Re: [avr-chat] Re: GUI wrapper for avrdude

[Michael Hennebry]

On Tue, 28 Aug 2007, Joerg Wunsch wrote:

> As Michael Hennebry wrote:
>
> > Let there be hardcoded default section names
> > and parameters like --hfuse-section-name .
>
> Btw., you wouldn't get AVR-centric options like this one into official
> GNU binutils.  The binutils are fairly generic in their entire idea,
> and support several dozens of different CPUs and object file formats.

I was thinking that those would go into the elf reader.
I suppose they might also be useful in avr-gcc.

> My idea is that it simply doesn't matter whether you use objcopy (to
> get a hex file) or not: avrdude can read both, the ELF file, but could
> also obtain the very same information from an (*) Intel hex file
> produced by objcopy.  The option to pass hex files as an alternative
> to full ELF files has been requested by users.  Not everybody would be
> happy to pass along the entire ELF file (it's simply a matter of trust
> to not give any trade secrets out of house), and companies specialized
> on pre-programming AVRs are familiar with hex files, but it will take
> a while until you could convince them to also accept alternate file
> formats.

I gather stripping the elf is not deemed sufficiently secretive.

Even with hex files, there are alternatives to fixed offsets.
The bytes, if any, after the first record that
specifies zero bytes could go into eeprom.
Their addresses would be taken mod eeprom size.
The byte, if any, after the second record that
specifies zero bytes would go into lfuse.

We might also consider adding record type 8.

> (*) With "an" meaning *exactly one*, not two, three, or five
> different hex files, as we are doing now.

-- 
Mike   address@hidden
"Horse guts never lie."  -- Cherek Bear-Shoulders