Where do I find older library releases? (In particular Stellarisware 6075)

Kenelm,

Moving this thread to the the Tiva forum as the folks there would be able to assist. Thanks.

Lali

Hello Kenel

Only the last StellarisWare release version 9453 is archived on the web. Older versions are no longer available

Regards
Amit

Somewhere my firm (likely) has this (or very close) version.

Amit - is it acceptable for us to provide such "past version?"

Poster should note that "support" for such long "retired" versions may be greatly limited...

Greatly limited support for such is, I think, to be expected. Disappearance of older versions is highly unfortunate but not surprising.

This is an example of why project libraries (and version control) should include all source for the project including third party libraries.

Robert

Hello cb1,

Between users, yes. But with every release old bugs get fixed, new device support gets added which the user may miss out on.

Regards
Amit

Amit Ashara said:

But with every release old bugs get fixed, new device support gets added which the user may miss out on.

To expand on that each new release may contain the following

• New features
• New device support
• Bug fixes
• New bugs

A user's current/archival build may contain

• No need for new features
• No need for new devices
• Work arounds for existing bugs that conflict with fixes
• Other incompatibilities introduced by new library (name and type conflicts as an example)
• Constraints against using a new library (such as requirement for re-certification if they change the library)

I would expect four or five of those considerations to be present at once. There is a legitimate ongoing need for old versions. It does, unfortunately fall to the user to provide for this.

A cautionary tale. At one point in my past I was asked to make updates on some embedded SW. I was given a copy of the SW source and I asked what compiler and version was being used to build it so I could get the appropriate license. I purchased the compiler and asked for the appropriate version. This vendor, unlike TI, made a point of stating that they could provide any previous version of the compiler for precisely this purpose so I wasn't expecting any trouble. However, upon asking I was told that they didn't have that version anymore. Luckily I was able to work with the new version but it would have taken only a very small change in the compiler to have left be up the proverbial creek w/o the proverbial paddle. How much worse it could have been if I was dealing with support libraries that are in a constant state of flux such as the TIVAWare libraries.

Robert

Indeed it always proves wise to make, log & retain organized copies & records.

And not all - do. And - what is "current today & last month" may not remain as such, "down-stream."

I've heard of some who go so far as to archive a disk (now a virtual machine) with the build environment. So they get compiler, editor, operating system the whole works.

There are probably still systems out there whose build environment is based on CP/M, every few years it's hauled out to perform a minor change.

Considering we have a network licensed compiler I doubt that sort of archival is possible. It's one reason I do not favour products with license keys, there is no effective way to archive them. However, you deal the best you can with what you have.

Robert

Robert Adsett said:

you deal the best you can with what you have. 

Such may extend (beyond) MCUs, operating systems & related - one would think...

Hi cb1,

If you do have the 6075 release, could I have a copy.

I understand there is no support, and I won't be asking for any!

Our products have very long lifetime and we *should* be archiving the "vendor tools" they depend upon.  But we were not.  

Any help you can give is much appreciated.

- Kenelm

I could not agree with you more!

I'll visit our "rented" over-flow warehouse this weekend. Should we be unable to find that (exact) version - would you prefer (earlier) or (later) version? This is a 70 mile (one way) trip - so we'll need your response if we're to make the trek...

Hi Robert,

I think you get this issue!

Often our maintenance of "long lifetime" products means reproducing the original build and adding incremental modifications. Some of our products have exceeded a 20 year lifetime. I do think the tool vendors have to think more about the needs of customers who use the vendors tools to build long lifetime products.

We do archive build environments, as virtual machines, and keep them in Perforce. And doing so is much less painful now that 4TB hard disks are so inexpensive. And, whenever possible, we use build tools that do not require licensing as that does get complicated. But it is a continuing struggle to convince engineers to capture all the "digital artifacts" that the build depends upon. Runtime libraries, and support libraries, and other details, are often overlooked.

Kenelm

That does sound like a long trip. But if you go could you please look for the -6075 or the closest revision that is after 6075?
That would be very helpful!

As you've responded - and I agreed to do this - we will go this weekend. Will post here & and then devise a means to transfer the file to you.

And sometimes archives get lost or corrupted.

Ages ago, when dealing with a manufacturer about making a product for them, one of the stipulations was that the product have a 20 year maintenance life after final production.

Robert

We've found StellarisWare_8264 - I know that we have more - search continues.

That particular version is 15MB and is an .exe file. (that is just how we received it during (long) past download)

Kenelm McKinney said:

But if you go could you please look for the -6075 or the closest revision that is after 6075?

I looked though some old Stellaris Evaluation Kit boxes, and found a CD with SW-EK-LM3S3748-6075.exe which I could send to you.

The SW-EK-LM3S3748-6075.exe file is 25.8 Mbytes, and there is 26.7 Mbytes of related documents and Windows drivers.

What is is the best way to send the StellarisWare release to you?

Poster's find surely trumps mine. (if only he had noted prior to our trek...)

Thank you cb1_mobile. I appreciate the effort. I will contact Chester Gillon for the 6075 files.
Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance to you.
-Kenelm

You are most welcome, Kenelm. There's a great spirit of sharing here - especially when the request signals that (reasonable) effort has been made.

For the record - StellarisWare 9453 was the most updated version & supports LM3S AND LX4F. (1063? dropped the LX family) It may prove beneficial for you to download 9453 (while you still can) should improvements or tweaks w/in 9453 offer ease and/or advantage to your efforts.

Thank you Chester!
This is very helpful.
Can you save the files to "Google Drive" and then share them with me?
If you send me a private message (should now be enabled if your hover mouse over my name) I will respond with the address to share to.
Thank you!
-Kenelm

Good advice about the download and save locally in our VCS. Once I have it downloaded and dropped into Perforce (really any VCS will do but we use Perforce) it then gets included in our corporate backups maintained by IT (and should never ever get lost.... famous last words but IT does understand backups!)