AVaRICE 1.7 review
DownloadAVaRICE application is a program which interfaces the GNU Debugger GDB with the AVR JTAG ICE available from Atmel. There are some
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AVaRICE application is a program which interfaces the GNU Debugger GDB with the AVR JTAG ICE available from Atmel.
There are some third party clones of the Atmel jtagice available for purchase via the web for prices much less than the Atmel's offering.
In recent times, GCC added support for the AVR series of microcontrollers. This has been quite the boon for those of us who write embedded applications for processors with "leaner" architectures. Recently, Atmel announced the availability of a JTAG box for the AVR.
Until now, there was no way to interface to this device with GDB. AVaRICE runs on a POSIX machine and connects to gdb via a TCP socket and communicates via gdb's "serial debug protocol". This protocol allows gdb to send commands like "set/remove breakpoint" and "read/write memory".
AVaRICE translates these commands into the Atmel protocol used to control the AVR JTAG ICE. Connection to the AVR JTAG ICE is via a serial port on the POSIX machine.
Because the GDB AVaRICE connection is via a TCP socket, the two programs do not need to run on the same machine. In an office environment, this allows a developer to debug a target in the lab from the comfort of their cube (or even better, their home!)
What's New in This Release:
New CPU support added:
AT90USB1287
ATmega2560/2561 debugWIRE AVRs (ATmega48/88/168, ATtiny13, ATtiny2313, AT90PWM2/3, ATtiny24/44, ATtiny25/45, ATtiny261/461/861)
New features added:
JTAG daisy chainging basic debugWIRE support (still limited to four breakpoints; known to occasionally cause trouble over USB, works better over RS-232)
Summary of important bug fixes:
fix ucAllowFullPageBitstream for ATmega640/1280/1281, AT90CAN128
fix device descriptors, in particular EEPROM access on recent AVRs
AVaRICE 1.7 keywords