Dec TU-56 Question

From: Peter C. Wallace <pcw_at_mesanet.com>
Date: Thu Aug 15 00:25:00 2002

On Thu, 15 Aug 2002, Tony Duell wrote:

> > Actually it can get worse... because you may well have your own (maybe buggy
> > and always changing) software tools for creating or debugging the firmware...
>
> Well, I guess I'm way behind the times, as usual, but I still create my
> microcontroller firmware in assembly language. And I _alway_ read the hex
> file produced by the assembler and check that it really is a correct
> assembly of the source code (I particularly check that labels have been
> correctly interpretted, etc).


        Our firmware is in assembler, the problem is what version of the
assembler, since the CPU may change daily... I do pretty well know the opcodes
in hex, ( I deliberately made add = AXXXXh, NOP = 0000h) but whenever I change
some bit field definition I forget what the machine code looks like anymore...

        My CPU sort of looks like a pipelined 16 bit PIC so architecture wise
it dates from an on-topic time...

        I used to remember most of the TMS9900 machine language (My first
Micro was a Technico 9900 based system, bought in 1976) because at first I
didnt have anything but a hex monitor to input programs with. Just found a
TI99/4 at the flea market for $2.00 so maybe I'll mess around a little with
9900 assembler again...

soorry for the ramble, past my bedtime.....

>
> Sure it takes a bit of time to do that (but not as much as you might
> think), but it does remove one possible source of problems.
>
> -tony
>

Peter Wallace
Received on Thu Aug 15 2002 - 00:25:00 BST