Code Warrior 5.1 w/P&E USB Multilink Rev. C on Windows 7 (64x)

[CzechThunder]

Hello,

I'm trying to support a legacy project on a Windows 7 laptop.  We do maintenance updates to a Coldfire project I'd like to support without going back to my clunky Win XP setup.

So far, I have CodeWarrior 5.1 running very well in Windows 7.  Compiles, links, builds all execute without errors.

My debug module won't connect though.  It's a P&E micro USB Multilink for Coldfire, Rev. C.  As soon as I go to download and debug (green right arrow) I get a "PEMicroProtocolPlugin" error.  It says it can't load "wigglers.dll".

I have this DLL in the proper directory and I've also copied it to the BIN directory and the Windows system directory. 

The blue light on the dongle itself lights up and the debug pod shows up in the Windows device manager profile correctly.   So the disconnect seems to be inside CodeWarrior or where it calls the plugin.

Any ideas?

Gary

[kef2]

Gary,

what about using virtual machine SW? I like VMware Player, which is quite cheap for commercial usage (and free for hobbyists). Works well on Intel CPUs as old as 1st gen i3 Core. Perhaps older CPUs are fine too, I'm not sure. I'm having no problems using old P&E USB Multilink rev B for S12/S08. Works very well. I regret I didn't switch to 64bit Windows sooner. It is much better to have 8 or more MB of RAM and ability to run any kind of PC compatible OS in VM and work with (almost) every kind of old programming dongle.

[ZhangJennie]

hi Gary,

1. what chip do you work with?

2. your CW version: Start the IDE and click on Help | About Freescale CodeWarrior. Click on Installed Products.Save all info displayed into a txt file and upload it here

3. upload the problem screenshot.

"Universal Multilink FX" doesn't support old classic CW versions.

Here is the listed of the versions of P&E and third-party software tools that will support the Multilink Universal FX interface.

http://www.pemicro.com/products/fx_software.cfm

Best Regards,

Zhang Jun

[CzechThunder]

Hi Zhang,

Thanks for the reply.

1) We work with Coldfire V2, 5275

2) I copied the version info into a text file and uploaded to a free file share site here: 

http://www.filesnack.com/files/ctjqr0wl

3) Here is a screen shot of the exact error dialog that pops up.  Again, this comes up before any attempt is made to connect to the PE Micro dongle.  With or without the dongle plugged in, I still get this message:

Also, I have made sure the "wigglers.dll" file is present and is in the correct directory.

rgds,

Gary

[trytohelp]

Hi Gary,

You're using CodeWarrior® Development Studio for ColdFire Architectures Version 5.1.1.

This version was released several years ago.

Following the info I found the V5.1 has been released in November 2004 and the V5.1.1 update in 2005.

This tool was designed for Win XP 32 bit.

The drivers included in the installation are not working for Win 7 OS - this is true for P&E drivers.

This tool is very very old and I don't know if the new drivers are compatible with this version.

To avoid problem I recommend you to use a XP machine.

Under Win 7 you can create a Virtual PC which is a real XP 32 bit system.

Through this XP emulation you can install CW for Coldfire V5.1.1.

The interface should work through this system.

There is an AN explaining how to install virtual PC.

• AN3936: AN3936, How to install and run Classic CodeWarrior products on 64-bit Windows 7 PC - Application Notes

Please have a look to:

      http://cache.freescale.com/files/soft_dev_tools/doc/app_note/AN3936.pdf

Can you install CW for Coldfire V5.1.1 under Win 7 ?

May be you can install it but the drivers included are not compatible with Win 7.

On P&E web site you can download and install new driver however I don't think the new driver are compatible with CW for Coldfire V5.1.

I don't recommend you this solution.

Have a great day,
Pascal

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: If this post answers your question, please click the Correct Answer button. Thank you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[CzechThunder]

Thanks for the detailed replies Pascal and Edward.  I really appreciate the support.

So yes, these are definitely older SW tools that I am in no way expecting to run perfectly on Windows 7.  This is one of those legacy projects that falls under a strict "copy exact" manufacturing situation where I can't upgrade the compiler.  And for the most part, it is working.  It is only the dongle link that appears broken.

So I actually did try the XP virtualization.  My machine is both hardware and software compatible, per Microsoft's guidelines.  However, the virtualization configuration fails due to a conflict with my company's AntiVirus software.  I will have to chase this incompatibility probem and get this virtual XP sessions going or resort to a two-machine solution.

rgds,

Gary

[trytohelp]

Hi Gary,

Just reading my previous post I see a mistake:

instead of "The drivers included in the installation are working for Win 7 OS - this is true for P&E drivers."

you must read "The drivers included in the installation are not working for Win 7 OS - this is true for P&E drivers."

I've updated my post.

May be the build tool chain (Compiler, assembler, linker) is running fine under Win 7.

From my experience most of the time the problem is linked to the debugger ... not really or only with the debugger but more to the interface.

Most of the time the interfaces drivers are not compatible with Win 7.

P&E provides a new driver solving the problem.

However for very older product (case of CW for Coldfire V5.x), probably the new driver will not be compatible with the debugger.

Now the solution could be to move to the last Classic version: CW for Coldfire V7.2.

Porting a V5.1project to V7.2 will require some modifications (libraries. etc ...).

Running Virtual PC or using VMware, VirtualBox or any other emulation seems to be the better solution in your case.

Hope this will help you.

Have a great day,
Pascal

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: If this post answers your question, please click the Correct Answer button. Thank you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[CzechThunder]

Also, if there is a patch to allow older versions of CodeWarrior to work with the new PE Micro MultiLink Universal FX, that would be a preferred solution.  I'm currently using that dongle with an IAR compiler and it works quite well.  Would love to be able to swap that onto my Coldfire based hardware if that were possible.

Gary