JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Steven Hein]

Hi,

My group is starting a new project includes a custom board
with an MPC8258E processor on it.   I'm in the process
of evaluating the state of the Linux kernel, toolchains,
etc. for the MPC8258E/MPC8360E, as well as selecting a
JTAG debugger for our project.

I've been researching the available JTAG debuggers that
support the MPC82xx/MPC83xx family, and I've found these
choices so far:

* Abatron BDI-2000
* Green Hills Probe
* Freescale's PowerTAP PRO for PowerPC
* Lauterbach TRACE32-ICD
* WindRiver ICE
* Embedded Toolsmiths Guardian-SE (BUT...this is no longer
  being sold, according to an email response I received
  from Embedded Toolsmiths)

We will definitely want one with a network connection,
and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.

Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
good options besides the ones mentioned above.
I'd appreciate any input.

Thanks!
Steve

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve Hein (ssh@sgi.com)              Engineering Diagnostics/Software
Silicon Graphics, Inc.                          
1168 Industrial Blvd.                 Phone: (715) 726-8410
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729              Fax:   (715) 726-6715
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Andy Gospodarek]

On 9/19/06, Steven Hein <ssh@sgi.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> My group is starting a new project includes a custom board
> with an MPC8258E processor on it.   I'm in the process
> of evaluating the state of the Linux kernel, toolchains,
> etc. for the MPC8258E/MPC8360E, as well as selecting a
> JTAG debugger for our project.
>
> I've been researching the available JTAG debuggers that
> support the MPC82xx/MPC83xx family, and I've found these
> choices so far:
>
> * Abatron BDI-2000
> * Green Hills Probe
> * Freescale's PowerTAP PRO for PowerPC
> * Lauterbach TRACE32-ICD
> * WindRiver ICE
> * Embedded Toolsmiths Guardian-SE (BUT...this is no longer
>   being sold, according to an email response I received
>   from Embedded Toolsmiths)
>
> We will definitely want one with a network connection,
> and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
> Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
> to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.
>
> Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
> and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
> good options besides the ones mentioned above.
> I'd appreciate any input.
>
> Thanks!
> Steve
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Steve Hein (ssh@sgi.com)              Engineering Diagnostics/Software
> Silicon Graphics, Inc.
> 1168 Industrial Blvd.                 Phone: (715) 726-8410
> Chippewa Falls, WI 54729              Fax:   (715) 726-6715
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> _______________________________________________
> Linuxppc-embedded mailing list
> Linuxppc-embedded@ozlabs.org
> https://ozlabs.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxppc-embedded
>


I've used the BDI on 82xx, 85xx, 83xx, and othersfor custom board
bringup and I liked it.  Some may not like the command line interface,
but I found it quite easy to use.  I was able to use remote gdb to
debug u-boot, the Linux kernel, and with some trickery userspace apps.

I can't comment specifically on the others (though I have seen some WR
and Lauterbach debuggers and didn't like the user interface), but I
would still recommend the BDI.

Re: JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Mark A. Greer]

On Tue, Sep 19, 2006 at 04:51:07PM -0500, Steven Hein wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> My group is starting a new project includes a custom board
> with an MPC8258E processor on it.   I'm in the process
> of evaluating the state of the Linux kernel, toolchains,
> etc. for the MPC8258E/MPC8360E, as well as selecting a
> JTAG debugger for our project.
> 
> I've been researching the available JTAG debuggers that
> support the MPC82xx/MPC83xx family, and I've found these
> choices so far:
> 
> * Abatron BDI-2000
> * Green Hills Probe
> * Freescale's PowerTAP PRO for PowerPC
> * Lauterbach TRACE32-ICD
> * WindRiver ICE
> * Embedded Toolsmiths Guardian-SE (BUT...this is no longer
>   being sold, according to an email response I received
>   from Embedded Toolsmiths)
> 
> We will definitely want one with a network connection,
> and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
> Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
> to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.
> 
> Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
> and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
> good options besides the ones mentioned above.
> I'd appreciate any input.

You will find, by far, more bdi2000 users on the linuxppc-dev/embedded
lists than all the others debuggers combined, times 10, etc (at least,
they're that much more vocal).  Other linux arch's have a lot of bdi
users too.  There's even some powerpc linux kernel support for the bdi.

In general, the bdi works really well and their support is top notch.

I do not recieve any kickbacks from abatron, btw.  This question has
been asked before on this list (or -dev) so you can see other responses
in the archives.

Mark

Re: JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Greg Weeks]

Steven Hein wrote:
> I've been researching the available JTAG debuggers that
> support the MPC82xx/MPC83xx family, and I've found these
> choices so far:
>
> * Abatron BDI-2000
> * Green Hills Probe
> * Freescale's PowerTAP PRO for PowerPC
> * Lauterbach TRACE32-ICD
> * WindRiver ICE
> * Embedded Toolsmiths Guardian-SE (BUT...this is no longer
>   being sold, according to an email response I received
>   from Embedded Toolsmiths)
>
> We will definitely want one with a network connection,
> and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
> Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
> to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.
>
> Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
> and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
> good options besides the ones mentioned above.
> I'd appreciate any input.
>   
The only one I've used for power pc is the BDI. I've not tried it on the 
83xx yet, but others here have. It worked well with the 82xx. I mostly 
used gdb to talk to it over ethernet.

Greg Weeks

Re: JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Kelsey Dawes]

On Tue, Sep 19, 2006 at 04:51:07PM -0500, Steven Hein wrote:
> Hi,

Hi,

<SNIP>

> We will definitely want one with a network connection,
> and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
> Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
> to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.
> 
> Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
> and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
> good options besides the ones mentioned above.
> I'd appreciate any input.
> 
> Thanks!
> Steve

We've been using the BDI-2000 from abatron on an 8248 board.  It's done 
everything we've needed to do so far.  

It has a serial interface, but we use the ethernet port.
Remote debug works well, and other usual tasks also - flash programming, etc. 

Can't comment about developing apps for the debugger, sorry.

-kelsey