RE: [ECOS] Problem downloading eCos

["Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe at larwe dot com>]

Hi Daniel,

In response to this (and your other email)...

>Since eCos isnīt supported then i donīt have any other options than porting
>it because in my project we must use the AT91R40807 processor. And i would
>be very greatful if i could use you as a panel in some porting issues.

I'm working with the EB40 for a semi-personal project. Meaning, it is 
something I can't get official funding for, so I bought the eval kit and am 
working on it at home. Once I get the idea demonstrable, I will bring it to 
work and pitch it to management. It's much easier to push an idea to 
production if you can say "but all the work is already done..." :)

>Is the EB01 eCos port stable at the moment? Can i use it and make the
>appropriate changes to suite the EB40 or should i start from some other
>source?

I haven't used it. At the moment I am working with standalone code. I have 
taken the ARM PID HAL from the current CVS sources and I have started to 
work on a from-scratch port, but I don't know when it can be finished.

>By the way, do you have a working "hello world"-example for the EB40 board
>(without eCos). Just so a can get my board running.

OK, I will email you a simple LED blinking app in C (makefile, sourcefiles, 
linker script) privately. Please note that this code does _not_ do full C 
run-time startup suitable for ROMmed applications. Tauno Voipio (from 
comp.arch.embedded) sent me some much more detailed code for standalone 
ROMmed applications, but before I can use it I need to write a flashloader 
for the EB40 (Atmel doesn't supply a built tool for it).

Tauno is working with somewhat old tools configured rather differently from 
the tools used to build eCos. So I have had to do some adapting.

There are also some performance issues with eCos. Due to current gcc 
bug(s), it's not possible to compile eCos in Thumb mode. However, Thumb is 
_STRONGLY_ recommended on the AT91R40807 because of its 16-bit data path. I 
want to solve this issue (read: I want to work out how to un-break eCos 
when compiled in thumb mode).

=== Lewin A.R.W. Edwards (Embedded Engineer)
Work: http://www.digi-frame.com/
Personal: http://www.zws.com/ and http://www.larwe.com/

"Und setzet ihr nicht das Leben ein,
Nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein."