[avr-gcc-list] Re: GCC Compiler support for ATtiny10

[David Brown]

Weddington, Eric wrote:
> > -----Original Message----- From: 
> > address@hidden 
> > [mailto:address@hidden org]
> > On Behalf Of Rodney McCray Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 2:55 PM 
> > To: address@hidden Subject: [avr-gcc-list] GCC Compiler
> > support for ATtiny10
> >
> > Is there C compiler support for the ATtiny10 in AVR studio v4.17's
> > GCC compiler.  I cannot find header nor io.h files for it?
>
> Hi Rodney,
>
> That is correct, ATtiny10 is not supported yet in the AVR GCC
> toolchain. No, I don't have a timeframe yet for its support.
>
> And you could have just emailed me directly.
>
> Eric Weddington

I've just had a quick look at the datasheet for this device.  In some 
ways, it should be easier for gcc than the ordinary avr's (the flash is 
mapped to the data area, and there is no distinction between "high" and 
"low" registers).  But I'd guess that there would have to be a number of 
changes to get avr-gcc to work here.  The zero and tmp registers would 
have to be changed, since registers 0 and 1 don't exist.  Perhaps the 
other missing registers could be disabled by declaring dummy global 
register variables?  And while having the flash in the data space is 
nicer, it still means changes.

The Tiny10 is a nice device in many ways - very small and cheap.  But 
its use is limited by its silly programming scheme - it requires 5V 
power and 5V singles on 3 of the 4 IO pins.  If the rest of your circuit 
is less than 5V, you'll spend almost as much money, and a lot more 
space, on voltage protection for in-circuit programming.  Realistically, 
these devices must be programmed before mounting.