Getting started with THE  MSP430G2230  8 PIN ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: TankSparks
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2022, 02:37:43 pm
content: What are your recommendations for chip programmer and C compiler / assembler. Any tips for getting started. I have experience with AVR.

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2022, 03:46:03 pm
content: One option for programming the chip is to get a Launchpad from TI:https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp-low-power-microcontrollers-group/msp430/f/msp-low-power-microcontroller-forum/210071/programming-the-msp430g2230Update:According to that thread, the OP was not successful in using a Launchpad to program the G2230:QuoteFor an Arduino-like IDE, there is Energia:https://www.energia.nu/Update: If your MSP430 chips are already programmed with the BSL, you should be able to use a USB-serial converter as discussed here:https://sustburbia.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-great-msp430-bootloader-swindle.htmlUpdate:According to this:https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slau319af/slau319af.pdfThe G2230 doesnothave the BSL pre-programmed.

author: brucehoult
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2022, 02:08:17 am
content: GCC supports the MSP430 well (one of the few 16 bit CPUs it does, but not quite the only one still supported) so no reason to use anything else.I've got gcc 4.6.3 (from 2012) because that seems to be the most recent version packaged for Ubuntu. It seems from the documentation that MSP430 is still supported in GCC 12, though whether anyone is testing it might be less certain. I found a bug raised for GCC 11 for MSP430 where some data structure was too big for machines with a 16 bit address space.https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=100361But anyway, I don't have any complaints about GCC 4.6.3.

author: Peabody
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2022, 04:28:53 am
content: It seems to me that while you can not plug the G2230 directly into the Launchpad, it ought to work if you install the four jumpers from the Launchpad socket to a breadboard where the chip is located. The method is shown in this video:You need Reset, Test, Vcc and Ground for the Spy-by-Wire programming to work. But that may also require that TI's Flasher program and the USB driver know about the G2230. I don't have a G2230, so I can't test it. But I have done in-circuit flashing of the G2231 and G2553 using a Launchpad and those four lines. I don't see why it wouldn't work for the G2230, but the thread from the TI forum said it doesn't, so I don't know.You can install TI's giant IDE, Code Composer Studio, but then you have to get up to speed on that. I program MSP430 in assembler, and use the Naken Assembler, which is a small, simple, command-line assembler by Michael Kohn. Then you would need the Flasher and the USB drivers, which I'm sure are installed automatically if you use the IDE. And of course you would need the Launchpad or something similar to actually do the flashing.It might be worthwhile to ask about using the Launchpad for the G2230 in the TI forum. They do have TI people there to answer questions.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2022, 11:09:59 am
content: I think I use one of the Olimex programmers for this mcu but would need to check to make sure. IIRC Programming is done using a 2 pin protocol like SWDThis Olimex JTAG interface is the one I have:https://www.olimex.com/Products/MSP430/JTAG/MSP430-JTAG-TINY-V2/For software development I use mspc430gcc and Eclipse