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Getting Started With MSP430 GNU Eclipse on Windows

Do you like to play with TI MSP430 Launchpad and use open source software only? If you follow the instructions below you end up with a Hello-World-Program on your MSP430-Launchpad

• developed on a host of type Windows 7 x64,
• built in environment MSYS2+Mingw64,
• written from inside the IDE Eclipse,
• written with C,
• compiled, linked, downloaded and debugged with the MSP430-GCC toolchain,

Step 0: Get a MSP430 Launchpad

I have a MSP-EXP430G2, see http://www.ti.com/ww/en/launchpad/launchpads-msp430-msp-exp430g2.html#tabs

The tutorial assumes that you have the same.

Step 1: Install MSYS2

• Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/msys2

• Download MSYS2 (its a 64Bit environment)

• Install. We chose the default ''c:\msys64'' here. If you are using another path, adapt the following instructions accordingly.

• The Setup should now start your shell.

• In general, it is a standard shell you will find on many Linux and Unix systems out there. It might look old-school but the reason that this kind of interaction still exists is that it is proven to be effective if used accordingly. MSYS2 provides a package management system to the user.

• First, update package database and your setup:

  $ pacman -Syu

• Exit the shell because after these heavy updates the shell becomes unreliable when working w/o a clean re-start:

  $ exit

• Start the shell again via "C:\msys64\mingw64_shell.bat"

• Install git (with "gui-stuff), make and gcc:

  $ pacman -S git mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-tk make mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc

• Exit the shell: $ exit

General informations about MSYS2 and the package manager system "pacman": See http://sourceforge.net/p/msys2/wiki/MSYS2%20installation/

''(Remark: Thanks to the Open Source Project "OpenWalnut" http://www.openwalnut.org/projects/openwalnut/wiki/InstallMSYS2 OpenWalnut for the really nice wiki I used to derive the above steps from.)''

Step 2: Install Eclipse for C/C++ Developers

• Download "Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers" for Windows 64-bit from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
• Unzip it (we we did it so the eclipse.exe is under c:\eclipse\eclipse.exe)

From now on we always start eclipse from within MinGW64's shell. This is nice because then all the tools (most important make) can be easily reached from within Eclipse.

So start Eclipse by doing following

• Start the shell via "C:\msys64\mingw64_shell.bat"

• Call eclipse:

  $ /c/eclipse/eclipse.exe &

Mind the ampersand at the end of the command line. This causes eclipse running in the background as an forked process of the shell. You now still can work in the shell and also in Eclipse.

Step 3: Install MSP430 toolchain

Unfortunately MSP430 toolchain is not available as MSYS2-Package. So we cannot install it via pacman. No problem:

• Download it from http://xpg.dk/files/File/msp430/msp430-toolchain-win-x86-3.0.zip
• Unzip it (we did it so msp430-gcc.exe is available under "C:\msp430-toolchain-win-x86-3.0\bin\msp430-gcc.exe"

Step 4: Install GDB-Proxy

Now we need also to install GDB-Proxy. MSPDebug is an open-source tool used to debug MSP430 devices over JTAG using GDB with the original MSP430.DLL from Texas Instruments.

• Download the latest zip from http://gnutoolchains.com/msp430/gdbproxy/
• In the zip there is the executable plus some dlls. We just copy all the files into the directory "C:\msp430-toolchain-win-x86-3.0\bin", so that they reside along with the rest of the GDB-stuff.

Step 5: Install Flash-tool

Skip this because it is not necessary.

http://software-dl.ti.com/msp430/msp430_public_sw/mcu/msp430/MSP430Flasher/latest/index_FDS.html

Because we download via gdb we do not need the TI flash tool. The Flashtool could be downloaded from the vendor's (TI) page. But there registering is necessary, and so on. So we skip this for now.

Step 6: Clone this repository

• Start the shell via "C:\msys64\mingw64_shell.bat"
• Make sure that you're in your home directory (the home-directory is located under "C:\msys64\home\you"): $ cd
• Clone this repository: $ git clone https://github.com/basejumpa/HelloMSP430.git

Step 7: Run the example from command line:

• Connect your Launchpad via USB to your computer. Driver-installation is not necessary here (in fact not before you're using the serial connection. We're using the JTAG-interface here, no driver-installation necessary. Thank's gdbproxy-team!)

• Change to the project directory in the shell:

  $ cd $ cd HelloMSP430

• Make it:

  $ make

• The expected result is headless: ** Compile, link, download, start in debugger, receiving in the debugger status messages written directly in the program of the program which just... ** toggles the two LEDs on the Launchpad for 50 times.

Step 8: Run the example from Eclipse

• Fork eclipse from the command line:

  $ /c/eclipse/eclipse.exe &

• Import the existing project inside Eclipse: ** Menubar/File/Import... ** Select Dialogbox/General/Existing Projects into Workspace, hit Next ** Select root directory (here: C:\msys64\home\mann\HelloMSP430 , my username is 'mann') ** Hit Finish

• On the left side in the view "Make Targets" double-click target "clean", then "test".

• You see the same stuff in Eclipse's Console view as in Step 7 (run on command line).

Step 9: Interactively debug from within Eclipse.

Install debugger extension:

• Menubar/Help/Install New Software...
• In DropDown "Work with:" choose "Mars - http://download.eclipse.org/releases/mars"
• In tree-view choose "Mobile and Device Development/C/C++ GDB Hardware Debugging"
• Hit Next, Next, Select you agree, Finish. Restart eclipse.

The project you've imported already contains the settings, here's how I set them:

• Right-click project "HelloMSP430" in view Project Explorer
• ContextMenu/Properties (at bottom).
• C/C++ Build/Settings: Enable both "Elf Parser" and also "PE Windows Parser"

Now we setup that we can start the debugger and the debug-proxy from within Eclipse. These settings are stored in your Workspace, not in the project. Therefore you've to do following steps:

• Menubar/Run/External Tools/External Tools Configurations...

• Hit the button "New launch configuration"

• Specify: ** Name: gdbproxy ** Location: C:\msp430-toolchain-win-x86-3.0\bin\msp430-gdbproxy.exe ** Arguments: --keepalive

• Button Apply, then button Close.

• Menubar/Run/Debug Configurations...

• In the treeview right-click "GDB Hardware Debugging"

• ContextMenu/New

• Specify: ** Tab Main" *** Name: main *** "Disable aout build": Selected. *** Hit button Apply ** Tab Debugger: *** GDB Command: C:\msp430-toolchain-win-x86-3.0\bin\msp430-gdb.exe *** Remote Target/Port number: 2000 *** Hit button Apply *** Hit button Close

Now all is set up. You debug by...

• For the very first time after Eclipse-start you have to start the gdbproxy in the background by: ** Menubar/Run/External Tools/1 gdbproxy
• Open the file main.c in Eclipse. Double click onto the grey shoulder left to the line numbers in line 37 to set a breakpoint there.
• Menubar/Run/Debug Configurations... ** In Treeview, select entry "main" under "GDB Hardware Debugging" ** Press button "debug".

You're in the debugging session.

Thanks to Xavi, Mike and dudmuck for their tutorials. I couldn't have written this w/o your tutorials:

• http://www.indigresso.com/wiki/doku.php?id=opentag:tools:eclipse_mspgcc
• http://hackaday.com/2011/02/24/debugging-msp430-using-eclipse/
• https://openwsn.atlassian.net/wiki/display/OW/msp430gcc+on+Eclipse+with+mspgdb_proxy