In a previous post, we showed how to use PKGPPCNEXUS and  PKGCFZ_PRO to display the contents of an ELF/DWARF file using Readelf.  In this post, we look at the Readelf output and explain its description of your object code. 

We will use this example Readelf output to illustrate the kinds of information that Readelf provides. Click through to view the example and follow along.

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When using either a Cyclone PRO or a Cyclone MAX, customers often ask whether programming a target through Ethernet is faster than USB or vice versa.  While it's certainly true that the transfer time of data from the PC to the Cyclone occurs faster over an Ethernet link, the actual programming time is bottlenecked by the BDM Shift Frequency.

BDM Shift Frequency refers to the rate at which signals are handshaked (shifted) from one of the interface ports of a Cyclone unit to the Background Debug port of the target unit.  This handshake can occur synchronously or asynchronously, the former requiring the presence of a clock source (note that some ColdFire devices such as the MCF5272 require a synchronous interface), and may also require a power cycle sequence as part of entry into background mode, which is performed automatically by the Cyclone PRO. Click through to continue demystifying BDM Shift Frequency.

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P&E offers an easy and reliable way to control a Cyclone PRO via the built-in RS232 protocol. If you would like to follow along with our example, please pre-program your Cyclone PRO with a stand-alone image and configure your RS232 host device to operate at an 115200 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit mode. You are now ready to enjoy the flexibility of controlling your Cyclone PRO by sending it a pre-defined set of byte strings. Click through to continue with our example code...

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Did you know you can safeguard data while erasing your flash module during Flash/EEPROM programming? P&E has added a “preserve range” function that can be used in a programming algorithm to preserve memory ranges. The function looks at the range to be preserved, saves it, and restores it after the flash has been erased. Click through to see how to take advantage of this new feature.

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The HC(S)12(X) microcontroller family uses a paged flash architecture to expand its addressable memory beyond the standard 64KB (or $0000 to $FFFF). Microcontrollers with this feature treat a 16KB block of memory from $8000 to $BFFF as a memory window.  This window allows multiple 16KB blocks to be switched into and out of program memory.  An 8-bit program page register (PPAGE) tells the microcontroller which block to read.

To program the flash with P&E's software, you need an S-record file that has physical addresses by definition.  If you have a logical file, you can use the Log2Phy tool to convert it to an S-record. Click through to learn more.

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