ARM programming

[joha4270]

Hi Beginner here

Today i got a old "hp iPAQ Pocket PC h2210" from my granddad. But having no interest in using some kind of windows 2003 i'm wondering about the plausibility of making some SIMPLE SIMPLE OS that once eventually will display "hello world" on the screen.

The processor is a intel xscale 255. (ARMv5 as far i can read on Wikipedia)

can anyone kindly guide me to the needed stuff(arm assembly tutorial, arm compiler, other stuff im going to need?)

not sure if this post belongs in OS development instead

edit: know some java and a tiny bit of c++ but never done any assembler

[Combuster]

edit: know some java and a tiny bit of c++ but never done any assembler

As far as the forum rules go: make many more programming hours first before trying this. Things from that era have a habit of getting bricked if you don't know exactly what you're doing. See it as trying to repair jewellery when you barely figured out what a soldering iron is for - it'll only make matters worse.

In other words: find something we would call simple that's still a challenge for you. Games typically work.

[xenos]

The first step before you can technically produce any ARM code should be compiling a GCC Cross-Compiler (and in turn also assembler and linker). The target you should build these for would be something like "arm-eabi" instead of "i586-elf" as in the wiki tutorial.

Of course you also need to know some basics about the ARM architecture, such as the ASM instruction set, registers, memory addressing and so on. One thing you should look at is the ARM Architecture Reference Manual, there are quite a number of documents available at the ARM Infocenter. You should also have a look at the XScale 255 datasheet to get some information on integrated preipherals.

Finally, you need to figure out how the CPU and peripherals in your PDA are connected (such as the display - you need to know which memory addresses you need to write something to the screen) and how the boot process works (so your OS gets loaded and executed).

You should also check out QEMU, which can simulate quite a number of XScale 255 devices, before you run your code on real hardware.

[JamesM]

The first step before you can technically produce any ARM code should be compiling a GCC Cross-Compiler (and in turn also assembler and linker). The target you should build these for would be something like "arm-eabi" instead of "i586-elf" as in the wiki tutorial.

Of course you also need to know some basics about the ARM architecture, such as the ASM instruction set, registers, memory addressing and so on. One thing you should look at is the ARM Architecture Reference Manual, there are quite a number of documents available at the ARM Infocenter. You should also have a look at the XScale 255 datasheet to get some information on integrated preipherals.

Finally, you need to figure out how the CPU and peripherals in your PDA are connected (such as the display - you need to know which memory addresses you need to write something to the screen) and how the boot process works (so your OS gets loaded and executed).

You should also check out QEMU, which can simulate quite a number of XScale 255 devices, before you run your code on real hardware.

No, use CodeSourcery GCC Lite instead. It's tuned for ARM baremetal deployment.

[LindusSystem]

You told you know tiny bit of C, C is one of the best language to use for a OS Development with a bit of assembly.I dont think Java will help you to develop a OS.

[Solar]

"A tiny bit of C++" won't help much either.

[VolTeK]

[Combuster]

Ok, voltek, it's getting annoying now.

[VolTeK]

Ok, voltek, it's getting annoying now.

Id figure you would be the one whining about people not searching google But if you say so.

[VolTeK]

Can you please search google for me?

Ok, voltek, it's getting annoying now.

Can't, apparently it's annoying

[Ameise]

Can you please search google for me?

Ok, voltek, it's getting annoying now.

Can't, apparently it's annoying

More immature than annoying.

[VolTeK]

More immature than annoying.

It's past your bed time child. You shouldn't be up posting.

[Ameise]

More immature than annoying.

It's past your bed time child. You shouldn't be up posting.

So sayeth the self-reported 12-year (IIRC) old? Notwithstanding the fact that I am not a child (I'm more than twice your age, after all), this is a further example of immaturity; you're certainly showing your age well.

[JamesM]

Ok, voltek, it's getting annoying now.

Id figure you would be the one whining about people not searching google But if you say so.

Not when the thing you searched for is "ARM Compiler", which is a toolchain released by ARM that costs thousands of dollars per seat...