Building C8051FXXXX applications on Linux
Submitted by sjs205 on
As part of my Masters we are doing a Mixed Signal Processing module where we are using the C8051F120 microcontroller to process basic mixed signal functions. In the labs we have been given the C8051F120DK development kit from Silicon Labs which includes the Silicon Labs IDE. Developing with this on Linux was a real pain since I had to run the IDE through a Windows XP VirtualBox install, and that wouldn't do!
The following details how I managed to build, program and debug Silicon Labs' C8051 micros natively in Linux.
Small Device C Compiler - sdcc
The first step was to get a build environment setup, this was simple since the sdcc compiler supports a number of Silicon Labs 8051s. Installation was extrememly simple too since it is included in the repos of most serious Linux distributions. In Fedora 19 - used throughout the rest of this article - sdcc was installed using YUM with the following command:
$ sudo yum install sdcc
This installs a number of tools included with sdcc, such as, the assembler, a compiler, a linker, etc.. The compilation of a single source file can be carred out with the following command:
$ sdcc-sdcc ./control_test.c
If compiling multiple source files with one main file, the non-main files need to be compiled independently with the '-c' flag before compiling the main file, as follows:
$ sdcc-sdcc -c foo1.c $ sdcc-sdcc -c foo2.c $ sdcc-sdcc main.c foo1.rel foo2.rel
The sdcc-sdcc command creates a number of files, perhaps the most important is the .ihx file which is the Intel-hex binary.
NOTE: The sdcc command above is shown for Fedora, if using a different distro, such as ubuntu, you would replace 'sdcc-sdcc' with just 'sdcc'.
USB Debug Adapter
The C8051F120 development kit comes with Silicon Labs 'USB debug adapter' that provides a JTAG interface allowing the target to be programmed and debugged using a host. The final part of this article covers the basic installation and use of the new ec2drv to allow the debug adapter to be controlled natively in Linux.
ec2drv and ec2-new
ec2drv provides Linux support for the Silicon Laboratories EC2/EC3 JTAG debug adapters, however, it seems that development ceased in around 2008/9. This was then folked to the ec2-new which fixes a number of bugs and compile issues with the original.
Even with the new version, building the package was a little complicated due missing header #include statements in a number of files, however, once these were fixed, installation ran smoothly using the following commands:
$ make -f Makefile.cvs $ autoreconf -fvi $ ./configure $ make # make install
If, during the build, one has errors relating to "error: 'usleep' was not declared in this scope" please see this link for the patch I created.
ec2-new usage
One installed the device can be queried with the following command:
$ sudo /usr/local/bin/ec2device --port USB ********************************************************************* * WARNING: Auto detection of mode may cause initialisation sequence * * to differ significantly from the SiLabs IDE. * * In the case of problems specify --mode=C2 or --mode=JTAG * ********************************************************************* ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 EC3 debugger firmware version = 0x22 Warning: this version is newer than the versions tested by the developers, Please report success / failure and version via ec2drv.sf.net Currently tested versions from 0x01 to 0x0e NOT C2, Trying JTAG ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 Debug adaptor ver = 0x22 unique_id=0x48, rev=00 FOUND: device : C8051F120 mode : JTAG Flash size = 131072 bytes Internal xram size = 8192 bytes External bus = Yes Read lock addr = 0x1fbff Write lock addr = 0x1fbfe Flash sector size = 1024 bytes Flash reserved top = 0x1ffff Flash reserved bottom = 0x1fc00 Has Scratchpad = Yes Scratchpad start addr = 0x0000 Scratchpad length = 0x0100 Scratchpad sector size = 128 bytes Has paged SFR = Yes USB FIFO size = 0 bytes Tested = Yes If the above does not match your processor exactly, please contact us at : http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=775284&group_id=149627&func=browse We need your help to discover if any sub device id's exsist in the silicon exiting now disconnect done
Writing flash to the device can be achieved with:
$ sudo /usr/local/bin/ec2writeflash --port USB --hex ./control_test.ihx ********************************************************************* * WARNING: Auto detection of mode may cause initialisation sequence * * to differ significantly from the SiLabs IDE. * * In the case of problems specify --mode=C2 or --mode=JTAG * ********************************************************************* ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 EC3 debugger firmware version = 0x22 Warning: this version is newer than the versions tested by the developers, Please report success / failure and version via ec2drv.sf.net Currently tested versions from 0x01 to 0x0e NOT C2, Trying JTAG ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 Debug adaptor ver = 0x22 unique_id=0x48, rev=00 FOUND: device : C8051F120 mode : JTAG Loaded 553 bytes between: 0000 to 0228 Writing to flash start=0x00000, end=0x00228 done Exiting now Disconnect done
To enable the debugger to be controlled one needs to use the 'newcdb' application supplied with ec2-new. This basically initiates a gdb shell, and the command to start the shell and connect to the device is as follows:
$ sudo /usr/local/bin/newcdb -ex='set target SL51' -ex='set target port USB' -ex='set target connect' ====================== DbgSession Constructor ========================= constructor this=0x613a20 Executing command set target SL51 current target <none> selecting target SL51 Executing command set target port USB set port 'USB' Executing command set target connect ********************************************************************* * WARNING: Auto detection of mode may cause initialisation sequence * * to differ significantly from the SiLabs IDE. * * In the case of problems specify --mode=C2 or --mode=JTAG * ********************************************************************* ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 EC3 debugger firmware version = 0x22 Warning: this version is newer than the versions tested by the developers, Please report success / failure and version via ec2drv.sf.net Currently tested versions from 0x01 to 0x0e NOT C2, Trying JTAG ec2_GetDbgInfo(0x10c4,0x8044) 1 ec2_reset C2 Debug adaptor ver = 0x22 unique_id=0x48, rev=00 newcdb, new ec2cdb based on c++ source code (newcdb)
And then the target can be run by typing 'run' in the shell, and 'ctrl-c' to stop. To enable the target to be programmed when using the newcdb shell, the target must first be disconnected using the 'set target disconnect' command in the shell, once programmed use the 'set target connect' command to reconnect.
For more information on the ec2 tools see the Quickstart guide on the main ec2drv website.
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