Re: [avr-gcc-list] converting gas-generated stabs debugging symbols to Atmel coff-format

[E. Weddington]

On 15 Jan 2004 at 14:04, Haase Bjoern (EW-BEU/PMT) * wrote:

> Hy,
>
> since this is my first post at this mailing list please allow me one initial
> remark: I am quite impressed seeing all these activities and the number of
> people working for setting up a free development environment for AVR
> microcontrollers.
>
> Before I start detailing my problem, some base information:
> I am presently trying to convince our department to use GCC as platform for SW
> development for our embedded hardware. Our IT department forces us to use a
> microsoft OS, so I don't see how to avoid using AVR-STUDIO as our debug tool.
> We, thus, need to work with coff-Files :-(.

Not necessarily so. WinAVR contains GDB, simulavr, and avarice. GDB uses the
ELF format. Simulavr works with GDB to do simulation, however it's not
complete, but a lot of new stuff has been going in (but the new stuff is not
yet pre-built for windows). Avarice works with GDB to do emulation via a JTAG
ICE.


> P.P.S.:
> I tried to have a look on the BFD sources written by Jörg Wunsch that 
> implement
> the seemingly intricate stabs conversion between the elf and coff formats.
>
> Unfortunately, I do not know where to find recent sources of the required 
> patch
> for the binutils 2.14. Could somebody tell me where to look for them? After
> successfully applying, e.g., all the different patches for the binutils found 
> on
> the web page of Stephan Eisvogel the sources did no longer compile under my
> Cygwin-environment.

See attached for source of coff patch for binutils 2.14.

> P.P.P.S.:
> One question asked by someone who is not *really* familiar with the binutils 
> and
> gcc-source and gnu-based sw development procedures: Is there kind of  "gentle"
> introduction to GCC and binutils for somebody who would like to learn enough
> about the project to be able to contribute himself .?

Hmm. There's a lot of documentation and it's all spread out in different
places. I would say go through the avr-libc documentation first. There are
instructions on how to build the toolchain on Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows. (If
you have problems building for Windows, post a message, I can help.)

There's also the README.txt file in WinAVR. It has a small introduction plus a
bunch of links to all the various projects. If you would like to help, there
are many projects to help out on: binutils, gcc, avr-libc, avrdude, uisp,
simulavr, avarice, and WinAVR. It just depends on what area you're interested
in.

Eric



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