"Marcin Wolcendorf" <wolcendo@friko2.onet.pl> wrote in message 
news:f0flcm$ppi$1@nemesis.news.tpi.pl...
> On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:57:22 +0000, FreeRTOS.org wrote:
>
> ...snip...
>> As far as I know the GNUARM debugger is just GDB, which is reliable but
>> somewhat limited by modern standards of usability.  I personally use 
>> Insight
>> as a GUI to GDB, but this is not always so good on a Windoze host.
>
> Have you used ddd?
>
> M.

No - sorry no experience of ddd.


-- 
Regards,
Richard.

+ http://www.FreeRTOS.org
A free real time kernel for 8, 16 and 32bit systems.

+ http://www.SafeRTOS.com
An IEC 61508 compliant real time kernel for safety related systems.

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:57:22 +0000, FreeRTOS.org wrote:

...snip...
> As far as I know the GNUARM debugger is just GDB, which is reliable but 
> somewhat limited by modern standards of usability.  I personally use Insight 
> as a GUI to GDB, but this is not always so good on a Windoze host.

Have you used ddd?

M.

rickman wrote:
> On Apr 16, 5:05 am, David Brown <d...@westcontrol.removethisbit.com>
> wrote:
>> djordj wrote:
>>> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to
>>> evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>>> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to
>>> buy some proprietary product?
>>> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>>> Thanks a lot.
>> If you want arm gcc along with a ready-to-run Eclipse environment with
>> debugger, look atwww.codesourcery.com.  You can get a free gcc setup,
>> or buy a subscription to the gcc with Eclipse for the debugger front
>> end.  I haven't tried their ARM tools, but I use their ColdFire tools
>> (although I actually prefer command line gdb over Eclipse for a lot of
>> my work).  A big advantage is that Code Sourcery are the official
>> maintainers of these gcc ports, so you get the latest improvements to
>> the compiler, and if you have problems or questions, their technical
>> people know what they are talking about!
> 
> Another place you can get these tools is www.gnuarm.com.  There is a
> Yahoo group which offers support, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gnuarm/.
> There are some differences between the CodeSourcery tools and the
> "official" Free Software Foundation sources.  So you can choose your
> poison.
> 

Yes, there are some differences - the free CodeSourcery tools have 
pretty much the same backend as the next version of the FSF tools will 
have, while the subscription versions have the same backend as the 
version after that (the frontends are all much the same, although some 
CodeSourcery developers work on the frontend and middle "end" too).

CodeSourcery are the official maintainers of the ColdFire and ARM ports 
of gcc.  So their versions are always ahead of FSF versions - it takes a 
long time to get changes through the FSF bureaucracy (for good reason - 
it's a complex system, and they don't want gcc to get broken by poorly 
tested contributions).  So if you want to be able to compile your 
ColdFire code with a "-mcpu=5213" flag for the MCF5213 processor, you 
can download CodeSourcery's binaries or source tarball now, or you can 
wait a couple of years for gcc 4.3 to be officially released.  Paid 
subscriptions get faster access to the latest developments, along with 
debugger improvements and Eclipse builds (if you want to use it).  Pay 
some more, and you get professional level telephone support rather than 
just mailing list support (the developers are active on the list).

I haven't used the ARM, but my understanding is that the same thing 
applies there.

Of course, there are many reasons for wanting to stay with the standard 
FSF versions.  But I'd just like people to be aware of the CodeSourcery 
option, whether you are wanting the free version or to pay for a 
subscription version.  I don't know how the Rowley ARM tools compare to 
CodeSourcery's, and I don't know how much Rowley contributes back to the 
FSF or modifies the compiler themselves, but I *do* know that 
CodeSourcery know what they are doing with the tools.

> If you want arm gcc along with a ready-to-run Eclipse environment with 
> debugger, look at www.codesourcery.com .  You can get a free gcc setup, or 
> buy a subscription to the gcc with Eclipse for the debugger front end.  I 
> haven't tried their ARM tools, but I use their ColdFire tools (although I 
> actually prefer command line gdb over Eclipse for a lot of my work).  A big 
> advantage is that Code Sourcery are the official maintainers of these gcc 
> ports, so you get the latest improvements to the compiler, and if you have 
> problems or questions, their technical people know what they are talking 
> about!
>
Thank you for the link!

On Apr 16, 5:05 am, David Brown <d...@westcontrol.removethisbit.com>
wrote:
> djordj wrote:
> > I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to
> > evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>
> > Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to
> > buy some proprietary product?
> > I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>
> > Thanks a lot.
>
> If you want arm gcc along with a ready-to-run Eclipse environment with
> debugger, look atwww.codesourcery.com.  You can get a free gcc setup,
> or buy a subscription to the gcc with Eclipse for the debugger front
> end.  I haven't tried their ARM tools, but I use their ColdFire tools
> (although I actually prefer command line gdb over Eclipse for a lot of
> my work).  A big advantage is that Code Sourcery are the official
> maintainers of these gcc ports, so you get the latest improvements to
> the compiler, and if you have problems or questions, their technical
> people know what they are talking about!

Another place you can get these tools is www.gnuarm.com.  There is a
Yahoo group which offers support, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gnuarm/.
There are some differences between the CodeSourcery tools and the
"official" Free Software Foundation sources.  So you can choose your
poison.

djordj wrote:
> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to 
> evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
> 
> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to 
> buy some proprietary product?
> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
> 
> Thanks a lot.
> 
> 

If you want arm gcc along with a ready-to-run Eclipse environment with 
debugger, look at www.codesourcery.com .  You can get a free gcc setup, 
or buy a subscription to the gcc with Eclipse for the debugger front 
end.  I haven't tried their ARM tools, but I use their ColdFire tools 
(although I actually prefer command line gdb over Eclipse for a lot of 
my work).  A big advantage is that Code Sourcery are the official 
maintainers of these gcc ports, so you get the latest improvements to 
the compiler, and if you have problems or questions, their technical 
people know what they are talking about!

mvh.,

David

After serious thinking djordj wrote :
> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to evaluate 
> these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>
> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to buy 
> some proprietary product?
> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>
> Thanks a lot.

Just a little update.
During this weekend I've bring up my eclipse installation (I usually 
use Eclipse for Java and C/C++ programming - with CDT) and create a 
small GTK+ Win32 project.
I've found that GTK+ uses C language (not C++ like other GUI toolkits), 
so I think that this could be better in order to build a simulated 
enviroment used to develop the embedded application.

Now I'm using MinGW 5.x GCC compiler and make, so I suppose that the 
step to ARMGNU should be small.

The only think I'm concerned still remains the GDB interface, but I've 
read on the net that Eclipse con be used (quite easily) with OpenOCD 
and other JTAG interfaces (or so I hope!).

Leon presented the following explanation :
> On 14 Apr, 14:00, djordj <djo...@despammed.com> wrote:
>> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to
>> evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>> 
>> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to
>> buy some proprietary product?
>> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>> 
>> Thanks a lot.
>
> The Rowley software is very good, they use the gcc compiler with their
> own IDE and debugger.
>
> Leon
Yes, it's at the top of the list, due to its low price.
As it uses GNUARM, I suppose that I can use even eclipse with a JTAG 
bridge, but I'm very scared about debugging possibilities.
As for Keil & IAR, I can't figure out (as now) how much do they cost: I 
think some thousands dollars.

On 14 Apr, 14:00, djordj <djo...@despammed.com> wrote:
> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to
> evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>
> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to
> buy some proprietary product?
> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>
> Thanks a lot.

The Rowley software is very good, they use the gcc compiler with their
own IDE and debugger.

Leon

"djordj" <djordj@despammed.com> wrote in message 
news:mn.73847d74856b3529.66550@despammed.com...
> I'm starting a new project with ARM7 core processors and I need to 
> evaluate these toolchains (with associated enviroment).
>
> Is the GNUARM toolchain (debugger) good and reliable, or do I need to buy 
> some proprietary product?
> I'm looking for some advices, info and experiences about those.
>
> Thanks a lot.
>

As far as I know the GNUARM debugger is just GDB, which is reliable but 
somewhat limited by modern standards of usability.  I personally use Insight 
as a GUI to GDB, but this is not always so good on a Windoze host.  There is 
some build information on the following page: 
http://www.freertos.org/portlpc2106.html with regards to this (go to the 
homepage to see the menu frame).  For an open source solution people are 
using Eclipse more and more, but I have yet to overcome a few hurdles with 
that.  Rowley provide a professional quality IDE for GCC at a very 
reasonable price.

The FreeRTOS.org site contains some sample projects for all the compilers 
you mention (the old Keil compiler included, the new ARM/Keil combo is not 
yet in the download).  You could get eval versions of each and try out the 
projects to get a feel for each.

-- 
Regards,
Richard.

+ http://www.FreeRTOS.org
A free real time kernel for 8, 16 and 32bit systems.

+ http://www.SafeRTOS.com
An IEC 61508 compliant real time kernel for safety related systems.