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NXP Cortex M3 ports - GCC Rowley

Started by Jean-Sebastien Stoezel November 10, 2010
--- In l..., "Paul Curtis" wrote:
>
> > Oups just realized I meant to send this to the freeRTOS mailing list, not
> the LPC2000...
>
>
>
> So what? You know I hang around here.
>
>
>
> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just ordered a
> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
>
>
>
> -- Paul.
>

Hello Paul

Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?

I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior. IAR's kick start version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.

I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I am looking for something far better than the complementary products on the CD.

Howard

An Engineer's Guide to the LPC2100 Series

Hi,

Interesting thread.

hrh1818 wrote (and I trimmed a bit):
> "Paul Curtis" wrote:
>> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just
>> ordered a
>> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
>
> Hello Paul
>
> Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's
> Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?
>
> I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so
> negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
> The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior
> doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior. IAR's kick start
> version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.
>
> I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I
> am looking for something far better than the complementary products
> on the CD.
I bought myself a K60 kit for Christmas - one of the Freescale FAEs
is on another list I subscribe to and offered a 50% discount code, so
not bad for a Cortex-M4 kit.

Only when I got the kit did I see "I...A...Rrrrrggggghhhhhh" :(

Oh well.

Nicely put together package otherwise.

Cheers,
Neil
--
http://www.njohnson.co.uk

--- In l..., Neil Johnson wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Interesting thread.
>
> hrh1818 wrote (and I trimmed a bit):
> > "Paul Curtis" wrote:
> >> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just
> >> ordered a
> >> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
> >
> > Hello Paul
> >
> > Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's
> > Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?
> >
> > I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so
> > negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
> > The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior
> > doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior. IAR's kick start
> > version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.
> >
> > I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I
> > am looking for something far better than the complementary products
> > on the CD.
> I bought myself a K60 kit for Christmas - one of the Freescale FAEs
> is on another list I subscribe to and offered a 50% discount code, so
> not bad for a Cortex-M4 kit.
>
> Only when I got the kit did I see "I...A...Rrrrrggggghhhhhh" :(
>
> Oh well.
>
> Nicely put together package otherwise.

Does Freescale have any kind of forum that is as informative as this one ?? I like Motorola micros but haven't found as good of support as there was in the "old days" as I remember.

boB

>
> Cheers,
> Neil
> --
> http://www.njohnson.co.uk
>

Hi,

>> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just ordered a
>> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
>>
>>
>>
>> -- Paul.
>>

> Hello Paul

> Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's
> Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?

We have both the K40 and K60 tower systems in the office. They
shipped early, which was nice. The OSJTAG "open source" JTAG adapter
is not, umm, "complete" for 3Ps to use at this time. We are working
with Freescale and P&E (or, more accurately, Michael is) to get this
integrated.

The OSJTAG is very, very slow. So, you'd like to use an external JTAG
adapter, right? Well, you can only do that if you have one that can
convert to a 20-pin Cortex trace connector, i.e. you need to go and
get a Segger ARM JTAG to 19 pin Cortex connector (about 50 Euros).
That's just a format converter, nothing intelligent...

However, all in all, the tower system is a nice piece of hardware--way
over-engineered for an evaluation system I'd say. I like really
simple hardware that you can get working quickly, not something that
you need to bolt together and trace across multiple schematics to
figure out what connects to what.

> I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so
> negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
> The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior
> doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior.

One assumes it's not ready yet otherwise it would have been shipped.

> IAR's kick start
> version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.

> I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I
> am looking for something far better than the complementary products on the CD.

Michael has made progress with the Kinetis. I think we have one
customer beta testing the package with CrossWorks. However, it would
be nice to try out the NXP Cortex-M4, but unfortunately although we
have silicon we have zero documentation.

-- Paul.

Hello Paul,

Thank you for your thoughts on the Kinetis K40 and K60 tower systems and
the information on the work your company is doing to add Cortex M4
support to Crossworks.for ARM.

After poking around the Freescale Web Site I found a link for
CodeWarrior for Microcontrollers V10.1 Beta. Version 10.1 Beta has
support for the Kinetis family of micro controllers. Whereas version
10.0 does not have support for the Kinetis family. However, to download
this beta version of CodeWarrior one needs a Field Application Engineers
approval. That leaves me out as I never buy in sufficient quantities to
justify or require the support of a field engineer.

What with no CodeWarrior or IAR Kickstart for compiling programs I was
beginning to think the tower system I bought was a complete waste of
money. However, now that I know both CrossWorks and Codesourcery are
both working on adding Cortex M4 support to their ARM product line I
can set this project aside until,a compiler is available.

What is frustrating about this is the Freescale Web Page for a K40 Tower
System Kit says "DVD with IDE software, training materials and
collateral and Quick Start Guide document"

Howard
On 12/28/2010 9:05 AM, Paul Curtis wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> >> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just ordered a
> >> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -- Paul.
> >> > Hello Paul
>
> > Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's
> > Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?
>
> We have both the K40 and K60 tower systems in the office. They
> shipped early, which was nice. The OSJTAG "open source" JTAG adapter
> is not, umm, "complete" for 3Ps to use at this time. We are working
> with Freescale and P&E (or, more accurately, Michael is) to get this
> integrated.
>
> The OSJTAG is very, very slow. So, you'd like to use an external JTAG
> adapter, right? Well, you can only do that if you have one that can
> convert to a 20-pin Cortex trace connector, i.e. you need to go and
> get a Segger ARM JTAG to 19 pin Cortex connector (about 50 Euros).
> That's just a format converter, nothing intelligent...
>
> However, all in all, the tower system is a nice piece of hardware--way
> over-engineered for an evaluation system I'd say. I like really
> simple hardware that you can get working quickly, not something that
> you need to bolt together and trace across multiple schematics to
> figure out what connects to what.
>
> > I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so
> > negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
> > The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior
> > doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior.
>
> One assumes it's not ready yet otherwise it would have been shipped.
>
> > IAR's kick start
> > version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.
>
> > I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I
> > am looking for something far better than the complementary products
> on the CD.
>
> Michael has made progress with the Kinetis. I think we have one
> customer beta testing the package with CrossWorks. However, it would
> be nice to try out the NXP Cortex-M4, but unfortunately although we
> have silicon we have zero documentation.
>
> -- Paul.
On 29/12/2010 05:07, Howard Hansen wrote:
>
>
> Hello Paul,
>
> Thank you for your thoughts on the Kinetis K40 and K60 tower systems and
> the information on the work your company is doing to add Cortex M4
> support to Crossworks.for ARM.
If I may chip in...

For what its worth - the K40 is just like an M3 but with some DSP
instructions. The FreeRTOS Cortex M3 port runs on the K40 basically
unmodified. I would imagine, from Pauls point of view, the debug
interface is the main thing to get CrossWorks running, as the GCC
compilers should have M4 support already (?).

In my humble opinion, the K60 is the more interesting beast as it has
the floating point hardware. Here the FreeRTOS Cortex M3 port does
require modification *if* you want to use the floating point hardware -
making it a specialised M4 port (or at least, more than one task wants
to use the floating point hardware).

Regards,
Richard.

+ http://www.FreeRTOS.org
Designed for Microcontrollers. More than 7000 downloads per month.

+ http://www.SafeRTOS.com
Certified by T as meeting the requirements for safety related systems.

>
> After poking around the Freescale Web Site I found a link for
> CodeWarrior for Microcontrollers V10.1 Beta. Version 10.1 Beta has
> support for the Kinetis family of micro controllers. Whereas version
> 10.0 does not have support for the Kinetis family. However, to download
> this beta version of CodeWarrior one needs a Field Application Engineers
> approval. That leaves me out as I never buy in sufficient quantities to
> justify or require the support of a field engineer.
>
> What with no CodeWarrior or IAR Kickstart for compiling programs I was
> beginning to think the tower system I bought was a complete waste of
> money. However, now that I know both CrossWorks and Codesourcery are
> both working on adding Cortex M4 support to their ARM product line I
> can set this project aside until,a compiler is available.
>
> What is frustrating about this is the Freescale Web Page for a K40 Tower
> System Kit says "DVD with IDE software, training materials and
> collateral and Quick Start Guide document"
>
> Howard
>
>
> On 12/28/2010 9:05 AM, Paul Curtis wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> >> On other subject, is anybody considering Kinetis? I've just ordered a
>> >> couple of Tower systems with K40 and K60 devices.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> -- Paul.
>> >> > Hello Paul
>>
>> > Have you come to any conclusions in your evaluation of Freeescale's
>> > Tower System with K40 and K60 micro controllers?
>>
>> We have both the K40 and K60 tower systems in the office. They
>> shipped early, which was nice. The OSJTAG "open source" JTAG adapter
>> is not, umm, "complete" for 3Ps to use at this time. We are working
>> with Freescale and P&E (or, more accurately, Michael is) to get this
>> integrated.
>>
>> The OSJTAG is very, very slow. So, you'd like to use an external JTAG
>> adapter, right? Well, you can only do that if you have one that can
>> convert to a 20-pin Cortex trace connector, i.e. you need to go and
>> get a Segger ARM JTAG to 19 pin Cortex connector (about 50 Euros).
>> That's just a format converter, nothing intelligent...
>>
>> However, all in all, the tower system is a nice piece of hardware--way
>> over-engineered for an evaluation system I'd say. I like really
>> simple hardware that you can get working quickly, not something that
>> you need to bolt together and trace across multiple schematics to
>> figure out what connects to what.
>>
>> > I can see why one person's reply to your original question was so
>> > negative. The CD that comes with the kit is poorly organized.
>> > The link you are supposed to click on to install CodeWarrior
>> > doesn't lead to a download page for CodeWarrior.
>>
>> One assumes it's not ready yet otherwise it would have been shipped.
>>
>> > IAR's kick start
>> > version is worthless as IAR never sent a license by Email.
>>
>> > I hope your company will be able to add support for the ARM M4 as I
>> > am looking for something far better than the complementary products
>> on the CD.
>>
>> Michael has made progress with the Kinetis. I think we have one
>> customer beta testing the package with CrossWorks. However, it would
>> be nice to try out the NXP Cortex-M4, but unfortunately although we
>> have silicon we have zero documentation.
>>
>> -- Paul.
>>
>
>

Hi Richard,

On 29 Dec 2010, at 08:07, FreeRTOS Info wrote:

> On 29/12/2010 05:07, Howard Hansen wrote:
>> Hello Paul,
>>
>> Thank you for your thoughts on the Kinetis K40 and K60 tower systems and
>> the information on the work your company is doing to add Cortex M4
>> support to Crossworks.for ARM.
> If I may chip in...
>
> For what its worth - the K40 is just like an M3 but with some DSP
> instructions. The FreeRTOS Cortex M3 port runs on the K40 basically
> unmodified. I would imagine, from Pauls point of view, the debug
> interface is the main thing to get CrossWorks running, as the GCC
> compilers should have M4 support already (?).

M4 support in GCC is "raw". Better to use it as an M3. OSJTAG is, shall we say, also "raw".

>
> In my humble opinion, the K60 is the more interesting beast as it has
> the floating point hardware. Here the FreeRTOS Cortex M3 port does
> require modification *if* you want to use the floating point hardware -
> making it a specialised M4 port (or at least, more than one task wants
> to use the floating point hardware).

The K60 part shipped in the tower system does not have an FPU, unfortunately. Cheapskates!

-- Paul

> The K60 part shipped in the tower system does not have an FPU,
> unfortunately. Cheapskates!

"something" has changed then.
Regards,
Richard.

+ http://www.FreeRTOS.org
Designed for Microcontrollers. More than 7000 downloads per month.

+ http://www.SafeRTOS.com
Certified by T as meeting the requirements for safety related systems.

>
> -- Paul
>
>

On 29 Dec 2010, at 09:39, FreeRTOS Info wrote:

>> The K60 part shipped in the tower system does not have an FPU,
>> unfortunately. Cheapskates!
>
> "something" has changed then.

No, some K60 parts have FPUs, some don't. They have supplied a part that doesn't.

-- Paul.