How about the new 5k modules? Are they going to be any easier to
work with?
--- In r..., Scott Henion wrote:
>
> We don't have a timeline for support for the other 4k modules, we
are
> looking at it.
> --
> ------
> | Scott G. Henion| shenion@... |
> | Consultant | Stone Mountain, GA |
> | SHDesigns http://www.shdesigns.org |
> ------
> Rabbit libs: http://www.shdesigns.org/rabbit/
> today's fortune
> It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything
upon
> insufficient evidence.
> - W. K. Clifford, British philosopher, circa 1876
>
Softools on Rabbit 4000 (RCM4300)
Started by ●September 10, 2008
Reply by ●September 11, 20082008-09-11
Reply by ●September 11, 20082008-09-11
mdiaz.tello wrote:
> I was wondering if there is anyone here who has actually programmed
> with softools on the RCM4200? I appreciate that people know it will
> work with the 4200, but i'd like to know how well it works. At work we
> looked into the differences between the 4300 and 4200 and there don't
> seem to be many, so we may end up switching to the 4200 for softools
> if it turns out it works well enough. I appreciate the feed back you
> guys have been giving me.
>
> -MDiaz-Tello
>
>
In the WinIDE yahoo group files are is the network patch and sample
program for the 4200. Email be if you want to try it in the demo.
Softools does not compile code to a specific module. The code is
generic. Really the only difference between modules is the memory map
and network. The ST startup is smart enough to set up the memory map at
run time and use the rabbit segment registers rather than DC's hardcoded
(and usually fragmented) mapping. The same .bin file can run on the
RCM2000, 3700, 3200 and 4200.
Network differences are handled by the ID to use the right init code.
The samples that come with Softools will work on the 4000 series, the
serial code will need a bit of help to set the routing to the pins.
the 4300 is odd. There is no main flash and programs are loaded from
serial flash via a PIC processor. This process is completely
undocumented and the format of the file system (if any) used n the
serial flash is also undocumented.
--
------
| Scott G. Henion| s...@shdesigns.org |
| Consultant | Stone Mountain, GA |
| SHDesigns http://www.shdesigns.org |
------
Rabbit libs: http://www.shdesigns.org/rabbit/
today's fortune
[Brian and Peter are putting a crib together]
Brian Griffin: Okay, insert rod support A into slot B.
Peter Griffin: That's what...
Brian Griffin: If you say "that's what she said" one more time, I am gonna pop you.
> I was wondering if there is anyone here who has actually programmed
> with softools on the RCM4200? I appreciate that people know it will
> work with the 4200, but i'd like to know how well it works. At work we
> looked into the differences between the 4300 and 4200 and there don't
> seem to be many, so we may end up switching to the 4200 for softools
> if it turns out it works well enough. I appreciate the feed back you
> guys have been giving me.
>
> -MDiaz-Tello
>
>
In the WinIDE yahoo group files are is the network patch and sample
program for the 4200. Email be if you want to try it in the demo.
Softools does not compile code to a specific module. The code is
generic. Really the only difference between modules is the memory map
and network. The ST startup is smart enough to set up the memory map at
run time and use the rabbit segment registers rather than DC's hardcoded
(and usually fragmented) mapping. The same .bin file can run on the
RCM2000, 3700, 3200 and 4200.
Network differences are handled by the ID to use the right init code.
The samples that come with Softools will work on the 4000 series, the
serial code will need a bit of help to set the routing to the pins.
the 4300 is odd. There is no main flash and programs are loaded from
serial flash via a PIC processor. This process is completely
undocumented and the format of the file system (if any) used n the
serial flash is also undocumented.
--
------
| Scott G. Henion| s...@shdesigns.org |
| Consultant | Stone Mountain, GA |
| SHDesigns http://www.shdesigns.org |
------
Rabbit libs: http://www.shdesigns.org/rabbit/
today's fortune
[Brian and Peter are putting a crib together]
Brian Griffin: Okay, insert rod support A into slot B.
Peter Griffin: That's what...
Brian Griffin: If you say "that's what she said" one more time, I am gonna pop you.
Reply by ●September 11, 20082008-09-11
allsoft01a wrote:
> How about the new 5k modules? Are they going to be any easier to
> work with?
>
>
In my opinion, the 4k CPU is a big dud. Not any faster than the 3k and
you lose functionality due to less available I/O pins (up to 20 less.)
Why they added 10 pins for ethernet, 8 pins lost for 16-bit RAM support
but still stuck with the 128-pin package is a mystery. A 160-pin would
have made it able to support the same amount of I/O as the 3k and still
have the added features.
From what I see, the 5K just fixes the problems by providing more pins.
I did not see any new instructions mentioned. It also can run up to
100mHz. So it does have advantages over the 3k modules.
We'll see about the 5k, it has built-in 10/100 ethernet. That should
help and should be fast. We'll see how long before ZW has a version with
ethernet working.
And I do hope they fixed the 16-bit RAM bugs in the 5k ;)
--
------
| Scott G. Henion| s...@shdesigns.org |
| Consultant | Stone Mountain, GA |
| SHDesigns http://www.shdesigns.org |
------
Rabbit libs: http://www.shdesigns.org/rabbit/
today's fortune
[Brian and Peter are putting a crib together]
Brian Griffin: Okay, insert rod support A into slot B.
Peter Griffin: That's what...
Brian Griffin: If you say "that's what she said" one more time, I am gonna pop you.
> How about the new 5k modules? Are they going to be any easier to
> work with?
>
>
In my opinion, the 4k CPU is a big dud. Not any faster than the 3k and
you lose functionality due to less available I/O pins (up to 20 less.)
Why they added 10 pins for ethernet, 8 pins lost for 16-bit RAM support
but still stuck with the 128-pin package is a mystery. A 160-pin would
have made it able to support the same amount of I/O as the 3k and still
have the added features.
From what I see, the 5K just fixes the problems by providing more pins.
I did not see any new instructions mentioned. It also can run up to
100mHz. So it does have advantages over the 3k modules.
We'll see about the 5k, it has built-in 10/100 ethernet. That should
help and should be fast. We'll see how long before ZW has a version with
ethernet working.
And I do hope they fixed the 16-bit RAM bugs in the 5k ;)
--
------
| Scott G. Henion| s...@shdesigns.org |
| Consultant | Stone Mountain, GA |
| SHDesigns http://www.shdesigns.org |
------
Rabbit libs: http://www.shdesigns.org/rabbit/
today's fortune
[Brian and Peter are putting a crib together]
Brian Griffin: Okay, insert rod support A into slot B.
Peter Griffin: That's what...
Brian Griffin: If you say "that's what she said" one more time, I am gonna pop you.
Reply by ●September 12, 20082008-09-12
--- In r..., "mdiaz.tello" wrote:
>
> Yeah, I actually sent an email to the address they have on their site
> asking about support for Rabbit 4000 processors, but I haven't gotten
> a response back from Softools yet.
This is because the reply to that email was sent twice to you has
bounced - so I have no way to contact you. If the address was valid,
then email from our ISP is being blocked or rejected. Please email a
different address to me - thanks.
Bill
>
> Yeah, I actually sent an email to the address they have on their site
> asking about support for Rabbit 4000 processors, but I haven't gotten
> a response back from Softools yet.
This is because the reply to that email was sent twice to you has
bounced - so I have no way to contact you. If the address was valid,
then email from our ISP is being blocked or rejected. Please email a
different address to me - thanks.
Bill
Reply by ●September 12, 20082008-09-12
I apologize. I didn't realize that my company email would block stuff
from the outside. Please, if you could resend your responses to
m...@yahoo.com I will be able to see them.
-MDiaz-Tello
--- In r..., "Bill_CT" wrote:
>
> --- In r..., "mdiaz.tello" wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, I actually sent an email to the address they have on their site
> > asking about support for Rabbit 4000 processors, but I haven't gotten
> > a response back from Softools yet.
>
> This is because the reply to that email was sent twice to you has
> bounced - so I have no way to contact you. If the address was valid,
> then email from our ISP is being blocked or rejected. Please email a
> different address to me - thanks.
>
> Bill
>
from the outside. Please, if you could resend your responses to
m...@yahoo.com I will be able to see them.
-MDiaz-Tello
--- In r..., "Bill_CT" wrote:
>
> --- In r..., "mdiaz.tello" wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, I actually sent an email to the address they have on their site
> > asking about support for Rabbit 4000 processors, but I haven't gotten
> > a response back from Softools yet.
>
> This is because the reply to that email was sent twice to you has
> bounced - so I have no way to contact you. If the address was valid,
> then email from our ISP is being blocked or rejected. Please email a
> different address to me - thanks.
>
> Bill
>
Reply by ●September 12, 20082008-09-12
--- In r..., Scott Henion wrote:
>
> allsoft01a wrote:
> > How about the new 5k modules? Are they going to be any easier
to
> > work with?
> >
> >
> In my opinion, the 4k CPU is a big dud. Not any faster than the 3k
and
> you lose functionality due to less available I/O pins (up to 20
less.)
> Why they added 10 pins for ethernet, 8 pins lost for 16-bit RAM
support
> but still stuck with the 128-pin package is a mystery. A 160-pin
would
> have made it able to support the same amount of I/O as the 3k and
still
> have the added features.
>
> From what I see, the 5K just fixes the problems by providing more
pins.
> I did not see any new instructions mentioned. It also can run up to
> 100mHz. So it does have advantages over the 3k modules.
>
> We'll see about the 5k, it has built-in 10/100 ethernet. That
should
> help and should be fast. We'll see how long before ZW has a version
with
> ethernet working.
>
> And I do hope they fixed the 16-bit RAM bugs in the 5k ;)
Expanding a bit on what Lynn said, The R5000 CPU was completely
reworked to take advantage of a 16-bit bus. The R4000 takes
instructions and data a byte at a time, with a special prefetch unit
looking ahead to keep the instruction queue full. It also had special
hardware to do 16-bit writes, although to the CPU it was still two
byte writes. The R5000 can fetch and decode 16 bits at a time. It
also does 16-bit data reads and writes if the data is aligned. These
two changes provide significant speed-up for multi-byte instructions
and word data. They don't do anything for one-byte opcodes and byte
data though.
Another change to the CPU is what made the high clock frequency
possible. In previous generations a single clock was used to do both
the address calculation and the address translation, and this was
what limited clock frequency. In the R5000 separate clock cycles are
used for these two operations, resulting in a significantly higher
clock frequency. Of course this means an extra clock cycle in some
instructions, but this is more than compensated for by the increased
clock frequency.
As far as the R4000 pin count, that decision was made above my pay
grade...
Monte
>
> allsoft01a wrote:
> > How about the new 5k modules? Are they going to be any easier
to
> > work with?
> >
> >
> In my opinion, the 4k CPU is a big dud. Not any faster than the 3k
and
> you lose functionality due to less available I/O pins (up to 20
less.)
> Why they added 10 pins for ethernet, 8 pins lost for 16-bit RAM
support
> but still stuck with the 128-pin package is a mystery. A 160-pin
would
> have made it able to support the same amount of I/O as the 3k and
still
> have the added features.
>
> From what I see, the 5K just fixes the problems by providing more
pins.
> I did not see any new instructions mentioned. It also can run up to
> 100mHz. So it does have advantages over the 3k modules.
>
> We'll see about the 5k, it has built-in 10/100 ethernet. That
should
> help and should be fast. We'll see how long before ZW has a version
with
> ethernet working.
>
> And I do hope they fixed the 16-bit RAM bugs in the 5k ;)
Expanding a bit on what Lynn said, The R5000 CPU was completely
reworked to take advantage of a 16-bit bus. The R4000 takes
instructions and data a byte at a time, with a special prefetch unit
looking ahead to keep the instruction queue full. It also had special
hardware to do 16-bit writes, although to the CPU it was still two
byte writes. The R5000 can fetch and decode 16 bits at a time. It
also does 16-bit data reads and writes if the data is aligned. These
two changes provide significant speed-up for multi-byte instructions
and word data. They don't do anything for one-byte opcodes and byte
data though.
Another change to the CPU is what made the high clock frequency
possible. In previous generations a single clock was used to do both
the address calculation and the address translation, and this was
what limited clock frequency. In the R5000 separate clock cycles are
used for these two operations, resulting in a significantly higher
clock frequency. Of course this means an extra clock cycle in some
instructions, but this is more than compensated for by the increased
clock frequency.
As far as the R4000 pin count, that decision was made above my pay
grade...
Monte
