Hello. I copied "LCD_4bit.c" and "LCD.h" files from Keil examples folder to my project folder and add it to my project. Then I changed Pins definition in "LCD_4bit.c" according to my project board LCD pins(LPC 2378). (I don't think that The problem is here.) Then I could successfully Build it, but when I download it to my project board,there is no signs that LCD works. However when I compile "LCD_4bit.c" in IAR environment ,the produced "hex file" works well on my project board. Thanks for your help.
So, clearly, there must be something non-portable about this software, and/or some critical differences about the way you have your projects configured.
A prime suspect would be Timing - in particular, any HLL delay loops:
www.8052.com/.../162556
You need to start debugging to find where, exactly, the problems are:
www.8052.com/.../120313
" you can never predict the duration of any piece of high-level language (HLL) source code[1]. "
I will expand it for you:
1) you cannot predict the duration of many (assembler) instructions; 2) you can never predict the duration of any series of (assembler) instructions.
does that mean you should stop using assembler to code delays?
Not necessarily.
It means that, if you do write a delay in assembler, you must code your assembler carefully to use only those instructions for which you can predict the execution time, and only in ways that give predictable execution times.
The point is, you don't have that control in a HLL.
As you say, it might not even be possible in assembler. But at least you have visibility of that in assembler - you don't in a HLL.
"As you say, it might not even be possible in assembler. But at least you have visibility of that in assembler - you don't in a HLL."
I would agree with you if you define "visibility" for us.
"it might not even be possible in assembler."
it is only possible if you are talking about one-instruction delays.
for anything else, it is possible to predict the delay of a set of assembler instructions, whether they are hand-coded or machine generated from another high level language.
for obvious reasons.
"it is possible to predict"
should have been
"it is NOT possible to predict"
operator error.
for anything else, it is not possible to predict the delay of a set of assembler instructions
And you know that independent of architecture, settings of the CPU, and any other influences. And you're sure about that. As in you're claiming that one can specify the delay by, say, one
NOP
, but not, say,
NOP NOP
Reasons which, of course, it's beneath you to actually explain. We're supposed to take your unsubstantiated word for it. Sure.
The only thing obvious here is that once again you're mouthing off about things you don't understand.
<QUOTE>"it is NOT possible to predict"</QUOTE>
u sure? 8051?
always yo're freind.
Zeusti
"As in you're claiming that one can specify the delay by, say, one
, but not, say,"
only those creativity deficit would have interpreted the way you did.
"Reasons which, of course, it's beneath you to actually explain. "
it is beneath anyone to actually explain it TO YOU.
"We're supposed to take your unsubstantiated word for it. Sure."
no. but you are supposed to have understood it.
"The only thing obvious here is that once again you're mouthing off about things you don't understand."
the only thing obvious here is that you don't have the intellect to understand it.
he said this;
lots of black kettels in the vicinity of this forum. oh yeah.
of course i meant kettles.
I mean, when you write in assembler you can see what the instruction sequence is.
"when you write in assembler you can see what the instruction sequence is."
you have that with HLLs too: if not at the time of writing the (HLL) code but certainly after the compilation and having looked at the disassembly. I remember counting instructions and comparing various branches for TV signal generator code, :).
any (almost all?) "software" based delays run the risk of being non-predictable. the "non-predictability" is certainly bigger with HLL than it is with assembly - which I suspect is what you were trying to say.
fortunately, in most applications, we don't need (absolutely) precise delays, or we tolerate certain degree of timing un-predictability. Obviously, the bigger your tolerance for in-precision, the more likely a HLL delay solution will fit your bill.
so I think it is too extreme to base one's decision to use HLL or assembly delay routines on the ability to predict their duration.
"not at the time of writing the (HLL) code but certainly after the compilation"
But that was my point: you cannot predict it - you can only examine it after the fact.
With a HLL, you have no chance of predicting the delay;
In Assembler, you can see the actual instruction sequence, so you can know to what extent its execution time is predictable, and make your prediction within known limits.
"in most applications, we don't need (absolutely) precise delays"
True, but the duration of a HLL loop could vary by orders of magnitude depending on how, exactly, the compiler decides to implement it.
"the bigger your tolerance for in-precision"
I think the tolerance may be quite low for timing an LCD interface...
but you are supposed to have understood it.
Actually I understood your sweepingly generalized statement so well that it took me less than a minute to come up with a counter-example. Which worked so well you didn't even have the guts to quote it in your reply, turning it into one of those 100% pure ad-hominems we've become used to from you.
You appear to be under the impression that anything you say must be correct simply becuase you said so. You couldn't be any more wrong if you tried hard.
you have that with HLLs too:
No.
if not at the time of writing the (HLL) code but certainly after the compilation and having looked at the disassembly.
.. but that only holds until the next time you run the compiler and/or linker, with modifications somewhere else in the source code, or a different compiler version, or just different switch settings.
Looking at what the compiler did today doesn't, in general, tell you anything about what will happen tomorrow. If you want a specific machine code sequence to look the same everytime, you have to write it in assembly.
To summarize: writing delays in pure software (without reference to a hardware time of some sorts) is already a bad idea --- writing them in any other language above assembly, however, is lunacy.