128K Limit

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by blasiis on Mon Apr 18 02:08:08 MST 2011
In the LPCXpresso I have more code in Debug mode respect the Release version, and this is normal.
My question is: The License restriction for LPCXpresso free version is also for debug mode ?

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Sun Apr 24 23:49:44 MST 2011
Rob,

I knew that, I was just being a bit facetious about your comment "(I still think it's worth the money)". CodeRed could use you in their marketing department, you sound like a good salesman. Might be your next career.:p:)

Microsoft did a lot of "downsizing" too in 2009.:( Let me know when you get the beer. I'll get some too and we can wallow in our sorrow together.:D If we drink enough of it we'll need the coffee to set ourselves straight again.

Have a good day,
Larry

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Rob65 on Sun Apr 24 23:20:10 MST 2011

Quote: jharwood
The debugger (GDB) has to load the .axf file to be able to run. It determines the size of the binary executable from the .axf file and exits if it is above the limit.

Thanks, that's the first time someone states that this limit was reached :(
If you are just at the limit (and I assume the project contains multiple static libraries) you could try to compile parts with optimization and parts without. That way you could at least debug some of the code.

Quote: larryvc
Did you say you used to work in the marketing department?

Who? Me?
Nope - I don't even have any connection with Code Red.
I did use to work at NXP Semiconductors in the Netherlands but discovered two years ago that "we need to downsize" just means "you're fired" :eek: From that time I have been trying to make a living as a freelance engineer.
Our department developed different ICs with an ARM core and peripherals for mobile applications. Besides the standard interface like those that can be found in the lpc uCs they contained special interfaces for those mobile devices.
Part of my job was to get those ICs up&running when first silicon arrived and to create demo applications to show the working of the interfaces.

I have used different tools. Software ranging from GNU-ARM to ARM's RealView compiler suite and hardware used contained a range of JTAG probes, protocol analyzers, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes. When Embedded Artists came out with their lpc2106 QuickStart board in 2005 I started to use ARM at home also meaning I had to figure out how to do the things I did at the office without the budget I had at the office ... I bought almost every QuickStart board from Embedded Artists when it came out - including their Christmas tree and the LPC2104 Color LCD game.
I even created my own JTAG debugger pod for ARM7 and I was able to download code into RAM, place breakpoints and single step from my own program.

I have been using the LPCXpresso software tools with the lpc1114 and lpc1343 boards (guess where I bought those...) for different hobby and professional projects. Although the LPC-Link is a good quick-starter for development (it's fun to just power my complete hardware environment from a USB port) there are some limitations (speed, mechanical construction, USB powering) so as soon as my new project brings some money in I'm spending that all on a RedProbe (and some coffee/beer to go with it )

One of my fun hobby projects was to port a chess program onto the LCD game board.
Actually, porting the chess program is the wrong definition; I actually ported a 6502 emulator in the lpc2104 and have that one run the original 6502 chess program code. I still want to port the chess program to native ARM and have it running on an lpc1343 with an LCD (I'm thinking of hiding it as an easter egg in my next product :D)

[IMG]http://myvoice.nl/electronics/images/IMG_1105.jpg[/IMG]

Rob

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by jharwood on Sun Apr 24 11:26:57 MST 2011

Quote: Rob65

Still no debugging (you could try what happens when you connect to a running target ...)

The debugger (GDB) has to load the .axf file to be able to run. It determines the size of the binary executable from the .axf file and exits if it is above the limit.

One of my projects is 150k debug and 90k release. So I can at least set some break points and view memory and registers while running the debugger on a release build. But stepping through the C source code is pretty much a waste of time :rolleyes:

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Sun Apr 24 11:03:19 MST 2011
Yes, using ISP and UART0 is an option that would work. If my code grows to the point where I need more memory I will upgrade to CodeRed with a RedProbe.

Did you say you used to work in the marketing department?:p

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Rob65 on Sat Apr 23 23:33:01 MST 2011
Just thought of this...

If the LPCXpresso IDE does allow the creation of > 128 kB code you can still program your device using ISP. The only bad thing is that it seems that there is no ISP via USB available on the lpc17xx (the user manual only mentions UART ISP).

Strange, the smaller lpc1343 can be ISPed via USB. It would have made sense to copy this into the lpc17xx series also ...

Still no debugging (you could try what happens when you connect to a running target ...) but at least you can try your code without sponsoring Code Red :p
(I still think it's worth the money)

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Thu Apr 21 10:08:32 MST 2011

Quote: larryvc
This shows off the wonderful compiler.
This is where they want us to pay.

I hope nobody took this as a complaint. I was just stating the fact that at some point you need to pay to continue using the product in a meaningful way. I will continue on this theme later in this post.

Quote: Rob65
...and the coffee you are drinking while reading my
message
If you really need more memory you can upgrade to the 256k or 512k Code Red versions for just 256 or 512 USD.
You can use and evaluate the free version without any restrictions - that's what I would call a fair deal!
I guess you don't want to know what I paid for my 36 channel logic analyzer with 2k samples buffer ...
P.s: the logic analyzer was a cheap deal for 400 USD

I just got up and needed a coffee. Are you watching me?:rolleyes:

A very fair deal. It could have been in EUROs.:D

I would like to know more about the logic analyzer. Please email me.;)

Quote: KTownsend
I have to admit I don't get all the complaining either. A $30 development board with a HW debugger, free support, a decent IDE with very generous limits, etc., is extremely attractive to me, and I'm grateful they give away or subsidise as much as they do. The people writing and designing this stuff need to eat as well, and seriously ... we all know that 98% of people using the LPCXpresso will never contribute a cent to NXPs bottom line.

I'm not complaining, well maybe a little about the docs, but your right about the rest. This has been the easiest, and least costly, setup I have ever come across. Being able to learn how to develop for Cortex M0 and M3 without having to pay for a class and development system costing hundreds led me to my decision to use LPCXpresso. I do not take what NXP, CodeRed, and EA have provided me for granted and I thank them for this.

If you need more memory for your project then you are probably developing a commercial application. I'm sure this is how CodeRed decided on the levels of free, 256kB, 512kB, and the whole >>load. Their pricing scheme is one of the cheapest and competitive out there.

The last statement, about the 98% of people, some of the remaining 2% are here on the forum answering questions and sharing knowledge freely. Doesn't it feel good to give back, isn't that great.:)

Larry - in a contemplative mood

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by ktownsend on Thu Apr 21 05:56:40 MST 2011

Quote: blasiis
OK pay pay ! :(

I have to admit I don't get all the complaining either. A $30 development board with a HW debugger, free support, a decent IDE with very generous limits, etc., is extremely attractive to me, and I'm grateful they give away or subsidise as much as they do. The people writing and designing this stuff need to eat as well, and seriously ... we all know that 98% of people using the LPCXpresso will never contribute a cent to NXPs bottom line.

I like open source, and publish a number of open source designs and libraries, but they've also cost me literally tens of thousands of dollars in development and tool costs, etc. It's work I had to do anyway so I don't mind sharing, but it always kind of irks me when people complain and paying for something that isn't 'free' to develop.

If you want free, either write your own IDE and get familiar with GDB, building your own toolchain, etc. Personally, I'd rather pay a bit of money and debug my firmware rather than my toolchain and tools, and it's a no brainer to me to pay a bit of money for tools that let me work efficiently. Are you spending a lot of your own money to give things away with no financial gain or incentive?

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Rob65 on Thu Apr 21 02:49:11 MST 2011

Quote: blasiis
pay pay :(

Why the big frown ...

You could of course install Eclipse yourself, add the ARM-Gcc to that, search the internet for a free OpenOCD implementation for the Cortex M0/M3 and try to add this to GDB.

You've paid for the PC you are using, and Windows, and your internet connection, and the coffee you are drinking while reading my message :rolleyes:
And on top of that, for just a few bucks we can buy a nice LPCXpresso board. The development system is free, you get a fairly nice USB powered jtag/swd debugger that allows you to download and debug your code.

The 128k memory limit allows you to even create fairly big applications - I've never gone beyond 64k up to now. If you really need more memory you can upgrade to the 256k or 512k Code Red versions for just 256 or 512 USD.
You can use and evaluate the free version without any restrictions - that's what I would call a fair deal!

I guess you don't want to know what I paid for my 36 channel logic analyzer with 2k samples buffer ...

And on top of this you get a lot of support from users on this forum - provided for free by NXP. I've already had 3 or 4 problems solved by either NXP support or Code Red support in this way and I try to help out others where I can.

Regards,

Rob

P.s: the logic analyzer was a cheap deal for 400 USD

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by blasiis on Thu Apr 21 01:28:13 MST 2011
OK pay pay ! :(

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Tue Apr 19 12:56:35 MST 2011

Quote: Zero
Compiling > 128k is working :)

This shows off the wonderful compiler.:)

Quote: Zero
Downloading via LPC-Link shows

License restriction:Flash image too large for this license

This is where they want us to pay.:D

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Tue Apr 19 12:34:54 MST 2011

Quote: Zero
Compiling > 128k is working :)

This shows off the wonderful compiler.:)

Quote: Zero
Downloading via LPC-Link shows

License restriction:Flash image too large for this license

This is where they want us to pay.:D

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Ex-Zero on Tue Apr 19 11:53:26 MST 2011
Compiling > 128k is working :)

Quote:

text data bss dec hex filename
226788 0 340 227128 37738 LPC1769_Test.axf

Downloading via LPC-Link shows

Quote:

License restriction:Flash image too large for this license

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Rob65 on Tue Apr 19 11:12:56 MST 2011

Quote: larryvc
Now I'm confused.:confused:

I haven't tried compiling and downloading anything beyond the 128k limit

Looking at http://code-red-tech.com/products.php#comparison I read: 'Downoad limit 128k". Never seen any limit on the debug size.

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by larryvc on Tue Apr 19 10:32:49 MST 2011

Quote: TheFallGuy

In other words, you can create an image of any size, but you will only be able to debug it with LPCXpresso if it is less than 128k.

Quote: Rob65
The 128k limit applies to the download of your code. So you cannot download a larger image. Not being able to debug is kind of implicit

Now I'm confused.:confused:

I haven't tried compiling and downloading anything beyond the 128k limit, but I thought we could. I know the debugger limit is 128k.

Off topic: iespell offers up Theology as a replacement for TheFallGuy.:)

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by Rob65 on Tue Apr 19 10:19:51 MST 2011
The 128k limit applies to the download of your code. So you cannot download a larger image. Not being able to debug is kind of implicit :)

Rob

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by blasiis on Tue Apr 19 01:14:56 MST 2011
ok Thanks

lpcware · ‎06-15-2016

Content originally posted in LPCWare by TheFallGuy on Mon Apr 18 02:14:14 MST 2011
AFAIK, the 128k limit applies to the size of the image you are debugging. The debugger won't know whether it is a Debug or Release build.

In other words, you can create an image of any size, but you will only be able to debug it with LPCXpresso if it is less than 128k.