MSP432 Launchpad at US$4.32...  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2016, 09:15:10 pm
content: https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/msp430blog/archive/2016/01/01/new-year-s-deal-msp432-launchpad-for-4-32I am not sure how is shipping overseas, though, but the discount is applicable to more than one (I got two for myself).

author: hamzadis
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 06, 2016, 10:38:25 pm
content: Might want to getThe Analog Engineer's Pocket Referencebook as well for $5. I think I'm gonna have to pass as shipping is a bit too steep for me at $21.

author: electr_peter
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 06, 2016, 10:59:09 pm
content: Shipping is over $40 for me even with coupon.

author: crispy_tofu
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 05:27:10 am
content: Maybe just print it out from thefree PDF

author: AndreasF
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 07:18:06 am
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on January 06, 2016, 09:15:10 pm$7 to the UK. Got one as well (should have probably gotten two). The original (MSP430) Launchpad was my first dev board, and I still like it a lot. For simple microcontroller projects I'm far more likely to use an MSP430 than an AVR.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 07:38:25 am
content: Thanks for the heads up. That's a great deal!

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 07:53:30 am
content: Too tempting not to give it a go - two on their way to the UK and still only $7 shipping, so just over 11 quid in total.Thanks for the tip!

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 08:33:10 am
content: The main "problem" with this was that the Energia (an Arduino-lookalike IDE/library) support sucked in TI-RTOS for multitasking support, "complicating" things (and I have little patience to spend learning a vendor-specific RTOS.)Someone on the TI forum implied that the chip itself isn't shipping yet? Ouch.

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 09:34:29 am
content: That may have been me on 43oh wondering what's happening with the MSP432 line.Nine months on, there are still only two MSP432 chips available and they're still XMS432 which means beta. I don't know if this means anything - just thinking out loud.As for Energia - why would you want to use that anyway? You lose so much over CCS it's just not worth it.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 12:44:45 pm
content: Thank you!!!! $7 shipping to Brazil, so I got 2.

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 02:28:37 pm
content: Thank you! Two are now being launched towards Sweden. (7$ shipping)

author: ElectricGuy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 02:33:09 pm
content: 21$ shipping to Portugal.....

author: jpmkm
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 03:43:29 pm
content: Thanks! Just ordered 3. $19.96 total. No idea what I'll do with them.

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 03:48:33 pm
content: Quote from: newbrain on January 07, 2016, 02:28:37 pm$7 to Sweden???, to Norway it's $21..

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 04:00:11 pm
content: 21 dollar to BelgiumFree shipping for samples. Fuck logic. I guess I dont need to use the 432 after all.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 04:26:31 pm
content: Thanks for the heads up!Just grabbed 3, $19.96 shipped.As for no chips shipping yet, I've always heard (even 6+ months ago) that the production MSP432 wouldn't be shipping until first quarter 2016, so it's no surprise. It shouldn't be too much longer now, maybe that's why they're pushing these beta chips out the door?

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 04:41:06 pm
content: Quote from: neslekkim on January 07, 2016, 03:48:33 pmIf you happen to pass by Stockholm, I'll part with one for a beer or two (though I did not get any confirmation email as yet...so wait!).The logic in shipping costs eludes me (just some samples):Romania: $42, you'd be better off in Nepal or Mongolia: $19Finland and Sweden: $7, but Denmark and Norway (and Iceland) $21Italy $7, but Vatican City $21 (and if you are in San Marino, forget about it, it's not even listed...).UK $7, Ireland $21.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 04:44:50 pm
content: Oh lord, as if I don't have enough other micros and fpgas to learn, I just ordered 2 anyway.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 05:25:22 pm
content: Quote from: jpmkm on January 07, 2016, 03:43:29 pmI can already guess what the hot topics on the Microcontrollers area of the forum will be by next week. We can start a new thread with suggestions of what to do with our new 432.Lke I posted, I ordered 2 just 3 hours ago. Got an e-mail 10 min ago that they've already been shipped through FEDEX. Hurray!

author: Throy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 05:46:14 pm
content: Thanks for the info!$7 to Germany

author: diyaudio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 06:29:14 pm
content: $28 shipping, and the Rand just hit R16 to the dollar.. shame on you for temping me.

author: diyaudio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 06:53:44 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on January 07, 2016, 04:00:11 pmmwaha

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 09:29:59 pm
content: Quote from: newbrain on January 07, 2016, 04:41:06 pmI have enough of them, think I have 3-4 , luckily you can order loads of stuff at the same time, and pay that shipping total, no matter how many shipments they end up sending.. have had up to 6-7 from one order

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 02:09:40 am
content: There doesn't seem to be anything unique about the 432, as I recall. Is this still true for this particular chip?The older lm4f120s are feature rich but buggy.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 08:49:27 am
content: Quotethey're positioning it as the low-power ARM chip; it has about 1/10th the power consumption of the lm4f120s (~6ma active vs ~50ma active.)

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 10:39:36 am
content: The peripherals are also similar to the MSP430 so makes it easier if you're coming from that background.I got one when they first came out but haven't had time to use it yet. I'm tempted to get a couple more, but I have drawers cluttered up with unused dev boards that seemed like a great idea at the time.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 10:48:06 am
content: Quote from: dannyf on January 08, 2016, 02:09:40 amAt this time, the price is something unique!I was talking to a friend of mine last night, told him about this, and he asked me to order 2 more for him, so I got 4 units coming in my direction.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 12:14:09 pm
content: If their goal is to use a low-end ARM, why do they pick a M4F rather than a M0 or M0+?

author: FrankBuss
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 01:12:27 pm
content: Nice chip, it has all you need, including floating point support, nice 32 bit timers, good ADC. The only thing missing is an USB module, then it would be perfect, e.g. for firmware update, like the LPC chips from NXP do by emulating an USB mass storage and you just copy the new firmware to it.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 01:14:12 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on January 08, 2016, 12:14:09 pmProbably because royalties are 1 cent anyway, and sometimes you just need the extra instructions to finish a task fast, and go to sleep to save power. I think it makes sense. I rather start with a more powerful MCU, usually feature creepness would otherwise require a re-design.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 02:01:35 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on January 08, 2016, 12:14:09 pmIn most typical MSP43x type applications the device would take more energy to do the same work with an M0 core. Overall energy consumption is about more than just the active power of the core.

author: Scrts
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 07:23:44 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on January 08, 2016, 01:14:12 pmOr they're already selling more M4's, than M0's, so the quantities bring down the price even further.

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 08:47:28 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on January 08, 2016, 08:49:27 amQuote from: DS-LM4F120H5QR-13200.2535Quote from: SLAS826A –MARCH 2015–REVISED MARCH 2015It is not possible to directly compare the technology improvement between both products as there is not enough comparable data. When MSP432 runs from LDO then:Quote from: SLAS826A –MARCH 2015–REVISED MARCH 2015After Luminary Micro takeover TI has renamed LM4F120H5QR to TM4C1233H6PM which has more complete "Current consumption" chapter:Quote from: DS-TM4C1233H6PM-15842.2741It is true a built-in DC-DC is a nice feature but you know, DC-DC in a battery operated device won't ramp up instantly when you need a 1ms burst of processing power.Concluding, it looks like an improvement but needs some real life measurements to quantify that.EDIT: Forgot 80MHz

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 09:49:36 pm
content: I asked and the answer I got back is that since they expect those chips to be used primarily in sleep, a faster processor doesn't have to be on as long as a slower processor completing a given task. This minimizes the average current consumption over a given period of time -> aka the processor's on time is reduced, at the expensive of on time current.Makes sense. But the active mode current consumption quoted by TI is 90ua/Mhz -> 300uw/Mhz, vs. <100uw/Mhz quoted by ARM for M0/M0+ -> granted, not exactly comparable but the M4F has to execute the same tasks 3x as fast to make up for that difference. That can be true for highly numerical applications but hard to imagine it for flipping pins type applications.I also noted that TI marked the <10us start-up time somewhere in the datasheet.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 01:34:49 am
content: And they've already arrived...I just placed the order two days ago late in the afternoon!As expected they're still using the beta chips.

author: jwm_
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 01:54:29 am
content: I bit. I was always a fan of the MSP430 family, It is a very clean architecture, it always struck me as exactly what one would come up with if presented with the task of creating a 16 bit cpu as a senior project. (and that's a good thing.)I wonder if they will do an ARM based FRAM chip. that would be pretty neat.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 05:58:27 am
content: Mine arrived today as well. Curiously, it appears to have been packaged and shipped by Digikey.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 06:04:17 am
content: Quote from: mtdoc on January 09, 2016, 05:58:27 amDigikey stock and supply their samples and store products in the US.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 06:26:14 am
content: Quote from: Monkeh on January 09, 2016, 06:04:17 amMakes sense. I've ordered dev boards and a few samples from them before but didn't recall that.

author: trevwhite
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 06:36:23 am
content: Real bargain board to evaluate the MSP432. Do people think this chip range will expand to smaller and larger package sizes? I currently use xmega and like that they offer several memory and peripheral vatiantfor same pinout but I have an eye on changing but not decided what to go with. I like TI but I have no clue how good their development setup is.Very tempted to buy this.for evaluation

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 12:19:23 pm
content: QuoteVery good, in my experience with them. And the board is so cheap so you have nothing to lose.However, those chips seem to be meant to provide a 32-bit upward path for the msp430 users. It is uncertain that they will take off and future chips are forthcoming.If you don't have a lot software invested in msp430, and just want to move to ARM chips, I would take a look at TI's offering there and by-pass this one.BTW, anything is a big step up from xmega -> it died before it was introduced.

author: trevwhite
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 01:35:25 pm
content: Well I have gotten used to Xmega and they have done the job fine for me for a few years now. I am actually quite happy with them. But I keep feeling I need to start looking for a new arch.I did get a bit fedup with Atmel tools and workshops. Every time I went to one I came back feeling a bit disappointed. Documentation has not been up to standard quickly enough and the framework actually made life very difficult in my opinion - which is not supposed to be the case!So what would be the TI offering you would recommend I look at if its not the MSP432, Xmega with occasionally more RAM is my requirements I would say.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 02:20:48 pm
content: TI bought Luminary a few years back and extended their products under the LM4F/TM4C portfolio: those are M4F cores with loads of peripherals. A unique thing about those chips, started by Luminary, is that they have a rom library on chip, which can greatly reduce flash utilization. Lots of ram space if that's what you are going after.A word of caution: earlier versions suffer from poorly designed analog sections: the wrong ADC sequences on those chips can lock them up.

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 07:49:35 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on January 09, 2016, 02:20:48 pmProvided libraries also offer a convenient way of switching in between ROMed and FLASHed libraries. Some LPC cortexes (like LPC11C32 and USB series) also come with ROMed libraries.

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 11:09:50 pm
content: How do you mean convenient?, Remove/add the ROM_ on all functionnames?, or is there better ways? so far I have used GPIOPinWrite or ROM_GPIOPinWrite..Is the rom fixed?, not updateable?, ie, if the driverlib is bugfixed, you can risk bumping the codesize a lot..

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 11:34:10 pm
content: Quote from: neslekkim on January 09, 2016, 11:09:50 pmThere is actually an automatic way of selecting ROM vs. Flash libraries: using a MAP_ prefix, rather than ROM_:QuoteOf course, this does not solve the issue of some code size unpredictability you pointed out.Note that this is from the manual, I did not try it (waiting for the boards...).

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 11:44:00 pm
content: Quote from: neslekkim on January 09, 2016, 11:09:50 pmalready replied above.QuoteThe advantage of ROM against flash is that it is of order of magnitude cheaper. There would be no point providing updateable libraries.If there is a bug then most likely only in one location. Besides usage of ROM libs is not mandatory, you can always provide your own implementation of some function if you want to.Another option would be to use FPB unit (the "FP" stands for "Flash Patch" ).

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2016, 11:46:26 pm
content: QuoteEach chip's header defines which function is rom implemented. So the MAP_ macro can be referrenced to either the driverlib or its rom version at compile time.From my good old LM3S days.

author: jwm_
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 03:00:47 am
content: Interesting, apparently the xds110 hardware debugger on the dev kit can be used with othet ARM cpus by jumping over the jtag connection. So this is a pretty cheap hardware arm debugger too.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 02:54:57 pm
content: I still have trouble accessing the reference manual and the board related documents. Based solely on the skimpy data sheet, I have to ask why so many people seem to be so excited about this chip. Honestly, there doesn't seem to be anything that sets apart this chip. If there is, ti has done a terrible job articulating them.

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 03:53:49 pm
content: DS MSP432P401xTRM MSP432P4xx Family

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 04:31:54 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on January 10, 2016, 02:54:57 pmYou consider an 800 page family guide, and a 157 page datasheet specific to the device skimpy documentation?

author: AndreasF
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 06:20:18 pm
content: Quote from: Brutte on January 10, 2016, 03:53:49 pmThanks for these, Brutte!Does anybody else have problems with the links that are given by TI on this pagehttp://www.ti.com/product/MSP432P401M/technicaldocuments? In Chrome they end up as blank pages (i.e. nothing is shown). In "Edge" they resolve just fine to the links that Brutte provided.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 06:27:17 pm
content: QuoteYou aren't alone.

author: AndreasF
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 06:29:35 pm
content: Good to know. Doesn't seem to be a Chrome vs Edge problem either. I'm trying to get to the Launchpad user guide now and it doesn't work in either browser.http://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/slau597(maybe for some reason it works from here)Edit: nope! Worked in IE (once I clicked "open in Internet Explorer" in Edge).

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2016, 06:41:19 pm
content: TIs site does this regularly. It'll start working normally again soon.

author: andersm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2016, 05:43:19 am
content: Quote from: Brutte on January 10, 2016, 03:53:49 pmYou omitted the most important one, the not insubstantialerrata sheet.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2016, 07:57:53 pm
content: I was wondering if TI is endorsing the 432Hz tuning fad crap and named this chip after the new "A432".

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2016, 08:55:48 pm
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on January 11, 2016, 07:57:53 pmI had never heard of "A432" before reading this, so I googled it. I wish I hadn't...

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2016, 09:01:23 pm
content: I figured it's some Audiophool stuff. Quick google, decided to ignore.Got better things to do, because my MSP432 boards arrived todayOnly got the online cloud stuff working in chrome and can mess around with a flashing multicolour LED.I think I will download the proper tools now as I hate all this cloud stuff.Oh, and of course it is obvious they called it MSP432 because it only costs $4.32 - duh!nothing to do with audiophools

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2016, 09:27:26 pm
content: Quote from: Macbeth on January 11, 2016, 09:01:23 pmNo smiley: Were you joking?The A432 fad is because of creeping hitleritis.Edit: an invention of the Lyndon LaRouche cult:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiller_Institute

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2016, 11:50:13 am
content: Quote from: suicidaleggroll on January 11, 2016, 08:55:48 pmI wish I hadn't either, but some of my friends are musicians and they talk about this stuff. Most musicians think this A432 thing is total crap (which it is), because most people can't even hear the difference between A440 and A432. 99% of the people advocating A432 aren't musicians or audiophools, but idiots who believe it has something to do with "DNA tuning" or "God's frequency" or any other <insert favortite insulting word> like that.enough of that!My *real* 432s are expected to be delivered tomorrow. Apparently FEDEX had some customs screw up.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2016, 12:08:03 pm
content: Having spent some time on the ref manual, I find it good that the port register structure is the same for all ports, making one gpio structure applicable to all ports.The good old 430 has different port register layout for p1/p2 vs. Other ports.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2016, 03:49:01 am
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on January 12, 2016, 11:50:13 amRisk that. Mine were delivered today, and I didn't have to pay any customs duty.Anyhow, I've been trying to upload a program to it for the past 3 hours using TI`s Code Composer Studio, without any success. A few minutes ago I found this post that might beuseful for you if you are unable to debug from CCS:https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/p/460430/1663082#1663082

author: pakesson
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 03:23:38 pm
content: Quote from: Fred27 on January 07, 2016, 09:34:29 amIndeed, the errata is quite extensive -http://www.ti.com/lit/er/slaz610c/slaz610c.pdfAs far as I can tell (I ordered three boards anyway, but they haven't arrived yet), the Launchpad comes with Rev B as listed in the errata.Edit: andersm already mentioned the errata

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 04:12:43 pm
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on January 13, 2016, 03:49:01 amAlxDriodDev, Dung Dang from TI also did a very thorough post at:https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/p/419867/1740311#1740311

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 07:37:30 pm
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on January 14, 2016, 04:12:43 pmHe posted that a couple days too late. Since I got my boards on Jan 12th, I believe many of you, specially those in the US, got it way before I did, and were just as frustrated as I was trying to program them. I lost track of how many times I had to perform a full reset on the board (using CCS in Debug Mode).Unfortunately for me, I was also victim of another bug in the MSP432 Launchpad boards: incompatibility with Renesas USB 3.0 controllers on Windows 7 machines. Fortunately this bug is documented in a few documents and I have a few USB 2.0 ports on my PC.I am afraid to admit it, but during those dreadful 3 hours when CCS wouldn't work, I had to resort to Energia IDE to make sure my board wasn't toasted! I know that many ARM diehard fans here just cringe at hearing anything that has to do with the Energia IDE!

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 07:53:21 pm
content: Quote from: AlxDroidDev on January 14, 2016, 07:37:30 pmAh screw those elitist coders!Energia is great for quick and dirty programming of TI dev boards.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 09:25:05 pm
content: Quote from: mtdoc on January 14, 2016, 07:53:21 pm+1. Don't feel bad using Energia.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 10:36:45 pm
content: I don't have a clue what Energia is. Just installed CCS and all its updates, but included GCC as there is no 16KB/32KB limit from what I gather. Windows 10. Seems to work.

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2016, 11:46:49 pm
content: Energia is the Arduino IDE and Wiring libraries ported to MSP430, 432, Tiva C and C2000 hardware. You can run most Arduino sketches with small or no modifications (assuming they don't access AVR specific functions).If you're a Mac user, check out EmbedXcode, written by a good friend of mine. It allows you to use Xcode as your IDE for Arduino, MSP43x, Tiva C, Teensy, Spark Core and other boards. Note: You still need to have Arduino, Energia, etc. installed; it uses GCC and the platform files from those apps for compilation.

author: Stupid Beard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 11:10:04 am
content: I ordered a couple of these on the 13th and they arrived today. Pretty impressed with how quick that was.Now I just need to find something to use them for besides bulking up my pile of unfinished projects.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 11:27:40 am
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on January 14, 2016, 09:25:05 pmThis is sounding like a therapeutic support groups! Thank you guys! Coming from Arduino, I like Energia, although that red color of the IDE is not pleasant at all.I got so mad at CCS and its bugs that I uninstalled it. I kept Energia, XDS110 drivers and xdsdfu (the DAP firmware updater, and is deep inside the CCS folders) installed because they simply work right out of the box. Energia complained a few times about an out-of-date firmware on the DAP, which was solved using xdsdfu.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 01:46:50 pm
content: Quote from: timb on January 14, 2016, 11:46:49 pmWell, I've heard this before with the Pinguino. Also, native USB. I said great, lets try it.And then of course I did not have a single project which worked as expected, due to old libraries, hacks of hacks and plain untested code. Is TI better?

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 01:57:59 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on January 15, 2016, 01:46:50 pmEnergia isn't developed by TI, well officially anyway. The guy who started it works for TI and did Energia as a personal project; TI doesn't own any rights to it or anything. Development takes place on Github and there's an active community over at 43oh.com if you need help.As for projects working, it depends on the project or library in question. If it makes direct calls to the underlying hardware, it won't work without modification. If it just uses Wiring, it'll work. (For example, if the sketch directly manipulates ports and is expecting a ATmega328P, it obviously won't work; if it uses digitalWrite, it will work just fine.)All the standard functions (digital/analog read/write, I2C, SPI, PWM, etc.) work exactly like they do in Arduino.

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 03:05:46 pm
content: Energia takes everything that is awful about Arduino and applies it to the MSP430, etc. I suggest you don't use it if you have any self respect or if you have any interest in useful features like JTAG debugging, breakpoints or EnergyTrace power profiling.Of course that's just my opinion. Try Energia and CCS then make up your own mind.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 08:11:43 pm
content: It looks like the chips are now in production. No stock yet at distributors, but they now have listings for them and show the status as "on order", and you can buy the chips and get samples from TI (currently in stock). It also looks like TI has now released msp432-gcc to go along with their msp430-gcc open source compiler, which makes me very happy.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 09:38:28 pm
content: last time I checked, TI had yet to implement the "#pragma vector" directive for t he MSP432 family of chips.As such, you will have to manually edit the start-up file to insert your ISRs.I would not do any work on the chip until that has been resolved.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 10:33:57 pm
content: The msp432-gcc examples have all of the ISRs pre-set in the startup file, all you have to do is write the ISR in your program and enable it in NVIC.http://www.ti.com/lit/zip/slac698

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 11:46:10 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on August 14, 2016, 09:38:28 pmOMG! I have a couple of these MSP432's, but it sounds like you have found a major show stopper! Good on you, I wish moar people would come out and shame TI because of major shit like this.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 01:56:52 am
content: The sad thing is that the weak attribute is actually supported by ti arm compiler, itself a derivative of GCC.You can pretty much implement your own programmable isr by declaring the as weak in the start up file and the code compiles just fine.Why ti decided to release a half ass compiler, and didn't provide a quick update, as shown in the porting guide, is beyond me.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 03:39:23 am
content: Quote from: evb149 on August 15, 2016, 01:37:38 amYes, just edit the startup_msp432p401r_gcc.c file and you are good.

author: andyturk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 04:15:17 am
content: Quote from: dannyf on August 14, 2016, 09:38:28 pmMSP432 is a Cortex-M core and you can write ISRs and set up your vector table in straight C.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 08:56:40 am
content: Quote from: dannyf on August 14, 2016, 09:38:28 pmGet on with times and get your devices straight.- MSP432 uses the ARM GCC compiler fromhttps://launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded- MSP430 uses a GCC porting that started to support the pragma in 2012, as mentioned below:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15500826/how-to-declare-an-interrupt-handler-isr-in-mspgcc

author: Cervisia
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 09:41:15 am
content: Please note that "mspgcc" is a now-outdated fork of gcc; the last release was in 2012.MSP430 support was also added to the 'real' gcc.The "msp430-gcc" package on TI's website is just the official gcc, configured to cross-compile with the MSP430 as target."#pragma vector" was supported by mspgcc, but is not available in gcc.(There's nothing that TI can do about this, except creating their own fork of gcc. But that would not make sense because they already make their own compiler.)All of TI's current MSP430 example code uses the correct compiler-specific #ifdeffery when declaring interrupt vectors.(And none of this applies to the MSP432; as already mentioned, it's just an ARM.)

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 11:11:55 am
content: "And none of this applies to the MSP432"That's the saddest part: a big selling point for 432 is its peripheral comparability with 430.So it is a little bit too much to require manual editing of start up files when porting one one to another.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 12:53:34 pm
content: I could have sworn I already said above that youdon'thave to edit the startup file...I just wrote a simple msp432 program for testing last night that used the timer interrupt for a programmable delay. The result looks almost identical to the MSP430. The register setup looks basically the same, the ISR looks only slightly different, and it has an extra NVIC call, that's about it. No editing of the startup file, no "#pragma vector" syntax in either one.Maybe you had to edit the startup file previously, but it was still pre-release silicon with pre-release software support. If you don't want to deal with pre-release "problems" then wait until the device has moved to active production.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2016, 10:30:21 pm
content: Updated my compiler to 15.12 LTS and the interrupts worked beautifully - as I had used the same vector names so my code compiled and ran as expected.I'm a happy camper.BTW: TI should have updated the porting guide.