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* openMSP430

Table of content

1. Introduction

Building on the serial debug interface capabilities provided by the openMSP430, three utility programs are provided:
  • openmsp430-loader: a simple command line boot loader.
  • openmsp430-minidebug: a minimalistic debugger with simple GUI.
  • openmsp430-gdbproxy: GDB Proxy server to be used together with MSP430-GDB and the Eclipse, DDD, or Insight GUI front-ends.
All these software development tools have been developed in TCL/TK and were successfully tested on both Linux and Windows (XP/Vista/7).

Note: to be able to execute the scripts, TCL/TK needs to be installed on your system.

In order to connect the host PC to the openMSP430 serial debug interface, a UART or I2C serial cable/adapter is required.
Typically, the following solutions will suit any kind of development board:

UART
 I2C

USB to RS232 converter:

USB to RS232
USB to Serial TTL converter:

USB to Serial TTL

Devantech USB-ISS adapter:

USB to I2C adapter

    2. openmsp430-loader

    This simple program allows the user to load the openMSP430 program memory with an executable file (ELF or Intel-HEX format) provided as argument.
    It is typically used in conjunction with 'make' in order to automatically load the program after the compile step (see 'Makefile' from software examples provided with the project's FPGA implementation).
    The program can be called with the following syntax:





    USAGE   : openmsp430-loader.tcl [-device   <communication port>]
                                    [-adaptor  <adaptor type>]
                                    [-speed    <communication speed>]
                                    [-i2c_addr <cpu address>]           <elf/ihex-file>

    DEFAULT : <communication port>  = /dev/ttyUSB0
              <adaptor type>        = uart_generic
              <communication speed> = 115200 (for UART) / I2C_S_100KHZ (for I2C)
              <core address>        = 42

    EXAMPLES: openmsp430-loader.tcl -device /dev/ttyUSB0 -adaptor uart_generic -speed 9600  leds.elf
              openmsp430-loader.tcl -device COM2:        -adaptor i2c_usb-iss  -speed I2C_S_100KHZ -i2c_addr 75 ta_uart.ihex

    These screenshots show the script in action under Linux and Windows:

    openmsp430-loader Linux

    openmsp430-loader Windows

    3. openmsp430-minidebug

    This small program provides a minimalistic graphical interface enabling simple interaction with the openMSP430:

    openmsp430-minidebug

    As you can see from the screenshot, it allows the following actions:
    • (1)  Connect to the openMSP430 Serial Debug Interface.
    • (2)  Load the program memory with an ELF or Intel-HEX file
    • (3)  Control the CPU: Reset, Stop, Start, Single-Step and Software breakpoints
    • (4)  Read/Write access of the CPU registers
    • (5)  Read/Write access of the whole memory range (program, data, peripherals)
    • (6)  Basic disassembled view of the loaded program (current PC location is highlighted in green, software breakpoints in yellow, pink and violet)
    • (7)  Choose the disassembled view type
    • (8)  Source a custom external TCL script

    4. openmsp430-gdbproxy

    The purpose of this program is to replace the 'msp430-gdbproxy' utility provided by the mspgcc toolchain.
    Typically, a GDB proxy creates a local port for GDB to connect to, and handles the communication with the target hardware. In our case, it is basically a bridge between the RSP communication protocol from GDB and the serial debug interface from the openMSP430.
    Schematically the communication flow looks as following:

    GDB Proxy flow

    Like the original 'msp430-gdbproxy' program, 'openmsp430-gdbproxy' can be controlled from the command line. However, it also provides a simple graphical interface:

    gdbproxy

    These two additional screenshots show the script in action together with the Eclipse and DDD graphical frontends:

    gdbproxy-Eclipse

    gdbproxy-DDD

    Tip 1: There are several tutorials on Internet explaining how to configure Eclipse for the MSP430. As an Eclipse newbie, I found the followings quite helpful (the msp430-gdbproxy sections should of course be ignored as we are using our own openmsp430-gdbproxy program :-) ): Tip 2: You probably want to install this excellent Eclipse plugin (see screenshot above): EmbSysRegView

    5. MSPGCC Toolchain

    5.1 Compiler options

    The msp430-gcc compiler accepts the following MSP430 specific command line parameters (copied from the MSPGCC manual page):

    -mmcu= Specify the MCU name
    -mno-volatile-workaround Do not perform a volatile workaround for bitwise operations.
    -mno-stack-init Do not initialize the stack as main()starts.
    -minit-stack= Specify the initial stack address.
    -mendup-at= Jump to the specified routine at the end of main().
    -mforce-hwmul Force use of a hardware multiplier.
    -mdisable-hwmul Do not use the hardware multiplier.
    -minline-hwmul Issue inline code for 32-bit integer operations for devices with a hardware multiplier.
    -mnoint-hwmul Do not disable and enable interrupts around hardware multiplier operations. This makes multiplication faster when you are certain no hardware multiplier operations will occur at deeper interrupt levels.
    -mcall-shifts Use subroutine calls for shift operations. This may save some space for shift intensive applications.

    5.2 MCU selection

    The following table aims to help selecting the proper MCU name for the -mmcu option during the msp430-gcc call:

    -mmcu option   Program  
    Memory    		 Data
       Memory       		 Hardware
      Multiplier 
    Program Memory Size: 1 kB
    msp430x110 1 kB 128 B No
    msp430x1101 1 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2001 1 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2002 1 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2003 1 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2101 1 kB 128 B No
    Program Memory Size: 2 kB
    msp430x1111 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2011 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2012 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2013 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2111 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x2112 2 kB 128 B No
    msp430x311 2 kB 128 B No
    Program Memory Size: 4 kB
    msp430x112 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1121 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1122 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x122 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1222 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x2122 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x2121 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x312 4 kB 256 B No
    msp430x412 4 kB 256 B No
    Program Memory Size: 8 kB
    msp430x123 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x133 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x313 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x323 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x413 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x423 8 kB 256 B Yes
    msp430xE423 8 kB 256 B Yes
    msp430xE4232 8 kB 256 B Yes
    msp430xW423 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1132 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1232 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x1331 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x2131 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x2132 8 kB 256 B No
    msp430x2232 8 kB 512 B No
    msp430x2234 8 kB 512 B No
    msp430x233 8 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x2330 8 kB 1024 B Yes
    Program Memory Size: 12 kB
    msp430xE4242
    		 12 kB 512 B Yes
    msp430x314
    		 12 kB 512 B
    		 No
    Program Memory Size: 16 kB
    msp430x4250 16 kB 256 B No
    msp430xG4250 16 kB 256 B No
    msp430x135 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x1351 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x155 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x2252 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x2254 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x315 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x325 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x415 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x425 16 kB 512 B Yes
    msp430xE425 16 kB 512 B Yes
    msp430xW425 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430xE4252 16 kB 512 B Yes
    msp430x435 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x4351 16 kB 512 B No
    msp430x235 16 kB 2048 B Yes
    msp430x2350 16 kB 2048 B Yes
    Program Memory Size: 24 kB
    msp430x4260
    		 24 kB
    		 256 B
    		 No
    msp430xG4260
    		 24 kB
    		 256 B
    		 No
    msp430x156
    		 24 kB
    		 512 B
    		 No
    msp430x4361
    		 24 kB
    		 1024 B
    		 No
    msp430x436
    		 24 kB
    		 1024 B
    		 No
    msp430x336
    		 24 kB
    		 1024 B
    		 Yes
    Program Memory Size: 32 kB
    msp430x4270 32 kB 256 B No
    msp430xG4270 32 kB 256 B No
    msp430x147 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x1471 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x157 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x167 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x2272 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x2274 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x337 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x417 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x427 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430xE427 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430xE4272 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430xW427 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x437 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430xG437 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x4371 32 kB 1024 B No
    msp430x447 32 kB 1024 B Yes
    msp430x2370 32 kB 2048 B Yes
    msp430x247 32 kB 4096 B Yes
    msp430x2471 32 kB 4096 B Yes
    msp430x1610
    		 32 kB 5120 B
    		 Yes
    Program Memory Size: 41 kB
    msp430x5438
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    msp430x5437
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    msp430x5436
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    msp430x5435
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    msp430x5419
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    msp430x5418
    		 41 kB
    		 16384 B
    		 No
    Program Memory Size: 48 kB
    msp430x1611
    		 48 kB
    		 10240 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x248
    		 48 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2481
    		 48 kB
    		 4096 B Yes
    msp430x4783
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430xG438
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B No
    msp430x4784
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B Yes
    msp430x148
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B Yes
    msp430x168
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B Yes
    msp430x1481
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B Yes
    msp430x448
    		 48 kB
    		 2048 B Yes
    Program Memory Size: 51 kB
    msp430xG4617
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2418
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2618
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2417
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    msp430xG4618
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2617
    		 51 kB
    		 8192 B
    		 Yes
    Program Memory Size: 54 kB
    msp430x1612
    		 54 kB
    		 5120 B
    		 Yes
    Program Memory Size: 55 kB
    msp430x2619
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430xG4619
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430xG4616
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2416
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2419
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2616
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2410
    		 55 kB
    		 4096 B
    		 Yes
    Program Memory Size: 59 kB
    msp430x4794
    		 59 kB
    		 2560 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x4793
    		 59 kB
    		 2560 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x2491
    		 59 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x1491
    		 60 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x149
    		 60 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430xG439
    		 59 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 No
    msp430x249
    		 59 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x449
    		 59 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes
    msp430x169
    		 59 kB
    		 2048 B
    		 Yes

    Note: the program memory size should imperatively match the openMSP430 configuration.

    5.3 Custom linker script

    The use of the -mmcu switch is of course NOT mandatory. It is simply a convenient way to use the pre-existing linker scripts provided with the MSPGCC4 toolchain.

    However, if the peripheral address space is larger than the standard 512B of the original MSP430 (see the Advanced System Configuration section), a customized linker script MUST be provided.

    To create a custom linker script, the simplest way is to start from an existing one:
    • the MSPGCC toolchain provides a wide range of examples for all supported MSP430 models (see "msp430/lib/ldscripts/" sub-directory, in the MSPGCC installation directory).
    • the openMSP430 project also provide a simple linker script example: ldscript_example.x

    From there, the script can be modified to match YOUR openMSP430 configuration:
    • In the text (rx) section definition, update the ORIGIN and LENGTH fields to match the PROGRAM MEMORY configuration.
    • In the data (rwx) section definition, update the ORIGIN field to match the PERIPHERAL SPACE configuration and the LENGTH field to match the DATA MEMORY configuration.



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