[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Steven Zedeck]

Hi,
This question is related to U-boot; in particular debugging in a U-boot
environment.

I am working on U-boot for the first time as well as working with the Atmel
AT91SAM9 processor. I am used to working with emulators when debugging low
level code such as embedded diagnostics.

I've never used the Atmel till now. In the past, I've worked with many
PowerPCs, Freescale, and Microchip processors. All have had various
emulators such as Microchip's ICD2, and with PowerPC I've used VisionClick,
CodeTap, etc.

Can anyone suggest a good JTAG-based emulator with a good Windows or
Linux-based debugger? Microchip's tools were very inexpensive and pretty
powerful. PowerPC's were a bit more expensive. I need something where I can
build U-boot with its makefiles, that we all know and love, load the code
into flash and/or ram, set breakpoints, single-step, look at variables, look
at C-source code, registers, possibly an IDE/editor, etc.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Steve
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[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Frank]

--- On Mon, 3/9/09, Steven Zedeck <saz@proliphix.com> wrote:


 PowerPC's were a bit more expensive. I need
> something where I can
> build U-boot with its makefiles, that we all know and love,
> load the code
> into flash and/or ram, set breakpoints, single-step, look
> at variables, look
> at C-source code, registers, possibly an IDE/editor, etc.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> Thanks,
> Steve
> -- 
> View this message in context:
> http://www.nabble.com/U-boot-debugger-emulator-tp22426368p22426368.html
> Sent from the Uboot - Users mailing list archive at
> Nabble.com.
> 

 BDI3000.
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot mailing list
> U-Boot at lists.denx.de
> http://lists.denx.de/mailman/listinfo/u-boot


      

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD]

On 18:33 Mon 09 Mar     , Steven Zedeck wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> This question is related to U-boot; in particular debugging in a U-boot
> environment.
> 
> I am working on U-boot for the first time as well as working with the Atmel
> AT91SAM9 processor. I am used to working with emulators when debugging low
> level code such as embedded diagnostics.
> 
> I've never used the Atmel till now. In the past, I've worked with many
> PowerPCs, Freescale, and Microchip processors. All have had various
> emulators such as Microchip's ICD2, and with PowerPC I've used VisionClick,
> CodeTap, etc.
> 
> Can anyone suggest a good JTAG-based emulator with a good Windows or
> Linux-based debugger? Microchip's tools were very inexpensive and pretty
> powerful. PowerPC's were a bit more expensive. I need something where I can
> build U-boot with its makefiles, that we all know and love, load the code
> into flash and/or ram, set breakpoints, single-step, look at variables, look
> at C-source code, registers, possibly an IDE/editor, etc.
You will have 2 good ICE with multiple ARCH support
PEEDI from Ronetix (with dataflash, NAND and OneNAND support I'll recommand
for AT91)

or BDI3000 from Abatron

The both work well on MacOS, Linux and Windows

Best Regards,
J.

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Steven Zedeck]

Hi,
This looks very good. I have a couple of questions. I see on their web site
that they offer a product called bdiRDI which allows you to use a source
level debugger. I didn't see that they sell any source level debugger. What
do you folks use as a source level debugger? Cost is an issue, however, I
don't want to sacrifice quality and features too much.

Did you purchase or obtain your source debugging application elsewhere? Or
do you use GDB? I haven't use that before. I'm used to a source level
debugger I believe.

thanks,
Steve
--------

Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD wrote:
> 
> On 18:33 Mon 09 Mar     , Steven Zedeck wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> This question is related to U-boot; in particular debugging in a U-boot
>> environment.
>> 
>> I am working on U-boot for the first time as well as working with the
>> Atmel
>> AT91SAM9 processor. I am used to working with emulators when debugging
>> low
>> level code such as embedded diagnostics.
>> 
>> I've never used the Atmel till now. In the past, I've worked with many
>> PowerPCs, Freescale, and Microchip processors. All have had various
>> emulators such as Microchip's ICD2, and with PowerPC I've used
>> VisionClick,
>> CodeTap, etc.
>> 
>> Can anyone suggest a good JTAG-based emulator with a good Windows or
>> Linux-based debugger? Microchip's tools were very inexpensive and pretty
>> powerful. PowerPC's were a bit more expensive. I need something where I
>> can
>> build U-boot with its makefiles, that we all know and love, load the code
>> into flash and/or ram, set breakpoints, single-step, look at variables,
>> look
>> at C-source code, registers, possibly an IDE/editor, etc.
> You will have 2 good ICE with multiple ARCH support
> PEEDI from Ronetix (with dataflash, NAND and OneNAND support I'll
> recommand
> for AT91)
> 
> or BDI3000 from Abatron
> 
> The both work well on MacOS, Linux and Windows
> 
> Best Regards,
> J.
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot mailing list
> U-Boot at lists.denx.de
> http://lists.denx.de/mailman/listinfo/u-boot
> 
> 

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[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Steven Zedeck,

In message <22433049.post@talk.nabble.com> you wrote:
> 
> This looks very good. I have a couple of questions. I see on their web site
> that they offer a product called bdiRDI which allows you to use a source
> level debugger. I didn't see that they sell any source level debugger. What
> do you folks use as a source level debugger? Cost is an issue, however, I
> don't want to sacrifice quality and features too much.

You want the bundle BDI3000 with firmware bdiGDB - interface firmware
for GNU debugger.

> Did you purchase or obtain your source debugging application elsewhere? Or
> do you use GDB? I haven't use that before. I'm used to a source level
> debugger I believe.

So what do you think GDB is? It is one of the most powerful source
level debuggers that are available.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
The heart is not a logical organ.
	-- Dr. Janet Wallace, "The Deadly Years", stardate 3479.4

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Steven Zedeck]

I see that this bundle is $2640US which is beyond my budget. I need to find
another approach.
Debugging with printfs is starting to bother me and waste time.

Also, I am not totally familiar with GDB (GNU debugger). I may need to read
a bit about it.
thanks,
Steve



wd wrote:
> 
> Dear Steven Zedeck,
> 
> In message <22433049.post@talk.nabble.com> you wrote:
>> 
>> This looks very good. I have a couple of questions. I see on their web
>> site
>> that they offer a product called bdiRDI which allows you to use a source
>> level debugger. I didn't see that they sell any source level debugger.
>> What
>> do you folks use as a source level debugger? Cost is an issue, however, I
>> don't want to sacrifice quality and features too much.
> 
> You want the bundle BDI3000 with firmware bdiGDB - interface firmware
> for GNU debugger.
> 
>> Did you purchase or obtain your source debugging application elsewhere?
>> Or
>> do you use GDB? I haven't use that before. I'm used to a source level
>> debugger I believe.
> 
> So what do you think GDB is? It is one of the most powerful source
> level debuggers that are available.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Wolfgang Denk
> 
> -- 
> DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
> HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
> Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
> The heart is not a logical organ.
> 	-- Dr. Janet Wallace, "The Deadly Years", stardate 3479.4
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot mailing list
> U-Boot at lists.denx.de
> http://lists.denx.de/mailman/listinfo/u-boot
> 
> 

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[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD]

On 07:08 Tue 10 Mar     , Steven Zedeck wrote:
> 
> I see that this bundle is $2640US which is beyond my budget. I need to find
> another approach.
> Debugging with printfs is starting to bother me and waste time.
PEEDI is $2080US

but all real ICE will be near

Best Regards,
J.

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Steven Zedeck]

In my last position where we used Microchip processors, I was able to get the
Microchip ICD2 JTAG probe/emulator for less than $200 and the windows-based
debugger software was free; all from Microchip  I must be spoiled.

Thanks,
Steve



Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD wrote:
> 
> On 07:08 Tue 10 Mar     , Steven Zedeck wrote:
>> 
>> I see that this bundle is $2640US which is beyond my budget. I need to
>> find
>> another approach.
>> Debugging with printfs is starting to bother me and waste time.
> PEEDI is $2080US
> 
> but all real ICE will be near
> 
> Best Regards,
> J.
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot mailing list
> U-Boot at lists.denx.de
> http://lists.denx.de/mailman/listinfo/u-boot
> 
> 

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[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD]

On 08:07 Tue 10 Mar     , Steven Zedeck wrote:
> 
> In my last position where we used Microchip processors, I was able to get the
> Microchip ICD2 JTAG probe/emulator for less than $200 and the windows-based
> debugger software was free; all from Microchip  I must be spoiled.
It's for small micro-controller not ARM9
It's not comparable to a generic ICE which can be updated to support CORTEX
A8, PPC, MIPS, etc...

Best Regards,
J.

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Frank Svendsbøe]

I agree that a generic solution is better, but....
We use the Abatron BDI3000 for our current project (using the bdiGDB firmware
for the MPC5xx/8xx). If we want to use this JTAG/BDM with, say an ARM processor,
we must pay Abatron appox. half the price of a new BDI when switching firmware.
I think the cost here eats up the advantage of having a generic product.

Regards,
Frank

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 4:15 PM, Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD
<plagnioj@jcrosoft.com> wrote:
> On 08:07 Tue 10 Mar ? ? , Steven Zedeck wrote:
>>
>> In my last position where we used Microchip processors, I was able to get the
>> Microchip ICD2 JTAG probe/emulator for less than $200 and the windows-based
>> debugger software was free; all from Microchip ?I must be spoiled.
> It's for small micro-controller not ARM9
> It's not comparable to a generic ICE which can be updated to support CORTEX
> A8, PPC, MIPS, etc...
>
> Best Regards,
> J.
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot mailing list
> U-Boot at lists.denx.de
> http://lists.denx.de/mailman/listinfo/u-boot
>

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD]

On 10:50 Wed 11 Mar     , Frank Svendsb?e wrote:
> I agree that a generic solution is better, but....
> We use the Abatron BDI3000 for our current project (using the bdiGDB firmware
> for the MPC5xx/8xx). If we want to use this JTAG/BDM with, say an ARM processor,
> we must pay Abatron appox. half the price of a new BDI when switching firmware.
> I think the cost here eats up the advantage of having a generic product.
You work with Steven Zedeck?
If you already have a BDI3000 you will just have to buy the ARM7/9 FW arroud
950? IIRC

Best Regards,
J.

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Frank Svendsbøe]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 11:01 AM, Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD
<plagnioj@jcrosoft.com> wrote:
> On 10:50 Wed 11 Mar ? ? , Frank Svendsb?e wrote:
>> I agree that a generic solution is better, but....
>> We use the Abatron BDI3000 for our current project (using the bdiGDB firmware
>> for the MPC5xx/8xx). If we want to use this JTAG/BDM with, say an ARM processor,
>> we must pay Abatron appox. half the price of a new BDI when switching firmware.
>> I think the cost here eats up the advantage of having a generic product.
> You work with Steven Zedeck?

No. I just had an opinion regarding the BDI.

> If you already have a BDI3000 you will just have to buy the ARM7/9 FW arroud
> 950? IIRC
>

I've already got it, not Mr. Zedeck.. I think 950? is "a lot" for just
the firmware. They've got 6 different
bdiGDB versions just for the PPC architecture. I feel that it's wrong
to use the term generic when
you must pay 950? and flash the firmware for each new target. But
don't get me wrong though, the BDI
rocks!

Btw, is any of you guys using the self-made MPCBDM? I'd like to use it
on 82xx or 83xx, if possible.

Regards,
Frank

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Frank,

In message <1ba63b520903110455k114f14ay856266956f156e92@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
>
> Btw, is any of you guys using the self-made MPCBDM? I'd like to use it
> on 82xx or 83xx, if possible.

We used to use (and even sell) those.  The  can  only  be  used  with
MPC5xx/8xx systems which have a BDM interface; 82xx, 83xx etc. have a
JTAG  based  COP  interface  for  which  no specification is publicly
available (you can get it by signing a NDA, but the NDA terms prevent
you from implementing support for this in Open Source software).

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
On a clear disk you can seek forever.

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Frank,

In message <1ba63b520903110250s4b006e0foe8ff2f08b4fd3efc@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
> I agree that a generic solution is better, but....
> We use the Abatron BDI3000 for our current project (using the bdiGDB firmware
> for the MPC5xx/8xx). If we want to use this JTAG/BDM with, say an ARM processor,
> we must pay Abatron appox. half the price of a new BDI when switching firmware.

Um... not really. Normally the price for the firmware alone  is  less
than 40% of the price for the bundle BDI3000 with firmware.

> I think the cost here eats up the advantage of having a generic product.

Well, with hardware-specific products you always have to pay the full
price. That's even worse. And probably your interfaces (including the
user interface) are changing, too.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Quote from the Boss after overriding the decision of a task force  he
created  to  find  a  solution:  "I'm  sorry  if  I ever gave you the
impression your input would have any effect on my  decision  for  the
outcome of this project!"

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Frank Svendsbøe]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 12:49 PM, Wolfgang Denk <wd@denx.de> wrote:
> Dear Frank,
>
> In message <1ba63b520903110250s4b006e0foe8ff2f08b4fd3efc@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
>> I agree that a generic solution is better, but....
>> We use the Abatron BDI3000 for our current project (using the bdiGDB firmware
>> for the MPC5xx/8xx). If we want to use this JTAG/BDM with, say an ARM processor,
>> we must pay Abatron appox. half the price of a new BDI when switching firmware.
>
> Um... not really. Normally the price for the firmware alone ?is ?less
> than 40% of the price for the bundle BDI3000 with firmware.
>

Ok, I exaggerated. We payed 2500$ including firmware worth 950. That's 38%.

>> I think the cost here eats up the advantage of having a generic product.
>
> Well, with hardware-specific products you always have to pay the full
> price. That's even worse. And probably your interfaces (including the
> user interface) are changing, too.
>

Most often yes, but how much interface changes regarding BDM communcation
is there between, say 8xx and 82xx? I'm sure you know the exact details ;-)

Regards,
Frank

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Detlev Zundel]

Hi Steven,

>> Did you purchase or obtain your source debugging application elsewhere? Or
>> do you use GDB? I haven't use that before. I'm used to a source level
>> debugger I believe.
>
> So what do you think GDB is? It is one of the most powerful source
> level debuggers that are available.

If you are looking for a GUI _on top_ of the source level debugger, you
have also a few options.  Our TWiki gives an example[1] on using the
quite attractive ddd[2].

Cheers
  Detlev

[1] http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/DebuggingGUI
[2] http://www.gnu.org/software/ddd/

-- 
Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.
--
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,      MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich,  Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-40 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: dzu at denx.de

[U-Boot] U-boot debugger/emulator

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Steven Zedeck,

In message <22426368.post@talk.nabble.com> you wrote:
> 
> Can anyone suggest a good JTAG-based emulator with a good Windows or
> Linux-based debugger? Microchip's tools were very inexpensive and pretty
> powerful. PowerPC's were a bit more expensive. I need something where I can
> build U-boot with its makefiles, that we all know and love, load the code
> into flash and/or ram, set breakpoints, single-step, look at variables, look
> at C-source code, registers, possibly an IDE/editor, etc.

As already mentioned, we too strongly recommend the BDI3000 by
Abatron. It fits perfectly into a GNU toolchain based development
environment, has full MMU support (which is essential when it comes to
Linux kernel debugging) and supports a wide range of embedded
processors - ARM, PowerPC, MIPS, ColdFire, ... 

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Where there's no emotion, there's no motive for violence.
	-- Spock, "Dagger of the Mind", stardate 2715.1