Tiva + Ada

Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

How can I code/run Ada on a Texas Tiva EK-TM4C123GXL launchpad? Does someone has already used Ada on it?

Best regards,
Rego.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Tero Koskinen]

12.2.2014 18:57, Rego, P. wrote:
> How can I code/run Ada on a Texas Tiva EK-TM4C123GXL launchpad? Does someone has already used Ada on it?

I would guess that there is no existing GNAT port for
EK-TM4C123GXL, but it should be relatively easy to
create some simple version by yourself. You can use
Lucretia's Tamp as a base:
https://github.com/Lucretia/tamp

>
> Best regards,
> Rego.
>

Yours,
  Tero

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Luke A. Guest]

Tero Koskinen <tero.koskinen@iki.fi> wrote:
> 12.2.2014 18:57, Rego, P. wrote:
>> How can I code/run Ada on a Texas Tiva EK-TM4C123GXL launchpad? Does
>> someone has already used Ada on it?
> 
> I would guess that there is no existing GNAT port for
> EK-TM4C123GXL, but it should be relatively easy to
> create some simple version by yourself. You can use
> Lucretia's Tamp as a base:
> https://github.com/Lucretia/tamp

What's your host os?

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 3:15:23 PM UTC-3, Tero Koskinen wrote:
> I would guess that there is no existing GNAT port for
> EK-TM4C123GXL, but it should be relatively easy to
> create some simple version by yourself. You can use
> Lucretia's Tamp as a base:
> https://github.com/Lucretia/tamp
Thanks!

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 5:11:53 PM UTC-3, Luke A. Guest wrote:
> What's your host os?

Hi Luke, very good your project, very well documented. My host is Windows 7x64. 

Regards.
Rego.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Brian Drummond]

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 20:15:23 +0200, Tero Koskinen wrote:

> 12.2.2014 18:57, Rego, P. wrote:
>> How can I code/run Ada on a Texas Tiva EK-TM4C123GXL launchpad? Does
>> someone has already used Ada on it?
> 
> I would guess that there is no existing GNAT port for EK-TM4C123GXL, but
> it should be relatively easy to create some simple version by yourself.
> You can use Lucretia's Tamp as a base: https://github.com/Lucretia/tamp

TAMP is probably the best starting point.

I am currently re-visiting the MSP430-Ada project now that gcc4.9 has 
official support for the msp430.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/msp430ada/
(hasn't been updated to reflect gcc4.9 yet...)

But I also have interest in the ARM-Cortex (and what I learn on the MSP430 
will largely transfer) : I have a couple of TI Launchpads (Stellaris, the 
precursor to Tiva ... I'm a little behind!) and a Hercules RM42x.

The latter is especially interesting as an Ada target : it's a dual-
processor ARM Cortex operating in lockstep, aimed at high reliability 
applications, on a devboard costing under £15.

http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/launchxl-rm42/rm42-hercules-
launchpad-dev-board/dp/2341348

There are 2 versions : the RM42 aimed at industrial/medical applications 
and an almost identical one tweaked for automotive applications

http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/launchxl-tms57004/tms57004-
hercules-launchpad-dev/dp/2341346

And TI expect you to program this high integrity dual-processor platform 
in ... what?

Incidentally I can find several small runtimes (offering the Ravenscar 
profile) that may be worth adapting to the ARM (or are already targetted 
to it) but so far they all seem to be pure GPL, with no GMGPL (or GPLv3
+runtime exception) ... does anyone know otherwise?

ORK : http://www.dit.upm.es/~ork/index.html/
AVR32 (not ARM) : https://github.com/gregerts/GNATforAVR32
ARM-Ada : https://sourceforge.net/projects/arm-ada/

As this last already targets the ARM it may be the best starting point.

But I find myself tempted to start my own RTS, starting small enough to 
target the MSP430. It's tentatively called Crowsbike...

- Brian

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Thursday, February 13, 2014 8:58:51 AM UTC-3, Brian Drummond wrote:
> TAMP is probably the best starting point.

When I got Tiva I actually expected that I could use a more plug-and-code full Ada builder, but TAMP looks to be a very good starting point. Better that the documentation is very organized, so I have the feeling that it will not be difficult to begin with. 

The only problem (not major) is that it is intended for ZFP only. For using my Arduinos (which avr-elf-windows from Adacore is also ZFP) I had to implement several clock/scheduling routines, and I bricked some boards mixing up some fuses to make debug to run, and it delayed a bit the application development. And it would be very good if could use tasking and secondary stack. Fortunately Tiva has ready-to-use debug, so at least half of the problems I think I will not have with it.

> I am currently re-visiting the MSP430-Ada project now that gcc4.9 has 
> official support for the msp430.
> https://sourceforge.net/projects/msp430ada/
> (hasn't been updated to reflect gcc4.9 yet...)

Great.

> But I also have interest in the ARM-Cortex (and what I learn on the MSP430 
> will largely transfer) : I have a couple of TI Launchpads (Stellaris, the 
> precursor to Tiva ... I'm a little behind!) and a Hercules RM42x.

Some days ago I began a github project for using Raspiberry Pi (ARM11) devices with Ada by mapping the BCM2835 chip, but it's still in the very beginning. But RPi does not expose all the pins that I would need. But Tiva does not have Ada ready-to-use, things could be a bit easier, right?

> The latter is especially interesting as an Ada target : it's a dual-
> processor ARM Cortex operating in lockstep, aimed at high reliability 
> applications, on a devboard costing under £15.
> 
> http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/launchxl-rm42/rm42-hercules-
> launchpad-dev-board/dp/2341348
> 
> There are 2 versions : the RM42 aimed at industrial/medical applications 
> and an almost identical one tweaked for automotive applications
> http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/launchxl-tms57004/tms57004-
> hercules-launchpad-dev/dp/2341346

The cost of them is really very attractive. 

> And TI expect you to program this high integrity dual-processor platform 
> in ... what?

That's the point. In C? For God... Ok, no problem with C. TI has a very good development studio in C based on Eclipse with several good tools and integrated with the debug API. But I think I could extract the best of the board with Ada if it were available.

Maybe if GNAT GPL would include the ARM cross-compiler, it would be good too (even with ZFP).

> Incidentally I can find several small runtimes (offering the Ravenscar 
> profile) that may be worth adapting to the ARM (or are already targetted 
> to it) but so far they all seem to be pure GPL, with no GMGPL (or GPLv3
> +runtime exception) ... does anyone know otherwise?
> ORK : http://www.dit.upm.es/~ork/index.html/
> AVR32 (not ARM) : https://github.com/gregerts/GNATforAVR32
> ARM-Ada : https://sourceforge.net/projects/arm-ada/
> As this last already targets the ARM it may be the best starting point.

Interesting.

Regards,
Rego.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Luke A. Guest]

I asked which is you were on because if you were on 64 bit linux I could
easily package up the latest compiler, I.e 4.9.0

The patch in tamp doesn't apply cleanly anymore. I have a patched GCC which
allows me, with a bit of fiddling, to build a cross compiler with gnattools
without rts.

You can use any prebuilt compiler eg arm-Linux and just redirect it using
the --RTS flag.

As for getting some niceties of the rts on bare metal, it works the same
for all platforms, start with a system.ads and the basic packages providing
compiler intrinsics, then you can add last_chance_handler for local
exceptions, then memset. Etc, etc which allows you to copy objects about.
If you want to return in constrained objects you need to add a simple
secondary stack, this can be say 4-8kb allocated in the linker script and
referenced in the secsta.adb.

If you want more then you just enable it in the restrictions pragma use it
and wait for the compiler to tell you what's missing.

Luke

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Brian Drummond]

On Thu, 13 Feb 2014 06:14:45 -0800, Rego, P. wrote:

> On Thursday, February 13, 2014 8:58:51 AM UTC-3, Brian Drummond wrote:
>> TAMP is probably the best starting point.
> 
> When I got Tiva I actually expected that I could use a more
> plug-and-code full Ada builder, but TAMP looks to be a very good
> starting point. Better that the documentation is very organized, so I
> have the feeling that it will not be difficult to begin with.

I think quite a few people would be interested in better Arm Ada tools...

>> I am currently re-visiting the MSP430-Ada project
> Great.

Of course the AVR-Ada project was the inspiration ... thanks!

And its RTS was the starting point for the current MSP430 RTS, though I 
would like to keep the option to plug in different RTS versions.

I dare say it would make a good starting point for a minimal ARM-Cortex 
RTS too.

> Some days ago I began a github project for using Raspiberry Pi (ARM11)
> devices with Ada by mapping the BCM2835 chip, but it's still in the very
> beginning. But RPi does not expose all the pins that I would need. 

My opinion of the R-Pi is that its strength isn't the small-footprint end 
of the spectrum so much as full Linux, and at least the R-Pi Debian 
distribution supports Ada well.

>> ... an Ada target : it's a dual-
>> processor ARM Cortex operating in lockstep, aimed at high reliability
>> applications, on a devboard costing under £15.
>> 
>> http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/launchxl-rm42/rm42-hercules-
>> launchpad-dev-board/dp/2341348

> But I think I could extract the best
> of the board with Ada if it were available.

Exactly. I'm seeing the need for gcc builds with Ada enabled, covering 
all the TI Launchpads as well as other ARM-Cortex platforms. (I know 
somebody who would like to see it on the Actel ProAsic or Fusion FPGAs; 
Cortex-M1 core, and the Xilinx Zynq FPGA would be a likely candidate too, 
such as the Zedboard.

- Brian

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Lucretia]

See http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2014-02/msg00205.html for the new patchset to allow building of cross gnattools (bare metal) without RTS.

Luke.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Thursday, February 13, 2014 6:23:49 PM UTC-3, Luke A. Guest wrote:
> I asked which is you were on because if you were on 64 bit linux I could
> easily package up the latest compiler, I.e 4.9.0

But no problem in using Linux 64bit, so I can use a virtual machine.

> The patch in tamp doesn't apply cleanly anymore. I have a patched GCC which
> allows me, with a bit of fiddling, to build a cross compiler with gnattools
> without rts.

ok

> You can use any prebuilt compiler eg arm-Linux and just redirect it using
> the --RTS flag.
> As for getting some niceties of the rts on bare metal, it works the same
> for all platforms, start with a system.ads and the basic packages providing
> compiler intrinsics, then you can add last_chance_handler for local
> exceptions, then memset. Etc, etc which allows you to copy objects about.
> If you want to return in constrained objects you need to add a simple
> secondary stack, this can be say 4-8kb allocated in the linker script and
> referenced in the secsta.adb.
> If you want more then you just enable it in the restrictions pragma use it
> and wait for the compiler to tell you what's missing.

I think it will be clearer to me when I start building it.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Friday, February 14, 2014 12:16:14 PM UTC-3, Lucretia wrote:
> See http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2014-02/msg00205.html for the new patchset to allow building of cross gnattools (bare metal) without RTS.

Ok. Great.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Thursday, February 13, 2014 7:23:49 PM UTC-2, Luke A. Guest wrote:
> I asked which is you were on because if you were on 64 bit linux I could
> easily package up the latest compiler, I.e 4.9.0
> The patch in tamp doesn't apply cleanly anymore. I have a patched GCC which
> allows me, with a bit of fiddling, to build a cross compiler with gnattools
> without rts.
> You can use any prebuilt compiler eg arm-Linux and just redirect it using
> the --RTS flag.
> As for getting some niceties of the rts on bare metal, it works the same
> for all platforms, start with a system.ads and the basic packages providing
> compiler intrinsics, then you can add last_chance_handler for local
> exceptions, then memset. Etc, etc which allows you to copy objects about.
> If you want to return in constrained objects you need to add a simple
> secondary stack, this can be say 4-8kb allocated in the linker script and
> referenced in the secsta.adb.
> If you want more then you just enable it in the restrictions pragma use it
> and wait for the compiler to tell you what's missing.

I guess I am a little lost in the order of the things. I installed a virtual machine with Ubuntu-13.10, and downloaded last tamp version using svn. (my current gcc version is 4.8.1)

1) Inside thirdparty I copied config-master.inc file to config.inc. So I edited config.inc and commented the line export BITS=64 (since the comment says to leave blank for 32 bits). So I run

$ ./build-tools.sh -t native

So I get...

No such file ´gmp-5.0.1.tar.gz´
   
  ERROR: Something went wrong!
  (  ) Start Processing GMP, PPL, and Cloog-PPL
  >> [1/11] Creating Directories (if needed)...
  << [2/11] Configuring GMP...
  ERROR: Something went wrong!

I also looked into ftp://ftp.gmplib.org/pub/gmp-5.0.5/, and really does not exist a gmp-5.0.1.tar.gz (but there is a gmp-5.0.1.tar.bz2).

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Simon Wright]

"Rego, P." <pvrego@gmail.com> writes:

> I also looked into ftp://ftp.gmplib.org/pub/gmp-5.0.5/, and really
> does not exist a gmp-5.0.1.tar.gz (but there is a gmp-5.0.1.tar.bz2).

Try here:
http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gmp/

I've been building 4.8.1 & 4.9 with gmp-5.1.0, mpc-1.0.1, mpfr-3.1.1.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Brian Drummond]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2014 15:35:52 -0800, Rego, P. wrote:

> On Thursday, February 13, 2014 7:23:49 PM UTC-2, Luke A. Guest wrote:
>> I asked which is you were on because if you were on 64 bit linux I
>> could easily package up the latest compiler, I.e 4.9.0 The patch in
>> tamp doesn't apply cleanly anymore. I have a patched GCC which allows
>> me, with a bit of fiddling, to build a cross compiler with gnattools
>> without rts.
>> You can use any prebuilt compiler eg arm-Linux and just redirect it
>> using the --RTS flag.

> 1) Inside thirdparty I copied config-master.inc file to config.inc. So I
> edited config.inc and commented the line export BITS=64 (since the
> comment says to leave blank for 32 bits). So I run
> 
> $ ./build-tools.sh -t native
> 
> So I get...
> 
> No such file ´gmp-5.0.1.tar.gz´

I find the easiest way to deal with the gcc dependencies is to simply use 
its config/download_prerequisites script. I am making that part of any gcc 
build process (instructions or script) from now on.

- Brian

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Simon Wright]

Brian Drummond <brian3@shapes.demon.co.uk> writes:

> I find the easiest way to deal with the gcc dependencies is to simply use 
> its config/download_prerequisites script. I am making that part of any gcc 
> build process (instructions or script) from now on.

contrib/config/download_prerequisites

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Simon Wright]

Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org> writes:

> Brian Drummond <brian3@shapes.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>> I find the easiest way to deal with the gcc dependencies is to simply use 
>> its config/download_prerequisites script. I am making that part of any gcc 
>> build process (instructions or script) from now on.
>
> contrib/config/download_prerequisites

Arrgh! I keep on expecting Emacs to replace a selection with newly-typed
text! I meant

contrib/download_prerequisites

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Brian Drummond]

On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 16:04:26 +0000, Simon Wright wrote:

> Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org> writes:
> 
>> Brian Drummond <brian3@shapes.demon.co.uk> writes:
>>
>>> I find the easiest way to deal with the gcc dependencies is to simply
>>> use its config/download_prerequisites script. I am making that part of
>>> any gcc build process (instructions or script) from now on.
>>
>> contrib/config/download_prerequisites
> 
> Arrgh! I keep on expecting Emacs to replace a selection with newly-typed
> text! I meant
> 
> contrib/download_prerequisites

Thanks for the correction, I wasn't really trying to send people off 
looking for a script in the wrong place altogether...

- Brian

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Simon Wright]

Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org> writes:

> Arrgh! I keep on expecting Emacs to replace a selection with newly-typed
> text!

(delete-selection-mode)

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

I began to try to build a cross-compiler to Tida, and after a couple of free night hours of the last days I finally got to resolve (almost) all gcc dependencies, so I started gcc configure and ... there are a few more errors :(

It's very unfortunate that few people have interest in making Ada in ARM*.*|grep -v -i debian*. I must admit that when TI releases the launchpad with free C and thousands of ready-to-burn device libraries, tutorials, examples, workshops and videos, it's almost imperative that people will use them when no Ada compiler company will do it (for free). Compile the compiler is boring (at least when you are thristy to code your application).

Today still I had to hear some friends say... hey, look to my fool leds blinking in C! why do you insist in try to use Ada for it too as you even cannot build a hello? (and much more...)

Well... I'm sorry for this outflow, it's just today I hoped that I could code a good Ada anything in my new board, instead of tons of bash lines in a virtual machine. I really like to code in Ada, but it seems that I will surrender to C this time so I'm a little pissed off.

[]s
Rego.

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Brian Drummond]

On Fri, 21 Feb 2014 20:21:56 -0800, Rego, P. wrote:

> 
> Well... I'm sorry for this outflow, it's just today I hoped that I could
> code a good Ada anything in my new board, instead of tons of bash lines
> in a virtual machine. I really like to code in Ada, but it seems that I
> will surrender to C this time so I'm a little pissed off.
> 
> []s Rego.

Have you tried Luke's ARM compiler?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/273e1pbez0qgqkp/tinyada-arm-none-
eabi-4.9.0-20140122.tbz

- Brian

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Luke A. Guest]

.
> 
> Have you tried Luke's ARM compiler?
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/273e1pbez0qgqkp/tinyada-arm-none-
> eabi-4.9.0-20140122.tbz
> 
> - Brian

Exactly. I will do the same for the arches too so people can test them. I
will probably grab the rts sources required for a basic non singing nor
dancing runtime 😛

Luke

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Saturday, February 22, 2014 8:31:21 AM UTC-3, Brian Drummond wrote:
> Have you tried Luke's ARM compiler?
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/273e1pbez0qgqkp/tinyada-arm-none-
> eabi-4.9.0-20140122.tbz

Not yet. I will try it. Thanks!

Re: Tiva + Ada

[Rego, P.]

On Sunday, February 23, 2014 11:30:46 AM UTC-3, Luke A. Guest wrote:
> Exactly. I will do the same for the arches too so people can test them. I
> will probably grab the rts sources required for a basic non singing nor
> dancing runtime

Fantastic.

Rego.