IAR embedded workbench, at91sam7s, download speed?

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  • IAR embedded workbench, at91sam7s, download speed?

    hello,
    i am using the j-link in conjunction with the iar workbench for debugging of an at91sam7s.
    i need to debug in flash. i experience a very low download speed which also depends on the PC OS I use.
    With Windows2000 download speed is app. 1.3kByte/s, with WindowsXP it's about 3kBytes/s.

    for me the download speed is very poor.

    versions of tools:
    ewarm: v4.41a
    j-link:v3.74i

    any ideas?

    regards
    gerhard

    The post was edited 1 time, last by gerhardf ().

  • Hi Gerhard,

    although I never measured the actual download speed, we use two different programs to download to the target. It is more convenient to use the directly implemented download in EWARM, however, using J-Flash from Segger yielded in much faster downloads. Somewhere I have seen a number of 700 kBytes/sec posted, from what I could see within the workbench, that is wishful thinking, nevertheless through J-Flash that might be very close to reality.

    Hope that helps a little, Bob
  • hello bob,
    i don't see any reason why downloading through ewarm should be much slower then using j-flash as long as the tools are well integrated.
    beside the fact that downloading through ewarm is more convenient, j-flash is not very cheap.

    regards
    gerhard
  • Gerhard,

    beats me WHY there is a difference, I only noticed THAT there is a difference. If you are working on a project just for yourself, J-Flash is probably more expensive than your time that will only be long enough for a coffee break if you are using a big chip. You have the option to check it out. It is my understanding that there are trial version for all Segger products. If it works, you can decide whether it is worth your money, if not, your setup might be different than mine anyhow.

    Bob
  • Hello Gerhard,

    You are right downloading to flash through the EWARM is more convenient when debugging.
    But the J-Link is not really the bottle-neck.
    The IAR flash loader is not as fast as it could be when programming the flash.
    The J-Link RDI flash loader is quite faster.

    I have done the following test:
    I wrote a simple application which occupies the whole flash of the SAM7S256
    I used a const char array that is used in application to the fill the flash.
    Used components:
    Computer Windows 2000Pro
    J-Link Rev 6 connected to a USB 2.0 Hub.
    JLinkARM software ver. 3.74m

    ROM Application size: 255kByte

    I downloaded the application using the IAR flash loader:
    Result: 3,3 kByte/s
    The same application is then downloaded with J-Link RDI to flash using the RDI internal flash loader.
    Result: 26.9 kByte/sec

    Another option would be to optimize the IAR flash loader.
    I just simply disabled some log information which is from my point
    of view not that necessary and update compiler and linker settings:
    Result: 9,57 kByte/s

    If you are interested in this flash loader, let me know.
    BTW: Which SAM7S are you using?

    Regards,

    Souhail
    Please read the forum rules before posting.

    Keep in mind, this is *not* a support forum.
    Our engineers will try to answer your questions between their projects if possible but this can be delayed by longer periods of time.
    Should you be entitled to support you can contact us via our support system: segger.com/ticket/

    Or you can contact us via e-mail.
  • Souhail,

    can you give some hints on what needs to be changed to speed up the IAR flash loader ?
    I found that using a hub between J-Link and PC speeds up things, but all I get is like 6KB into flash
    with the original IAR flash loader.

    --Pete
  • Hello Pete,

    Hello Gerhard,

    I just commented any log messages out which I found are not necessary.

    I also set the compiler to high speed optimization and made some modification

    in the link file so that fits the smallest CPU with the same sector size:
    Atmel SAM7S32/64 (Sector size: 128 Bytes) -> 8kByte RAM
    Atmel SAM7S128/256/512 (Sector size: 128 Bytes) -> 32kByte RAM

    You find the flash loaders attached.


    Flash loader for SAM7S128/256/256
    IAR_FLASHLOADER_AT91SAM7S128_256_Optimized.zip

    You can either copy the contents of the zip file to the project folder (Add a "flashloader" folder) and change the project settings
    • Debbugger\Download\ [x] Use flash loader
    • Press the edit button
      • Click on the (default) item and click edit
      • Enable [x] Override defualt flash loader path
      • Change it to "$PROJ_DIR$\Flashloader\FlashAT91SAM7Sxx.d79" for Atmel SAM7S128/256/512) or "$PROJ_DIR$\Flashloader\FlashAT91SAM7Sx.d79" for Atmel SAM7S32/64
      • Confirm then all your changes with OK.
    or to the EWARM_Path\ARM\config\flashloader\Atmel

    Looking forward to your feedback.

    Regards,

    Souhail
    Please read the forum rules before posting.

    Keep in mind, this is *not* a support forum.
    Our engineers will try to answer your questions between their projects if possible but this can be delayed by longer periods of time.
    Should you be entitled to support you can contact us via our support system: segger.com/ticket/

    Or you can contact us via e-mail.
  • hello Souhail,
    using your flash loader increases the download speed to nearly 6 kByte/s, which is app. 4 times faster then before!

    so many thanks for your efforts!

    BTW: maybe iar should take a look at this post and should use your flash loader?

    regards
    gerhard
  • hello,
    i just upgraded my iar workbench to v5.xx and have to realize that the download speed is still awful.
    iar confirmed that they haven't changed the flashloader right now.
    can you confirm that it is possible to use your flashloader even with v.5xx?

    many thanks in advance!
    gerhard