understand that I'm a broke college student) affordable programmers suffer from this problem?

Now from what I can tell, gnuarm is a C/C++ compiler for ARM chips. So should I take it that it is standard to write code for them in C/C++, and not assembler? I must admit that my experience with C is very limited, though I do plan on trying to become more familiar with it in the next couple of months, while I am alot more familiar with assembler.

Thanks for your help,

-Michael

"Leon Heller" wrote in news:41b9c85a$0$16582$ snipped-for-privacy@news-text.dial.pipex.com:

Am I right in thinking that the ARM JTAG programmer here:

would not be able to program that chip? On your web site you mention that it's possible to add a JTAG connector, but according to the Olimex website it cannot program such a chip. What am I missing? Thanks,

-Michael

Currently there is no low cost flash downloader for the Philips. We will be offering one for around $175-$200 in Jan 2005. Our compiler will also be available then, for $199.

--
// richard
http://www.imagecraft.com

"Richard F. Man" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

None at all? Sounds like I shall just be avoiding that series of chips for now then!

-Michael

Of course the Olimex JTAG can program the LPC2000 devices, as well as other ARM chips like those from Atmel! Mine does as well. The Olimex boards come with a JTAG connector. I left it off my board because the chip may also be programmed via an RS-232 port and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. JTAG also allows debugging, which is very useful.

Leon

It is actually compatible with the Macraigor 'Wiggler':

A genuine Wiggler is quite expensive, but it's quite easy to design something that does the same job, like my JTAG interface.

The Wiggler type of interface works with most of the development software that is available, including Rowley's, and gcc which is free (gnuarm). Join the LPC2000 Yahoo group for more info:

Most people use C with ARM chips, because the compilers are very efficient, but they are quite easy to program in assembler.

Leon

Not entirely true Richard. It is quite possible to program them over the serial port and there is an adapter to simplify doing just that.

Of course it's not JTAG but the connector is a little smaller.

Robert

I am sorry. I may be giving the wrong impressions. Let me rewrite that. Most ARM flash MCUs have a bootloader builtin, so the eaiest way to get start is to use that and the cost is usually free. It uses a serial port and may not have fancy stuff, but it does work.

As a tool vendor, my goal is a bit different: I want to support a single interface if possible, , plus I want the same interface to support debugging, so that leaves the JTAG dongle. Currently, I am not aware of any low cost JTAG HW/SW combo that supports the LPC2K series and we will be filling the gap.

--
// richard
http://www.imagecraft.com

Yes, sorry. I qualify and clarify what I meant in an update post. Thanks for the info.

--
// richard
http://www.imagecraft.com

Hi Michael.

I have used the Wiggler from a Win32 host with the FREE OCDLibRemote tool as an interface and the FREE GNUARM compiler using the FREE programmer from Philips along with the FREE Insight graphical debugger... The Wiggler can be used to program the flash also but takes longer.

These software tools are all free but you have to invest some time in setting them up. I have only done it from a Win32 host but have found all the tools prebuilt and working well. The debugger has some quirks. If you want a flash interface and all the setup done for you then I suggest Rowley, but it is not necessary.

This page has links to all the tools and a description of how to set them up and use them:

See the

"Building and executing the demo application - Debug via JTAG" "Building and executing the demo application - Standalone from flash "

sections. These pages talk about using an RTOS, which I don't suggest for yourself if you are new to C, but the setup procedures are not are the same with or without the RTOS.

Regards.

You can reflash the Philips LPC2xxx ARMs over a serial line using the free tools from the Philips site semiconductors.philips.com

There is a variety of free, low cost and commercial ARM compilers for a number of languages. For low cost hardware/software, see

tiniarm.htm usbstamp.htm

Stephen

-- Stephen Pelc, snipped-for-privacy@INVALID.mpeltd.demon.co.uk MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time

133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441, fax: +44 (0)23 8033 9691 web: - free VFX Forth downloads

"Richard F. Man" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@imagecraft.com:

I must admit I didn't really know what a bootloader is, so I just read up on them. From what I can tell a bootloader would be a very good option, but is it enabled by default on most ARM chips? I was looking at bootloaders for AVRs, and it seemed you had to enable the bootloader via some fuse bits, which as far as I know can only be done via a programmer. Is it the same on ARMs, or is this not a problem? Thanks,

-Michael

I had the same question recently. I ended up using the free codesourcery compiler. I have the eb40a board and a Nohau JTAG device to control it. It comes with a software interface called seehau. This is not the cheapest JTAG device, however. The eb40a board is pretty inexpensive. I got mine from digikey.

I'm very impressed with the free codesourcery gnu compiler so far.

I have some simple example source code at

I will soon put up another example with interrupt-driven serial i/o and a second timer interrupt.

Paul

The Philips and Analog Devices processors have built-in bootloaders that are invoke by having a specific pin held low at reset (as do some other non-ARM micros such as the ST10/C167). There is a standard ISP header developed for those processors (see

)

There are free untilities for both those families to provide serial download support.

The ST STR7 series originally advertised that they would support a similar serial download but they appear to have dropped the idea.

From ARM micro to ARM micro only the instruction set remains the same (mostly). The peripherals, the flash interface and even the details of the interrupt support vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Having the same instruction architecture does reduce the height of the learning curve though.

Robert

Withthe Philips ARM chips, all you have to do is hold a pin high when they are reset, they will then load the code via one of the UARTs. Philips provides Windows-based boot loader software.

Leon

Can't be so. We had an in-house dog and pony show with ST guys imported from France just a couple of weeks ago, and they were very specific that the STR7 had a serial bootloader capability. What wasn't specified was if this is in separate ROM, or merely factory-programmed into a write-protected sector of main flash.