[U-Boot-Users] BDI2000 vs Vision-ICE

[VanBaren, Gerald (AGRE)]

I've used both VisionICE and BDI2000 (we bought two VisionICEs initially and only BDI2000s since then :-).  Both connect via the JTAG port and neither support traceback.  As Charlie points out, traceback requires capturing the address and data bus which is bloody tricky on todays processors.

With a JTAG or a software only debugger you could theoretically enable the "trace on branch" PPC exception and run at full speed in (very short :-) bursts, saving each branch location and then rebuild the traceback using the saved the branches, but that would still cause a significant speed degradation because of all the exceptions.  I don't know if anyone does this.  I have my doubts whether this would be useful due to the speed slowdown.

gvb


> -----Original Message-----
> From: u-boot-users-admin at lists.sourceforge.net
> [mailto:u-boot-users-admin at lists.sourceforge.net]On Behalf Of Wells,
> Charles
> Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 5:57 PM
> To: u-boot-users at lists.sourceforge.net
> Cc: 'Mike Wellington'
> Subject: RE: [U-Boot-Users] BDI2000 vs Vision-ICE
> 
> 
> Mike,
> 
> > People at my place of work are telling me that the
> > Vision-Ice supports "backtrace" and the BDI2000 does
> > not.
> 
> I don't believe visionICE supports what you describe, but visionEVENT
> (another WRS/EST product) does.  visionEVENT behaves like a 
> classic "bus
> capture" analyzer.  It's no longer a "10-bin BDM port 
> connected device."
> visionEVENT is housed in a seperate box that attaches to the 
> bottom of the
> visionICE case and requires two 80-pin high-density connectors on your
> target for its connection.  Further, visionEVENT imposes some nasty
> restrictions on the target (e.g. not being able to run the 
> CPU clock at 2x
> bus clock).
> 
> We bought the visionICE/visionEVENT stuff a couple of years 
> ago.  I use
> visionICE regularly and it works adequately for bringing up 
> new targets and
> debugging startup code.  We haven't use visionEVENT much at 
> all.  We've just
> never needed its capabilities.  I've never used the BDI2000, 
> but it sounds
> like its Linux integration is better than either visionICE or 
> visionEVENT
> (although WRS may have improved this since we took delivery 
> of ours).  
> 
> BTW, I agree with Wolfgang's earlier point.  What really 
> matters is the
> capabilities of the debugger software front-end.  One of 
> these days, I need
> to get someone around here to approve the purchase of a 
> BDI2000 and see how
> it compares.
> 
> Regards,
> Charlie
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Perforce Software.
> Perforce is the Fast Software Configuration Management System offering
> advanced branching capabilities and atomic changes on 50+ platforms.
> Free Eval! http://www.perforce.com/perforce/loadprog.html
> _______________________________________________
> U-Boot-Users mailing list
> U-Boot-Users at lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/u-boot-users
> 

******************************************
The information contained in, or attached to, this e-mail, may contain confidential information and is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed and may be subject to legal privilege.  If you have received this e-mail in error you should notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail, delete the message from your system and notify your system manager.  Please do not copy it for any purpose, or disclose its contents to any other person.  The views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company.  The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.  The company accepts no liability for any damage caused, directly or indirectly, by any virus transmitted in this email.
******************************************