BDI3000 Replacement  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: tarun172
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2024, 02:11:51 pm
content: All,I have inherited a project that utilizes PowerPC along with a BDI3000 programmer. Since the BDI3000 has reached its end of life (EOL), I would like to replace it with a more current programmer. From my research, it seems that the Segger J-Flash could be a suitable replacement. Unfortunately, updating the hardware design is not an option. Has anyone gone through this upgrade process before? If so, I would appreciate any insights or advice you could share.Thanks,

author: mon2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2024, 02:59:15 am
content: Is your BDI3000 defective? Will check but we may have a new, not used BDI3000 at the office. Would that be of interest to you?

author: Eternauta
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2024, 08:12:58 am
content: The PEEDI from Ronetix has support for Power Architecture (see list below). Setup is similar to BDI200 via description file for core and memory.MPC5200, MPC5121, MPC5123, MPC5125MPC55xx: MPC5510, MPC5514, MPC5517, MPC5534, MPC5553, MPC5554, MPC5565MPC56xx: MPC5566, MPC5567, MPC5634M, MPC5644A, MPC5675MPC57xx: MPC5745RSupport for SPE and VLE instruction setsPower Architecture QUICC II: MPC83xx, MPC8313, MPC8315, MPC8321, MPC8343, MPC8347, MPC8349Power Architecture QUICC III: MPC85xxPower Architecture QorIQ: P1010, P1020, P2040, P4080, BSC9131Power Architecture QorIQ, e5500 64-bit: T1040Power Architecture QorIQ, e6500 64-bit: T2080, T4240PowerPC: PPC405, PPC440, APM82xx

author: tarun172
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2024, 02:20:42 pm
content: Hi mon2,Thank you for your offer. We currently have two BDI3000 programmers. However, setting up the BDI3000 can be quite time-consuming, so I was wondering if there might be a simpler JTAG alternative available. After reviewing the NXP website, it seems there aren’t many viable options.I appreciate your input on this matter.Best regards,tarun172

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2024, 01:12:21 pm
content: Quote from: tarun172 on August 20, 2024, 02:11:51 pmWhich one?Here PPC40*, ~603 coreI think the development environment makes the difference, for example, ironically Green Hills and Windriver do not support ICEs that are supported by GDB.-I have Green Hills stuff at work for { PPC440, PPC460 PPCE500 }.I work on PPC/embedded on daily basis, and I like it even for personal projects, but since what I use at work is very expensive (>50K euros, hw + sw) I'm using cheap solutions at home for my hobby stuff.For example, as practical personal project, I created an X11 terminal with a ppc405, GNU/linux uclibc nanoX11 based, because the cpu clock is 133Mhz, it must be the lightest possible; I needed a Jtag to fix some bugs in the firmware (uboot), to make the PCI video card (MGA, G450, dual VGA screen) initialize correctly (the second channel was not initialized) and to fix a problem that prevented every 128 Mbyte SDRAM stick (PC133) from being recognized correctly (wrong rank) and from working (wrong CTAS timing).I worked without a jtag during these processes, I just used a ROM emulator(1) to convert "uboot" from a version that runs only in flash (default profile by Denx), to a version that is copied to RAM and runs entirely in RAM.Why was it so important? Well, because this way, if the CPU fetches from RAM, you can use a proper GDB-stub to "run-time" replace instructions with opcodes break exceptions, and this allows for very simple debugging (breakpoints) with the simplest "gdb-stubs" that talks on the serial line at 19200bps.It is very invasive, slow, and you cannot do it if the CPU fetches from the ROM of the devices, whhich is a big limitation, but it is still better than nothing.With an ICE you can do "code injection" directly into a special buffer and force the CPU to fetch from there, without having to modify the RAM in any way.So... the BDI2K or BDI3K was clearly better, and every now and then I searched the internet for debuggers for sale.One day I found a brand new BDI2K abandoned in a remote warehouse in the USA.Talking to people there, they offered for less than 200 euros + S/H + importing fees.Great upgrade! it was new but there was no firmware CD, something you have to buy separately, and it is specific to the target you want to support.The CD contains the firmware that you then need to load into the debugger.So you have to buy a special CD for PPC40x, a special CD for PPC44*, ... etc., a special CD for MIPS32, a special CD for ARM-v7, and so on.There are many options.At the time, I didn't have any firmware CD and spent months looking for it, so I haven't found the time to put it to good use yet and for sure I'll only try as "gdb-upgrade".-In shortI wouldn't want any "replacements" to create you the same type of problem I had, where you have the debugger's hw but not the firmware you need to make it work with the desired targetedit:(1) In theory, if I had a ROM emulator that allowed to modify just one byte at a time instead of an entire page of memory, I could use it for an entirely software-based GDB-stub approach, without the need to modify uboot to run enterely in RAM.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2024, 01:24:38 pm
content: Quote from: tarun172 on August 29, 2024, 02:20:42 pmGreen Hills comes with scriptable functions to setup debuggers and ICEs, as well as examples and templates.I know, since it's an expensive product there are paid guys who provide them, even for custom boards rather than for development boards (e.g. Ebony, Sequioia, etc).Don't you have setup examples and templates?

author: Pseudobyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2024, 06:44:18 pm
content: I am not sure what your actual target hardware is.This might be interesting for you to investigate further: (seems to have different licensing depending on which power architecture you are targeting)https://microcontrollershop.com/product_info.php?products_id=1706&osCsid=mtmcvlg2nb0r355ts1ljfqpgo1I opened up the j-link gdb server and it does list some PowerPC targets. I'd test it for you if I had hardware.List:

author: Sri Surya
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 16, 2025, 07:50:54 pm
content: I have been Searching for a bdi3000 for more than a year for my universit project. It would be great if you let me know it is still available to buy from you?Eagerly waiting for your replyThanks,Surya

author: tarun172
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2025, 10:03:52 pm
content: SuryaI found that this website has BDI3000 in stock. They are not cheap. It costs about $1k.https://www.bootbits.com/Thanks,tarun172

author: mwb1100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2025, 12:24:28 am
content: Quote from: tarun172 on August 20, 2024, 02:11:51 pmHave you talked to Segger? They have great support and I imagine they could explain if they have support for whatever interface BDI3000 uses on your microcontroller or if an adapter is available or could easily be fabricated. The other question is whether Segger can support whatever software tools you are using.

author: Sri Surya
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 07:08:07 pm
content: Thanks Tharun,but I think I need to find something a little less expensive 😅.Let me know if you find any alternative.ThanksSurya