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[Mac OS X] Textmate + MSPGCC

Jacob Jorvang
Prodigy 225 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: ENERGIA

I am a hardware engineer by trade, and do some embedded software development on occasion, including for hobby projects. I use a Mac and have been using Windows XP in VMWare to run CCS and various design programs for years, but this has become increasingly problematic and time consuming for me (buggy Windows, buggy CCS, etc). Or maybe it always was, and I have just reached my limit. Anyway I am looking to abandon my VM and go all native-Mac.

Hours and hours of Googling leave me the impression that I have the choice between the paid Rowley CrossWorks, old school command-line MSPGCC, or a Mac-native IDE like Code::Blocks with some kind of Arduino port ( http://energia.nu ).

None of these options really appeal to me. I don't want to pay 150 USD for a CrossWorks license, and for an ugly Windows port no less. I don't want the Arduino library, and I don't like command-line tools much, nor do I really understand make files, buliding the compiler and all that other stuff that I find is suggested in most of the Google hits for MSPGCC.

What I'd really like, and what I haven't been able to find, is an easy way to write my code in Textmate, hit CMD+B to compile and CMD+R to program and run the software on an MSP430 with single-step debugging. A way that doesn't require me to learn a bunch of stuff that doesn't interest me. Like a Textmate plug-in or something. That probably doesn't exist, so maybe just a really good, fail-safe guide to get AVRGCC & Co. up and running, that doesn't require me to go through all of Macports, Fink, etc, etc, finding that nothing just works.

So I'd really like to hear from the other Mac users out there, if you know something like what I'm looking for, or if you've found something even better. Judging from the old, similar posts I found on this forum, I'm not overly optimistic, but I'm hoping things may have changed for the better lately.

  • 0
    Guru 46710 points

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    So I'd really like to hear from the other Mac users out there

    You are calling for surfers in the hiking club :) Mac is good for many things but definitely you can't do everything on it equally well.

  • 0 in reply to Ilmars
    Prodigy 225 points

    Well this is the goto place for me for all things MSP430 related, but I guess I should be trying That Other Forum as well. The situation for many who prefer the Mac, is that they are forced to use a Windows box at work or run something like CCS in a VM. Lots of people are dissatisfied or frustrated by this. I've seen many posts on e2e and the interweb pleading for Mac support. The only real reason for the lack of Mac support is lack of will. For me, Mac OS X is far superior to Windows, and has been for many years, and the only limiting factor here is that some specific software has not been written for it yet. Or maybe it has (hopeful)? :)

  • 0 in reply to Jacob Jorvang
    Guru 46710 points

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    For me, Mac OS X is far superior to Windows

    For me my hammer is superior to my screwdriver, I love my hammer more. Nevertheless I don't whine that hammer does not do everything I can do with my screwdriver. When I need to do publishing or photography or audio editing work I most probably choose Mac. When I need electronics engineering - I will use PC or better two. Period.

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    and the only limiting factor here is that some specific software has not been written for it yet.

    Do you really hope that whole electronics industry - many, many companies will invest trillions of dollars to port existing, mature software and tools to make evangelical Mac users happy so they can do electronic engineering on Mac and OS X? - Forget it.

  • 0 in reply to Ilmars
    Prodigy 225 points

    Well this is going nowhere fast. I asked for experiences from Mac users, not discouragement from Windows users, so I fail to see any point in your replies.

  • 0 in reply to Jacob Jorvang
    Guru 46710 points

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    I asked for experiences from Mac users

    No answers from Mac users most probably confirms what I am telling you.

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    I fail to see any point in your replies

    Yes, this is impressive. I respect Apple marketing strategy much :)

  • 0 in reply to Jacob Jorvang
    Guru 227245 points

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    The only real reason for the lack of Mac support is lack of will.

    No. Lack of return of investment. Nobody is going to write software for MAC if this means the same effort as writing it for Windows (in addition to the windows version) with only a (very small) fraction of the customers. There are better wasy to burn money.

    Jacob Jorvang said:
    For me, Mac OS X is far superior to Windows,

    Fo rme, both are equally bad and there have been far superior ones which failed due to lack of financial support or overwhelming presence from Microsoft and Apple.

    But at the bottom line, the OS wins that provides the funcitonality I need. You don't buy a computer to have an OS, but to have a job done. So print media industry uses MAc because of its superior software for printing workflow, and others use WIndows because the software they need to get the job done is only available for WIndows.

    Of course if the software is for free, people won't buy a new computer for the job, they want if (of course also for free) for the one they have. If the software costs $20k, nobody will even think of complaining about the need to buy a $500 machine in addition.

    Personally, I don't use CCS or IAR, I use MSPGCC at work, and I have nicely integrated it into UltraEdit by makefile templates and batch files. But that is my personal preference. And If MSPGCC hadn't been there, I had  been ordered to use CCS isntead. Under WIndows. Even if this had meant to buy another machine besides the linux server that is already there. Or the MAC I already have (if I had one)

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