Recommendations for micro-controller

MSP430F169, just released, or '149.

Al

Fred wrote:

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system,

Had a good look. The 169 doesn't seem to be available yet.

The 149 seems to be priced OK. Unfortunately the links for the application notes and user guides for the compilers/assemblers/linkers seem to be going AWOL.

What are the tools like?

I quite like the concept of Motorola's BDM system which I have used in the past but with a much larger micro.

probably

system,

Can anyone give their opinions?

probably

system,

You could use an AVR and GCC.

Very cheap startup and well supported.

Ralph

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MSP 430xxx is good stuff, the FET board is cheap and a good start.. IAR compiler sucks for serious work, but is ok for the hobbyist, i think there may be a gcc port for 430.. Cygnal is good for 8051 variants, JTAG debug quite good too.. lots of good compilers just depends on your pref and cost..

This is a pretty open request. 48K and

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I know it is an open request but each person has their own reasons for choosing "their" processor and I would like to hear their arguments.

Whilst the rabbit is an 8 bit device, it has an external 1MB of externally addressable memory. I hated putting things into XMEM which the Rabbit 2000 then paged in and out since code wise could only really address 64k. I felt it didn't really work and the compiler though nice to use created bloated code. For the same price as the Rabbit you can get a far more powerful processor. I understand the Rabbit 3000 no longer has the 64k limit on root memory, but is a more expensive beast.

The TI MSP430 seems quite popular amongst this group. I hadn't come across it before and warrants further investigation.

I know someone who has used the AVR but his code has outgrown it. Sounds interesting.

I recall that the Zilog processors were quite affordable.

Perhaps I'm spoilt but its unfortunate that not many of the low end processors have a BDM or JTAG port for development.

Many thanks for your opinion. I am sure I am not the only one wanting such.

The basic tools are the so called FET kits. these consist of a programming dongle, cables, a small board with a ZIF socket to suit, and

2 samples of the family you buy the kit for. Basically there are two types, the sub 28 pin kit and the 64 pin kit. The software is called Kickstart. You can download this for free, and it includes all the schematics. It includes IDE, linker assembler and a 4k limited C compiler. The whole deal costs US$49 for the low end parts and US$99 for the high end parts. Ti are currently touring the US and Canada with course at US$49, for the new 169, with that course you get a free kit!!

In addition Olimex sell the program/debug dongle for US$10. There are a variety of C compilers some as follows:-

GCC free, and supported by fans ICC430 from imagecraft, $199 + $100 for the debugger AQ430 from Quadravox $399 CCS430? from rowley associates £500 (Crossworks) IAR full version US$2000+

I'd recommend any of the middle 3 if you want a compiler.

All data can be found on the website, but Ti in their infinite wisdom class the MSP430 as an analog family part.

The 169 is not in full production, but EVK boards, demo kits etc are available from Softbaugh, who make the kits for Ti's course. Some of the compiler vendors do bundle deals with Softbaugh, so you could start learnign with it.

The IAR IDE tool is fine, I have no problems with it, once you learn its idiosyncrasy's. Their debug tool C-Spy is another thing, it's OK, but it can be crude, sometimes its response to a fault is to crash your PC, however the built in JTAG and debug is extremely useful, better than when I tried the HC12B32 a few years ago. All of the third party tools come with their own interfaces, being a cheapskate I've stuck with IAR, as I only program the MSP in assembler.

Al

Fred wrote:

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Same memory architecure on the Rabbit 2000 and 3000.

If you're stuck with the Rabbit, I highly recommend the Softools C compiler: the 'far' pointers alone are worth the money.

Kelly

Why not the GNU compiler?

Mike Harding

compiler:

So the Z-world compiler still has all the glorious problems of XMEM with the

3000! :-(

Dunno Mike, I don't use compilers for the MSP anyway, so don't know them all.

Al

Mike Hard> >

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I don't (currently) use the MSP430, but I do a lot of AVR work.

I'd be cautious with GCC for the MSP430 because it's so new. I'd certainly get a copy and learn to use it. But if you're developing software on a schedule for commercial purposes, I'd get at least one other compiler as a backup, and write the code to work on both compilers.

This is what I do with the AVR. Avr-gcc has been around a while and does a good job, but I recently ran into a bug with one of the delay routines -- or rather, the inline assembly the delay routine used. The other people in the group were able to continue work because I was able to provide them with working code from the other compiler while I found a work-around for the GCC problem.

Note this goes both ways: I had a problem with the other compiler, and was able to continue work using avr-gcc until a fix arrived from the vendor (CodeVisionAVR from HP Infotech -- Not the greatest compiler I've ever used, but very good support).

Given the choices above, I'd get GCC and ICC430. I've heard good things about Imagecraft, nothing (good or bad) about Quadravox or Rowley, and had good experience with IAR (but who has a spare $2k to blow?).

All IMHO. Regards,

-=Dave

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Change is inevitable, progress is not.

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Dave Hansen) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@News.CIS.DFN.DE:

FWIW, if you have an 8kB part, the 8kB compiler is $800 I seem to remember. We were able to apply this to the purchase of the full tool when we moved to greater than 8kB. I used make and my own editor to edit and build, I only used the GUI debugger and things went pretty smoothly.

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- Mark ->
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The ATmega64 or the ATmega32 are the part in the AVR family that should fit you best. Tool cost is STK500 development board and ISP programmer : $79 STK501 (needed for ATmega64, not for ATmega32): $79 or maybe $99. AVR Studio : Free from

JTAG emulator : ~$300 C compiler: Free gcc from better compiler : $? Richard best compiler: $2k Using code generation as criteria.

If you are cost limited, get the imagecraft compiler.

s is a personal view which may or may not be share by my Employer Atmel Nordic AB