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EPM900 4K limit not making sense

Alex Burton

Hi,

I bought a EMP900 thinking I was getting a programmer and emulator that was not crippled.
I understood that there was an evaluation version of some c compiler that I could look at.
Now I am finding that the only way to use the EPM900 is though the IDE which is limited to 4K.

I am actually using another compiler so I don't want to buy the uVision tools.

I have been using the hex file output of my compiler to program the emulator.

Now I am finding that with only 2K of code the software is saying that I have 8K of data, which is over the limit of 4K.
It's only 2K - I can see in the hex file.

Can anyone help me ? I just want to be able to use the product I bought.

Alex

  • 0

    The IDE reports

    *** Restricted Version with 4096 Byte Code Size Limit
    *** Currently used: 8101 Bytes (197%)

    8101 is the file size of the hex file, not the size of the code.
    Is this really the situation - what sort of dodgy company does this ?

    There is nothing to say that the emulator or programmer are limited on the website anyway.

    I this all correct ? - I can't believe any company could operate like this.

  • 0 in reply to Alex Burton

    I believe that you should refer to Keil technical support with this question. This forum is for communication between users, and you are not guaranteed to get an answer from an actual Keil employee here.

    www.keil.com/.../gethelp.asp

    The product description, as far as I have read, does state that the uVision IDE that comes with the emulator is limited in several ways.

  • 0 in reply to Alex Burton

    "Now I am finding that the only way to use the EPM900 is though the IDE"

    Well, it does say:
    "The EPM900 connects directly to the uVision Debugger which provides full control over user program execution"
    http://www.keil.com/emulators/
    http://www.keil.com/epm900/

    "There is nothing to say that the emulator or programmer are limited on the website anyway."

    Well, it does say:
    "The Keil EPM900 Emulator includes the uVision LPC Development Studio..."
    http://www.keil.com/lpc/lpc900_studio.asp

    And the description of the "LPC Development Studio" says:
    "The 8051 compiler, assembler, linker, and debugger are limited to 4KB of object code"

    And repeats:
    "The debugger supports 4KB files or smaller"

    This 2nd case specifically states "files"; so perhaps that is supposed to mean any sort of file - including HEX files.

    If you convert the HEX file to binary, does that help?

  • 0 in reply to Andy Neil

    Thanks for your replies Christoph and Andy I really appreciate it.

    Binary files appear to crash the uVisionIDE.

    To understand that the product I bought was limited by the evaluation version of the IDE it comes with would require quite a few logical assumptions on my part, being new to Kiels 8051 toolchain.

    Emulator requires uVision studio to work would be the main one.
    Expecting me to think that limit based on file size not code size - that's just pathetic.

    Anyway I can get the tricky basics of code working within the 2K limit using the emulator.
    And then I am using the In Circuit Programming to continue developing beyond the limit.

    So my EPM900 works as a programmer, great it will do the job.

    I am not inclined to purchase any more kiel products however.

  • 0 in reply to Alex Burton

    But you have only bought an emulator. You haven't bought any software licenses.

    The following page describes the kit contents:
    http://www.keil.com/support/man/docs/epm900/epm900_in_contents.htm

    It clearly says:

    The EPM900 LPC Emulator kit includes:

    * The EPM900 Emulator Board.
    * A standard, USB A-B cable.
    * A 48-pin, DIP to DIP ribbon cable.
    * A CD-ROM that includes:
          o An evaluation version of the µVision LPC900 Development Studio.
          o The EPM900 Emulator Board User's Manual (this manual).

  • 0 in reply to Alex Burton

    To understand that the product I bought was limited by the evaluation version of the IDE it comes with would require quite a few logical assumptions on my part, being new to Kiels 8051 toolchain.

    The EPM900 you bought costs around $400, the CA51 compiler kit costs over $1000 (and the PK51 even more). That alone should ring some warning bells.

    Emulator requires uVision studio to work would be the main one.

    That is clearly stated in the manual, which is available for download on this web site:

    http://www.keil.com/support/man/docs/epm900/epm900_in_swreq.htm

    To compile, link and run applications on the EPM900 Emulator Board, you must install these Keil products:

* The LPC900 Development Studio, which includes the uVision Debugger.

    The limitations of the LPC900 Development Studio are explained here:

    http://www.keil.com/lpc/lpc900_studio.asp

    And as always, if you have questions and want answers from actual Keil employees, you need to use contact their tech support. Posting messages here in this forum is not likely to get you a response from Keil staff (it might happen, but don't count on it).

    I am not inclined to purchase any more kiel products however.

    I do not think that you will be completely happy with any other companys products if you do not read the product description and ask questions if any points are unclear or if you need to confirm that the product fits your requirements.