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Atmel NGW100 - Linux and other OSs, and debugging?

Started by Eric September 20, 2008
I'm getting a freebie Atmel NGW100 Network Gateway Kit shortly, and I
had a few questions.

I plan to use the board to learn embedded Linux, and also learn some
other OSs like FreeRTOS and uC/OS-II, and in the process build an
adaptive cruise control whose software will run under all three of
those OSs.  Then I plan to release the whole thing to anyone who wants
to build one for themselves.

Atmel's website says that board is "preloaded with Linux".  I assume
that one can readily load new / reconfigured Linux kernels as needed,
right?  Can Linux be removed altogether and something like FreeRTOS or
uC/OS-II run (then Linux restored later)?  (I don't know right now if
either of those OSs has a port to the NGW100 but if not, I might make
one as a training exercise.)

I can't afford the JTAG debug pod right now.  Can't software on the
NGW100 be debugged over the network?  I think I read somewhere that
gdb can run as a client-server and debug software running on target
boards, is that right?

The person I'm getting the board from suggests using it with a Sharp
Play Station Portable display such as the Sparkfun catalog number
LCD-08335
(http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8335).
Have any of you done that, can you suggest a controller for it, and
how does it connect to the board?

As you can probably tell, this is a real low-budget project...
currently unemployed so plenty of free time and no money.

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:25:38 -0400, Eric
<answer.to.newsgroup@nospam.com> wrote:

> >I'm getting a freebie Atmel NGW100 Network Gateway Kit shortly, and I >had a few questions. > >I plan to use the board to learn embedded Linux, and also learn some >other OSs like FreeRTOS and uC/OS-II, and in the process build an >adaptive cruise control whose software will run under all three of >those OSs. Then I plan to release the whole thing to anyone who wants >to build one for themselves. > >Atmel's website says that board is "preloaded with Linux". I assume >that one can readily load new / reconfigured Linux kernels as needed, >right? Can Linux be removed altogether and something like FreeRTOS or >uC/OS-II run (then Linux restored later)? (I don't know right now if >either of those OSs has a port to the NGW100 but if not, I might make >one as a training exercise.)
The board "comes" with good instructions on how to build the linux kernel from scratch using the source from www.linux.org. (It "comes" with nothing, one has to download the ISO image with all the tools and other stuff on) As long as you do not clobber U-Boot, you can load another version of Linux, or any other RTOS without having to get a JTAG debugger. U-Boot can boot your new RTOS from a tftp server which makes things a lot easier.
> >I can't afford the JTAG debug pod right now. Can't software on the >NGW100 be debugged over the network? I think I read somewhere that >gdb can run as a client-server and debug software running on target >boards, is that right?
It is a full linux, so one tend to telnet in to it, and run everything via this session. If you have a linux machine ("Or with more effort windows"), then you can use native X-Windows tools to debug your linux app on this board. You just use the X-Server on your development machine.
>The person I'm getting the board from suggests using it with a Sharp >Play Station Portable display such as the Sparkfun catalog number >LCD-08335 >(http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8335). >Have any of you done that, can you suggest a controller for it, and >how does it connect to the board? > >As you can probably tell, this is a real low-budget project... >currently unemployed so plenty of free time and no money.
Regards Anton Erasmus
On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:23:48 +0200, Anton Erasmus
<nobody@spam.prevent.net> wrote:

>The board "comes" with good instructions on how to build the linux >kernel from scratch using the source from www.linux.org. (It "comes" >with nothing, one has to download the ISO image with all the tools and >other stuff on)
Good morning, Anton. Ah, that's even better. Their website says it comes with Linux "preloaded". But I'm usually happier if I can control the process... after all how do I learn if I just buy an "appliance" and plug it in?
>It is a full linux, so one tend to telnet in to it, and run everything >via this session. If you have a linux machine ("Or with more effort >windows"), then you can use native X-Windows tools to debug >your linux app on this board. You just use the X-Server on your >development machine.
I suppose it's entirely too much to hope for that KDevelop or Eclipse will run on the board? That'd sure make life easiest.
Eric wrote:

> On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:23:48 +0200, Anton Erasmus > <nobody@spam.prevent.net> wrote: > >>The board "comes" with good instructions on how to build the linux >>kernel from scratch using the source from www.linux.org. (It "comes" >>with nothing, one has to download the ISO image with all the tools and >>other stuff on) > > Good morning, Anton. > > Ah, that's even better. Their website says it comes with Linux > "preloaded". But I'm usually happier if I can control the process... > after all how do I learn if I just buy an "appliance" and plug it in? > >>It is a full linux, so one tend to telnet in to it, and run everything >>via this session. If you have a linux machine ("Or with more effort >>windows"), then you can use native X-Windows tools to debug >>your linux app on this board. You just use the X-Server on your >>development machine. > > I suppose it's entirely too much to hope for that KDevelop or Eclipse > will run on the board? That'd sure make life easiest.
Why? Run these development tools on your host, let them cross compile your application and use the cross debugger to debug the binary result on your target system. jbe
On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:33:25 +0200, Juergen Beisert
<jbeisert@netscape.net> wrote:

>Why? Run these development tools on your host, let them cross compile your >application and use the cross debugger to debug the binary result on your >target system.
Good morning, Juergen. That's what I wanted to find out, if there was a cross debugger that would work over the network (i.e. without JTAG). If there is, then that's even better.
On Sep 20, 4:25 pm, Eric <answer.to.newsgr...@nospam.com> wrote:

> I can't afford the JTAG debug pod right now. Can't software on the > NGW100 be debugged over the network? I think I read somewhere that > gdb can run as a client-server and debug software running on target > boards, is that right?
Yes, as someone stated you can run gdbserver on it and run gdb (probably with a gui on top) on your PC connected to it over the network. If you clobber u-boot, I think that you can probably reload it (slowly) with a home-made parallel port jtag cable.