SparkFun Forums

[Maxpower]

That's the question everyone. I've used C language with avrs and pics; but currently have a project in mind that could benefit from the logomatic v2 and I need to know where would be the place to start on reading up so I can modify the firmware myself. Any good books or sites are appreciated. Also what is a cheap programmer to use (<$100)? Thanks for any help.

[stevech]

The NXP ARMs come with a serial port bootloader pre-installed. No programmer (ISP) needed.

A low cost way to start is the ETT ARM Stamp module and optionally the baseboard. Futurlec and maybe Sparkfun sell it. Also, one of the Olimex ARM boards is a good start.

[leon_heller]

I'd advise getting a JTAG interface, they aren't expensive. JTAG offers both programming and debugging.

Leon

[TheDirty]

I was a little hesitant on the Olimex USB JTAG TINY, but it's working great for me. The only thing that is really a pain is only two hardware breakpoints, but so far it's only been a minor inconvenience.

I'm using Crossworks, and not OpenOCD, because I had nothing but trouble with it, but it's $150.00 for a personal license for Crossworks ARM.

And I started with the SAM7-256 breakout board.

[The_Todd]

I posted this in a similar topic here about a week ago:

Wanting to avoid spending lots of money, and all my time tinkering with GCC setup, I found http://www.raisonance.com/ which offers a very nice IDE (RIDE7) flawlessly integrated with GCC for free. Their RLINK JTAG tool is also very good, and inexpensive and can be had for $60 on mouser

Their software and debugger supports LPC and STM32 variants. I have been using it flawlessly with STM32 for the last couple months.

Todd

[Maxpower]

I looked at the different modules as recommended and they all look great. I'm still drawn to the datalogger offered here by sparkfun because it already has the micro sd to save the information to. I really don't want to spend $150 for software for programming, does anyone like winarm? What's openocd like? I guess another reason why I like the looks of the sparkfun module is that it already has some code for me to modify if necessary; but I would be open to other setups like that for datalogging 8 a/d channels. Thanks.

[stevech]

IAR's free-version compiler allows a fairly large program for non-commercial use. I've been using their IDE/compiler and J-Link. It's great.

[motopic]

Winarm is good. I like it tons better than Eclipse.

WinArm uses the gcc toolchain, if you are familiar with this it helps.
Openocd can be fun to setup. So far the only tough spot was changing the
startup.s for my HW a futurlec 2103 board.

[red_devils09]

I'd advised to use NXP LPC to start (there are many kind of board like OLIMEX board,etc). It has a built in bootloader which can be used for downloading a program to flash/RAM using philips flash utility (if you doesn't want to buy/make the JTAG).
For the compilers, if you are using WinAVR for your avrs, maybe WinARM is suitable for you.
If you want another ARM tools, maybe you can used eclipse with YAGARTO tools that looks more nice, I think.
WinARM, eclipse, YAGARTO, philips flash utility are free. So, you just have to spend your money for the board and the JTAG.
NB: you don't need to buy the JTAG if you just want to make a simple program.

[stevech]

I'd advised to use NXP LPC to start (there are many kind of board like OLIMEX board,etc). It has a built in bootloader which can be used for downloading a program to flash/RAM using philips flash utility (if you doesn't want to buy/make the JTAG).
For the compilers, if you are using WinAVR for your avrs, maybe WinARM is suitable for you.
If you want another ARM tools, maybe you can used eclipse with YAGARTO tools that looks more nice, I think.
WinARM, eclipse, YAGARTO, philips flash utility are free. So, you just have to spend your money for the board and the JTAG.
NB: you don't need to buy the JTAG if you just want to make a simple program.

I tried and dumped YAGARTO/Eclipse - way too much time for me to get the tools to work and understand them (poor docs) versus options discussed above.

[Maxpower]

So let me get this straight do you use yagarto with eclipse for the IDE? I've been doing a little bit of reading around line whenever I have the time.

[red_devils09]

You can say like that!
It's true that the documentation of this not much. But, you can try to search the tutorial from Mr. james P. Lynch that described everything you need to start for the NXP LPC2000. It's a great tutorial! The tutorial is using an OLIMEX board. But pay attention that the tutorial didn't use the YAGARTO tools. But, it doesn't mean that the YAGARTO tools cannot be used. For configuring the YAGARTO tools, you can see in :www.yagarto.de
From the site, it also explain how to make a little program using eclipse, but I prefer using the tutorial from Mr. Lynch to understanding it.

Cheers,

[motopic]

So let me get this straight do you use yagarto with eclipse for the IDE? I've been doing a little bit of reading around line whenever I have the time.

Yes, Eclipse is the IDE (with all that baggage, java, etc)
Yagarto is the Compiler/Library set.

Maybe I didn't say clearly, but I tried Yagarto/Eclipse and its a pain to setup.
Took me a few days just to get set, then play with it.

To me simple editors like JFE (200kb, loads in 5microseconds) or Crimson or ProgrammersNotepad2 or Notepad++ are much better solutions. I recently found another called Code::Blocks which is also interesting. All of these I list could also support Yagarto if we wanted them to. Code::Blocks is also available in win32 and linux versions.

WinARM is a single file install, that sets up everything you need to get started including programmers notepad2. It could use a little attention these days, but seems very good to me. Cant remember if you need a arm lib for your chip - cause i already had that. Both systems require you to setup OpenOCD separately.

[mifi]

Hello motopic,

Yes, Eclipse is the IDE (with all that baggage, java, etc)
Yagarto is the Compiler/Library set.

Maybe I didn't say clearly, but I tried Yagarto/Eclipse and its a pain to setup.
Took me a few days just to get set, then play with it.

No problem if you have some bucks and want something which is easier to install,
take a look at CrossWorks for ARM: http://www.rowley.co.uk/arm/index.htm

Regards,

mifi

[stevech]

YAGARTO was such that I went to a commercial compiler. I tried the eval versions of 3, and chose IAR after due dilligence. Very pleased with it and the support. For casual use, I recall that their free version enables 32KB of code for non-commercial use.