Learn to debug msp430 chips using IAR

February 15, 2011 By 7 Comments

If you haven’t done any debugging with microcontroller programs [Kphlight] posted a follow-along guide for debugging MSP430 chips. You can see above that he’s using the TI Launchpad and has chosen the free (but code limited) IAR Embedded Workbench that is one of the IDE’s that TI provides for the kit. The example builds a Pomodoro timer with just five LEDs and one resistor. You’ll flash the code to the chip, step through each line of the firmware, and learn how to manipulate register data during code execution.

It’s a great primer for the uninitiated, and we’d love to see one using open-source tools like DDD and GDB. If you do write one, don’t forget to send us a tip about it. If you want to give open source a try with this hardware check out our own tutorial.

Filed Under: Microcontrollers Tagged With: , , ,

Tools: Saleae Logic, logic analyzer

March 6, 2009 By 62 Comments

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A logic analyzer records bus communications between two chips. If you’ve ever had a problem getting two chips to talk, or wanted to reverse engineer a protocol, a logic analyzer is the tool you need to spy on the bus.

The Logic is a USB logic analyzer with eight channels and sampling rates up to 24MHz. Among hobby-level logic analyzers, the Logic has a good mix of features and decent sampling rates. We’ve been following Joe Garrison’s work on the Logic for a long time. If you’ve ever considered bringing a product to market, you can learn a lot from Joe’s blog that documents his development process.

When it debuted, the Logic was so popular that it was hard to buy one. It’s now widely available, and Saleae gave us one to try. Read our review below.

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