Need help with HC11 chip.

[Tophinater]

I asked some of these questions in the other thread I made but since its off topic from that one I thought I would start another one.

Anyways I have been having a lot of trouble trying to program a 68HC11 chip that I have(thanks again dart). My main problem is that I just can not seem to find a good functioning compiler for it. I have had a few compilers recommend to me created by "do it yourself" computer guys but I just cant figure them out. I have heard that pcbug11 is popular for this chip but cant seem to find it online anywhere. If anyone has any expiriance with this chip please let me know. I really could use some help.

[westfw]

Have you seen the FAQ here:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/microcontroller-faq/68hc11/

I can recomend ImageCraft; I know the owners... They have
a "demo" version of their HC11 compiler that should be a good
starting point and MIGHT be enough for continued work on
small programs...

[kfong]

Try our page links,
http://www.embeddedtronics.com/computers.html

Kin
http://www.embeddedtronics.com

[electricFlyNut]

I've used the HC11 a lot in the past and have moved on. I know there are lots of MCUs that can solve any job, but something like a PIC or ATMEL would ease your suffering. Both have Flash based MCUs with tons of peripherals (PWM, input capture, output capture, ADCs, SPI, SCI, I2C) you name it.

Good compiler for ATMEL is free --- get gcc and WINAVR back end. It works well.

For PIC -- PICCLITE from HiTech is free and will get you started.

I had a hard time giving up the HC11, but I've been glad that I did. Give these ideas a try!

Good luck.

[Tophinater]

The reason why Im still sticking with the HC11, is one it was given to me and I would really hate to let a free processor go waste and if I can learn how to program it, others should be easy. And two I need something to run my autonomous vaccuum. I had a look at the ImageCraft compiler and it looks very nice. There seem to be a lot of good opinions about it as well. Does image craft use an interpreture for it tho like interactive C does? It seems like it would and if thats the case I dont think I can use it because of lack of memory.

Also is there a way that I can tell if the chip is functioning with out connecting it to a PC? I dont have a Oscope or anything to check the clock cycle and theres no LEDs on it or anything.

[Tophinater]

Also thanks for the suggestions. But I desided the next chip Im going to be is Basic Micro's, BASIC Atom with Lynxmotion Bot Board.

[deh6]

I've used the HC11 for a number of years, and recently switched to the HCS12. I have several dozen or more of HC11 'E1 chips laying around, so I know that pull to use that free chip.

Which version of the HC11 do you have? The E1 (very common) only has 512 EEPROM and 512 RAM so you won't be able to do much in C, and only a little more in assembler. The 'E2 part with 2K EEPROM, 128 RAM is popular with the robotics crowd. Then there are a number of boards with external SRAM which opens up all sorts of possiblilties.

You can get a lot of help on the yahoogroups.com, hc11 list.

There is a GNU (free) compiler for the HC11. I've used it, but it will take some learning to get it up and going.

I believe PCBug11 is still available, but as I remember there is a problem with using it with fast PC's but there is something to take it's place. The yahoo HC11 group will get you answers on this.

You should be able to tell if the chip is working by powering it up in the bootstrap mode; there is usually a jumper that is set. Coming out of reset in bootstrap mode the bootstrap loader program puts out a BREAK. Assuming there is a RS232 level convertor, a PC running a terminal program that recognizes break signals would show if it is working.

Given the amount of learning time that is required with any new processor to get something useful working I would recommend you pick something that is state-of-art (and give that free HC11 to a friend (or enemy!) and elminate that pull to use it).

[solorsix]

electricfly is right...dump it and go with atmel. Anyone can afford to get started with them and they offer anything you will want or need.

[electricFlyNut]

Agreed

[ElectroLawndart]

Hi Tophinater,

If time and patience to learn is at a premimum then dump the HC11 that I sent to you. Go with the PIC instead. Just as easy to learn and much more capable. I hear that PicBasic is a pretty good compiler.
I sometimes use an HC11 just as a quick and dirty interface to some of the sensors that I'm playing with because I'm very familiar with them and a I have a bunch of them laying around. I don't like pitching old technology out the window if I can use it for something useful. Case in point, I'm cleaning up a 120Mhz Pentium running Win98 for a future foam cutting project.

Dart