5 Dec
2008
5 Dec
'08
1:49 p.m.
It's weird, that... I suspect I could rustle up
something
'traditional' around
a Z80/6502, ROM, RAM and some decoding - but my brain just doesn't cope well
with single-chip 'black boxes' such as PIC-based widgets. I really
don't know why!
My problem with single-chip microcontrolelrs (PICs, etc) is trying to
debug the firmware. If I have external program memory, I can hang a logic
analyser off said memory's address bus and see just what the firmware is
doing. But there's no way to really trace the code running in a PIC.
OK, you can add instructions to set/reset 'spare' port pins at particular
points in the code and see if/when those change. But it's nowhere near as
convenient as being able to trace the code.
I can't afford the real ICE units for the PIC, etc.
And please don't suggest the simulator. I've never found a simulator that
(a) I trust and (b) allows me to correctly simulate all the exernal
hardware I have hanging off the microcontroller.
-tony