mspgcc-based test/demo environment

[pabigot 355]

As just announced, there's a new development version of mspgcc available for the adventurous.

 

Along with it is a new release of test430, a unit test framework that simplifies building simple tests and demonstrations for a variety of MSP430 platforms including multiple chip variants of the LaunchPad, and MSP430FG4618 and MSP430F5438A variants of the experimenters board. (I got the USB board, but haven't had a chance to add it yet.)

 

Although test430 is only likely to ever work with GCC in a POSIX environment, there are a variety of demo programs, including an MSP430G2553 example differential frequency monitor which I've found pretty useful in validating clock speeds. Be aware that I'm working pretty exclusively with the development mspgcc, so it's possible there are dependencies on that (though at least some of it should work with current LTS-20110716).

 

Hope it's useful to others, but even if not it's going to make future mspgcc releases more stable, which has gotta be a good thing.

[pabigot 355]

Impolitely following up on my own post: one of the best things about test430 is scripts/ez430, which allows you to monitor serial output from the launchpad using the USB HID interface, bypassing all the problems with Linux tty-style serial support of the TUSB3410. You can even leave this running in one window while you're using mspdebug to program the board in another. You will need the latest Python USB bindings; information is in the README.

[Rickta59 589]

Your ez430 python seems to work great even if my device spews forth at the beginning. Thanks!

 

-rick