Hi All,
I have been using the Wixel outside of the Pololu environment and programming it with a CC Debugger. I now wish to use one of them back in the Pololu environment. Is the code (hex) for the bootloader available and are there instructions for linking? I am using sdcc suite to build, and cc-tool (linux CC-Debugger application) to program.
Thanks,
Eric
Hello, Eric.
We do not release the Wixel bootloader. However, you should be able to modify the Wixel SDK’s Makefile to work with your setup:
To put the interrupt/entry vectors at the right place and use all of the flash memory, you should change the line that sets CODE_AREA in the Makefile to be:
CODE_AREA := $(CODE_AREA_FULL)To use cc-tool instead of WixelCmd for loading the hex files, you should look in apps.mk and change the line that invokes $(WIXELCMD). I think I would just change lines 19-21 to be something like:
.PHONY : load_$(1)
load_$(1) : apps/$(1)/$(1).hex
cc-tool your_favorite_options_for_cc_tool $$<–David
Hi David,
Thanks for the quick reply. I have been using bash scripts that I wrote to do essentially what you outlined. That was how I overwrote the boot-loader in the first place. I understand that you do not wish to release the boot-loader code. I can continue to load the stripped devices with the CC-Debugger but then I have to rebuild/link the existing app I was wanting to use. Not that big a deal but I was being lazy.
One final question: I did a read to hex file of one of the Wixels that still has the boot-loader intact and then wrote that to a device that was missing the boot-loader. It didn’t work. I know I am reading and writing to the Wixels correctly, I have them working as “libusb vendor specific” devices rather than ACM class. Is the “read to hex file” also blocked to protect your IP?
Thanks again,
Eric
Hello, Eric.
You can look inside the hex file to see what addresses it sets. The “Read Flash and Export to HEX file…” feature of the Wixel Configuration Utility only reads the app, not the bootloader. That’s not about protecting IP, it’s just how that feature was designed. Even if the bootloader was open source, it is nice to have a hex file that only contains the app, because that is precisely what you need to feed to the bootloader to use the app.
–David
Hi David,
Thanks for all your help. I got un-lazy and rebuilt and linked the app I needed to have an extra transmitter running. I figured out the rest of the question also. The “read and export to hex file” was with the cc-Debugger/cc-tool, not the Wixel configuration utility so it would have read the full memory had the lock bit not been set.
Rebuilding with the code location set back to 0x0000 was what I should have done and saved several evenings. I can get back to the real task at hand and jut continue using the CC-Debugger to program the devices.
Thanks again for your help,
Eric
hi David,
May be not bad idea describe method switch between Wixel & SimpliTI back and force more clear ? I have a cc-debuger from TI and have some developer boards from TI. For some application - I have to switch to TI firmware - like Spectrum Analyzer from TI. But I can not now. my cc2511 - something “between board” (TI + Pololu) …
Wixel - great product and I love to play with it , but what is the proper way the switch the bootloader from TI to Pololu and back
Can you explain this more detail - I’m not profi for 8051 and I’m going to use this for wireless sensors hookup to pc or android cortex a8 …
Thanks
Igor
Hello, Igor.
If you want to load examples from TI onto your Wixel, I recommend recompiling them so that they fit within the section of flash designated for apps by the Wixel’s bootloader (0x0400 - 0x77FF). Then you can take that HEX file and use WixelCmd or the Wixel Configuration Utility to load it onto your Wixel. This way, you do not have to remove the Wixel’s bootloader.
–David
Thanks a lot , David!
Last problem …, how to “restrore” Wixel from scratches. I’ve two Wixel card, one was “restored” from another . both have the same serial number… what is the proper way to put everythong back to Wixel ? I’m using cc-debugger with TI flash programmer to read flash from original Wixel and put in other Wixel and … now it completly mess … and I have no idea which one is “original” Wixel…
thanks
Igor
Sorry, the Wixel bootloader is proprietary and we do not support loading it onto devices. Your two Wixels are now indistinguishable by the computer and some of our software might have a bit of trouble if you plug them both in at once. If you only plug one into the computer at a time, I would expect everything to work fine.
–David