Re: [Amforth-devel] Beginner's experience

[Matthias T. <mt...@we...>]

Pito,

At first: Thank you ver much for sharing your experience with us (me).
I highly appreciate it!

> I got a dev system which is fully stable (usb usart and usb programmer,
> Avr Studio, Avrdude, XP SP3). So I am a win user who does not fit into
> the community (:-)..

Hey, despite the fact that I prefer Linux does not mean its unusual to
use different program starting environments ;=)

> I found Forfiter, which enabled me to upload (however it works with 
> 19k2 max) as it has ok commit. 

Lubos told recently me that he has published a new version of his tool. 
And that he does not use high speed transfers ;=)

> I do not have access to python and pearl scripts (XP Python incompatibility)so
> the only way is to upload the required frts (marker, 2x, atmega32 reg
> def, etc)each time again. Then marker - dev and I tried again. When
> happy and none crash I used -dev to start again without a reflash.

You can not only upload a hex file to the controller but also download
the flash/eeprom from the controller. That I do so from time to time..


> The biggest problem for me (a beginner) is the "OS" ruggedness and support.
> The new words might be available on net, but the OS is hardwired. Words
> like .s and .res did not help me much, so I did mostly "try and error"
> wise, with frequent reflashing the rom. Many times the systems stoped
> response after running the new word and I lost the acces to the system.
> Even hardware reset did not help.

Sounds familiar :=( Any idea for a debugger? It has to be small, and
minimal invasive and fool proof..

> The ctrl-C for return to interpreter, or ctrl-Q for a soft reset would
> be
> really necessary. Also some stack overflow exception with a return to
> prompt would be a nice feature.

I usually press a reset button. Works almost all of the time. But see
above: any ideas (and code of course) for a debugger are welcome.

> Maybe the current linux toolchain is more advanced, however the development
> process with amforth and my XP tools is a challenge for a beginner (not
> speaking about a good simulator..)

The linux toolchain is absolutly mine, I think I'm the only one who
uses ant for calling a windows assembler with it. Feel free to send
patches/documentation/howtos to do it better. I just hacked
an ugly screenshot series to document the avr studion usage, but I'd not
really recommend it.

> PS: Any plans for amforth 32bit with float??

Not currently. Maybe someone want to volonteer?

Matthias