TM4C1230C3PM: Difference .out and .hex

Marco Semenzato

Part Number: TM4C1230C3PM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: UNIFLASH

Hi,

I think this question is valid in general, and not only for my part. If I choosed wrong category please apologize.

Here is the question:

I have a packet of files (.out and .hex) and I have also source code but I'm not sure if it is related to that .hex. So I took that code and I built it. The build procedure works fine and a new .out and .hex was generated.

Comparing the "old" .hex with the new one, the content matches exactly byte per byte, but if I compare the .out the byte code does not match.

So, the questions are:

- Using uniflash, there's some difference loading .out instead of .hex? I expect that loading .out or .hex the behaviour is the same..

- Is it possible that the 2 .out do not match? (having a perfect match on hex)

- Is there a specification that teaches the .out format? (Like the hex file specification..)

- Having source code, is it possible to find the right tool chain used to build, link, etc.. ?? I think I choose the right compiler, but maybe the problem could be with other tool of the toolchain

Unfortunatly, I can't do tests on boards, because I don't have it right now.

Please, help me understanding this metter.

Thanks,

Regards.

over 3 years ago

0 Ki over 3 years ago

TI__Guru**** 472151 points

Hello,

Marco Semenzato said:
there's some difference loading .out instead of .hex? I expect that loading .out or .hex the behaviour is the same..

They are very different. The biggest difference is that the *.out file has debug symbol information that is needed by the debugger to provide debug visibility. That information is not present in a .hex file. Hence why .out files are typically much larger than a .hex file.

See the below article for more information:

https://software-dl.ti.com/ccs/esd/documents/sdto_cgt_A-Brief-History-of-TI-Object-File-Formats.html

See the section titled: "Comparing Sizes: Object Files, Hex Files, System Memory Image"

Thanks

0 Ki over 3 years ago in reply to Ki

TI__Guru**** 472151 points

Ki said:
See the section titled: "Comparing Sizes: Object Files, Hex Files, System Memory Image"

And also: "Hex Files Come from Object Files"

0 Marco Semenzato over 3 years ago in reply to Ki

Prodigy 50 points

Thanks for sharing..I will check links for sure. But my question was If I load .out or I load .hex, should I except different behaviours from the board? I'm not talking about going in debug, but load using uniflash for mass production.

Thanks again

0 Ki over 3 years ago in reply to Marco Semenzato

TI__Guru**** 472151 points

Marco Semenzato said:
But my question was If I load .out or I load .hex, should I except different behaviours from the board?

Assuming the hex file was generated correctly, then no.

0 Marco Semenzato over 3 years ago in reply to Ki

Prodigy 50 points

Hi,

I made an other interesting test. To test I used the utility "armhex" and I generated .hex #1 taking as input .out #1. With code composer studio I compiled my project, that is generating .out #2 and .hex #2.

Finally I compared the 2 hex and the content is the same.

So, event if .out are different, the .hex generated could be the same.. I thought that 2 different .out would generate 2 different .hex but evidently I were wrong

Thanks

+1 Ki over 3 years ago in reply to Marco Semenzato

TI__Guru**** 472151 points

Marco Semenzato said:
So, event if .out are different, the .hex generated could be the same.. I thought that 2 different .out would generate 2 different .hex but evidently I were wrong

The key thing to remember is that the .out file consists of two parts - the actual code for the target (loaded on the target) and the symbol debug information (loaded to the debugger). The symbol debug information can change a lot between builds since it has stuff like host timestamp information, directory paths of source files, etc. But none of that would impact the code to be loaded on to the target. Since the hex file is mostly from the actual code and not the symbol debug information, the hex file would not get impacted.

0 Marco Semenzato over 3 years ago in reply to Ki

Prodigy 50 points

This is exactly what I wanted to hear.. thankyou !!

Regards.

Arm-based microcontrollers

Arm-based microcontrollers forum

TM4C1230C3PM: Difference .out and .hex