problems with MSP430 CCS 5.1 / Compiler 4.0 printf

Stephen,

Good to hear from you again.

This might be a question to move to the CCS forum but let me contact the CCS and MSP430 applications team about this issue before I move the post.

Enjoy the weekend.

Stephen,

Here is a post similar to what you are experiencing.

E2E: http://e2e.ti.com/support/development_tools/compiler/f/343/t/146417.aspx 

I'll follow-up with you no later than Tuesday of next week.

Austin,

Thanks for the reply.  I think my printf problem is different from the one referred to in the other post.  I’ve looked at this more and simplified the program to provide a clearer failure case and come up with the following:

#include <msp430f5438a.h>

#include <stdint.h>

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {

       char achBuff[128];

    // Stop watchdog timer

       WDTCTL = WDTPW + WDTHOLD;

       snprintf (achBuff, sizeof(achBuff), "+18 converts to %d = 0x%x\n", (int16_t)18, (int16_t)18);

       return 0;

}

Insert a "break" on the return statement and examine the buffer.  This example fails the “%d” conversion for any value larger than 9 when compiled with “full” printf support and with a heap and stack size of 4096.  I didn’t try it, but I assume negative numbers still fail when compiled with “minimal” printf support.  I am running the program on the TI 100 pin 5438A demo board.  Hope that helps.

Steve

The outputs you're getting look like there's some smart usage of BCD conversion is used - and fails, maybe due to large memory or large data model or whatever. Same may cause the to the weird chars when getting a 4-digit value.
In the minimal printf version, it looks like D is treated like U. This may be within the definition of 'minimal' support (e.g. " 'minimal' does not support negative numbers").

Stephen,

The CCS Applications team recommended that your post be moved to the C/C++ compilers forum.

I will continue to monitor this post to make sure that this is resolved.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Now that I'm in the correct forum I see that other people have had this problem, and that I can probably fix it if I upgrade my MSP430 code generation tools from version 4.0.0 to 4.0.1.  However, when I start CCS, then go to "Help->Check for Updates" it searches, then tells me "no updates were found" despite the fact that I'm still at level 4.0.0.  Does anyone know what I need to do to get the update?

Steve

I think the info in this wiki article will help.

Thanks and regards,

-George

Unfortunately, that does not help.  Specifically:

The Wiki, under the "Compiler updates" headline, says that "Starting with version 4.1.2, CCS checks for compiler updates automatically".  As I noted above, this does not appear to work.  When I force it to search for updates using the "Help -> Check for updates" it incorrectly tells me there are none.  Nothing else in that Wiki appears relevant to a compiler update.

When I select "help -> install new software", then select "all available sites" under the "work with" box at the top, then I get a list that includes "MSP430 Code Generation Tools".  If I then check that box and click "next", two things happen.  First, I get a dialog box titled "unsupported install" that tells me that I have selected a feature that uses install procedures that are not compatible with the current install support and asking if I want to use the older update manager.  At the same time the underlying box is populated with a list of MSP430 code generation tools that includes 4.0.1, which is what I want.  However, if I agree to use the older update manager as suggested by the dialog box, I then get even more error messages, not all of which are reproducible, but nothing that ever leads to a successful download.

Does anyone else have advice on how to upgrade?

Steve

Steve,

We are still in the process of creating and posting compiler updates for CCS 5.1, so unfortunately, you will not find them when checking for updates from CCSv5. There are a couple of options for you to get the MSP430 codegen tools v4.0.1.

If you still have CCS 4.2.x installed on your machine, you should be able to install it using its Update Manager.
If you do not have CCSv4 installed let us know and we can send you the codegen tools via private message.

AartiG,

I do have 4.2.4.00033 installed, but I can't make it work either.  When I try to upgrade I eventually get to the point where it says "MSP430 Code Generation Tools (4.0.1) requires feature "com.ti.ccstudio.utils (1.0.0)", or later version." and it won't let me proceed.  If I backtrack and try to update to the latest (4.2.5) version of CCS (which might or might not solve that warning message), I then get ominous warning messages that I am trying to install things that will break a long list of installed components of CCS., which I decline to do.

If you can send me the update by private message, I would appreciate it.

Also, I have to ask, are there other known problems with the v4 compiler?  I regard a failed printf library as fairly significant, and I'm disappointed that TI didn't fix that sooner or warn people that CCSv5 wasn't ready for prime time.  I wasted an enormous amount of time tracking this down, and now that I'm on the correct bulletin board I can see that other people have done so as well.  And also that this has been a known problem for three or more months.  Why isn't this information made available to people downloading the install?  It seems like a "known problems" list should be a prominent part of the download, which would have saved me (and you for that matter) a lot of time.

Steve

Steve,

I just sent you a friend request. When you accept that I can start a private conversation with you and send you the update. Once you install the codegen tools, please follow the procedure described here to have CCS detect and use this new version:
http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Compiler_Installation_and_Selection#CCStudio_5.1

I'm not sure why the update from CCS 4.2.4 does not work for you. If the newer build utils are required, they should also be selected and installed along with the CGT update. Updating to CCS 4.2.5 is not required. I've had no problems installing this update from CCS 4.2.4 and I know we've had several users do it as well. For the ominous warning messages, if you're referring to the message that warns about duplicate conflicts of BIOS components, that message can be safely ignored.

All codegen tools releases include a file that lists the defect history - known and fixed bugs. Unfortunately, in this case, this bug was found just after MSP430 CGT 4.0.0 was released. Hence it is not listed in the known bugs in the release notes for CGT 4.0.0. Also the timing for release of CCS 5.0 happened to be such that it shipped with CGT 4.0.0, and then the updated CGT 4.0.1 was released shortly after. This, compounded with the fact that the update is not yet "visible" in CCS 5.1, makes it difficult to track down, and I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

This is an update so that the thread will make sense to anyone who finds it later.

Aarti provided me with the 4.0.1 compiler installer, I installed it, set the options to use the new compiler, and was able to compile everything.  Thanks for your help, Aarti.

The new compiler eliminates most of the problems I was having.  The one remaining unexpected result is that when I use "minimal" printf support the "%d" format specifier treats the input number as unsigned.  For example, -9 prints as 65527.  The TI compiler documents, slau132f, "MSP430 Optimizing C/C++ Compiler v 4.0", page 31, specifies minimal support as:

minimal: Supports the printing of integer, char, or string values without
width or precision flags. Specifically, only the %%, %d, %o, %c, %s,
and %x format specifiers are supported

which led me to expect signed numbers to work.  I'm not sure if this is a remaining bug in the intended operation of minimal printf support or a failure of the documentation to clearly specify what minimal means.  Switching to "no float" fixes the problem so that negative numbers print as expected, at a cost of ~3000 bytes of code space.  Aarti - if you can pass that on to either the documentation writers or the compiler maintainers I'm sure you will eliminate future questions.

Steve

Stephen Manion said:

I'm not sure if this is a remaining bug in the intended operation of minimal printf support or a failure of the documentation to clearly specify what minimal means.  

AaritG,

I am having the exact same issues as Steve was but based on this post you had private conversations with him that helped solve the printf issues with Code Composer 5.1 and MSP430.  In particular I need help on installing the latest MSP430 Code Generation tools (4.0.1), that will fix this issue.  I am in the same boat as Steve in that I do not have previous versions of the CC compiler that would give the the older update tools.

Can you explain to me how to get this upgrade?

thanks

Dan

Dan,

I sent you a friend request. When you accept it, I can send you the MSP430 v4.0.1 installer via private message.

I have problem with printf too. Could you please send me a link to the MSP430 code generation tool v4.0.1? Thanks.

Chun

Chun Fan said:

I have problem with printf too. Could you please send me a link to the MSP430 code generation tool v4.0.1? Thanks.

I am experiencing the same problem with printf() as others. Is the updated Code Generation Tools package already available for public download, or could I have a link for the download?

Thanks. 

Pertti,

I will send you a friend request. When you accept it I can start a private conversation with you and send you the codegen tools.

I also am having issues with printf. Can I please have the link for the updated tools?

Thanks,

Will

Will,

I just sent you a friend request. When you accept it, I can send you the compiler tools via private conversation.

I'm also having issues with printf.  Can you send me the updated compiler tools as well?

Thanks,

William

Aarti,

Is there a reason why the upgrade for the compiler tools cannot be uploaded into a .zip file to this thread?

Or can the upgrade be available through the update manager in CCS?

Austin,

The compiler tools for MSP430 (and ARM) are not available for public download due to business reasons - which is why they are not posted on the compiler download wiki site. The recommended method of update is via update CCS update manager, however the compiler updates have had some delay in getting posted to the CCS v5 update site. The updates are working with CCSv4. We hope to have this resolved soon but in the meantime we can send the tools to users offline.

William Shoesmith said:

I'm also having issues with printf.  Can you send me the updated compiler tools as well?

Just sent you the compiler tools via private message.

Is printf with minimal support suppose to handle negative numbers as in

signed int x=-10;

printf("my negative number is %d",x);

Should I get

my negative number is -10

or

my negative number is 65526

I am getting the latter.

Kent

You are probably suffering from SDSCM00042811, as mentioned earlier in this thread.  What version of the compiler are you using (not the CCS version)?

I'm using code composer studio version 5.1.0.09000 Just like Stephen Manion, who started this thread. You may be right.

What little description of the minimal fprint I've found it is not clear that it is intended to handle negative numbers. If not, that it is not a bug, but a feature. I can't tell.

Kent

Yes it is supposed to handle negative numbers.  That it doesn't is a bug that they will eventually fix.  In the interim I use "nofloat" instead of "minimal", which costs roughly 3000 bytes of code space

Steve