MICEpack/SLD ver 1.0

Table of Contents:
Part 1: MICEpack/SLD 1.0 Release
Part 2: MICEpack/SLD 1.0 Feature additions
Part 3: All PowerTools Development Systems
     I. System Requirements
    II. Problems
   III. MICEpack/SLD Application Notes
    IV. MICEpack/SLD Limits
Part 4: MICEpack(tm) Emulators
     I: Problems
    II. MICEpack Emulator Application Notes
   III. MICEpack Emulator Limits


Part 1: MICEpack/SLD 1.0 Release

  New features in this release:

  * Support MIF key which allows PC to connect MICEpack via printer port.

  * Multiple Memory window creation and switching

  * Disassembly mode of the Memory window can now go to any address.
    Also, switching to disassembly mode will go to the address the
    cursor was previously on.

  * The Source window File Browse Modules... dialog now sorts the module
    names.  The Set Breakpoint dialog also sorts modules and function
    names.

  * Address input from dialog boxes or Shell commands defaults to hex
    radix; that is, the 0x prefix is not required.

  * eventRestore and eventSave Shell commands have been added.  You can
    now restore a previously saved event file with eventRestore <filename>.
    Type help or help <command> in the Shell window to view the syntax.

  * Bug Fixes

    Two bugs were fixed that related to communication problems when
    downloading code.  One caused data packets to be missed which
    caused 2K blocks of code to be missing from the download.  The other
    bug caused a Memory Verification Error during the download.  Fixing
    this bug also improved download speed.

  * Be sure that you have enough files and buffers defined in your
    config.sys file.  Minimum should be 30 for each.

  * Be sure you have a minimum swap file of 4 MB (permanent is
    recommended).

  * MP/SLD requires a minimum of 5Mbytes of free memory after Windows is
    loaded.  More memory is better, especially if you run other
    applications at the same time.  If memory is low, close other
    applications to regain memory.

  * While the emulator runs, status messages are sent from the chassis to
    the host PC.  This adds serial communication overhead to your PC.
    If you are running a DOS shell at the same time, give it a low
    priority via the .PIF file settings, or stop the emulator.

  * One GP fault that showed up in MICEpack/SLD was actually caused by
    a buggy video device driver of the Diamond Stealth ISA 1M VRAM card
    (version 2.31) in 1024 X 768 mode.  The problem went away when by
    reducing the resolution to 800 X 600.  If this fault occurs, install
    a more current device driver.


  * GP Faults

    If you have received a GP fault, our ability to find and fix it is
    increased if you can run the Dr. Watson recorder, which captures
    information at the point of the GP fault.  The Dr. Watson program is
    shipped with windows and is located in your windows directory.

    To start Windows with Dr. Watson enabled, use the File Manager to
    drag and drop the drwatson.exe icon (in your windows directory) into
    the Windows StartUp Group.  Another way to do this is to add the path
    and filename to the load= line of your win.ini file.  Example:

          load=c:\windows\drwatson.exe

    After a GP fault, the drwatson.log file in your Windows directory holds
    the information.  Fax or e-mail this file, along with any other
    information that led up to the GP fault, to Microtek International.  

         Fax: 1-503-629-8460.         E-mail: csupport@microtekintl.com

  * PV.DMP

    Under some conditions, an error can occur which produces a message box
    indicating that information about a problem has been placed in the file
    pv.dmp in your MICEpack/SLD directory.  This file gets written over each
    time an error occurs, so we recommend that you rename the file, then
    fax or e-mail it to Microtek International.

Part 2: MICEpack/SLD 1.0 Features

 * New Peripheral window displays all internal peripheral registers
   using their abbreviated name, full text name, and value.  The values
   of all fields within each register are displayed numerically along
   with the textual description of the value.  All fields can be edited
   and written back to the register location.

 * A load progress indicator shows the relative speed and completeness
   of code and symbol loading.  When complete, it reports total code
   loaded, stack size and starting address, and symbol counts of
   modules, functions, lines, and types loaded.

 * MICEpack/SLD now supports the viewing and editing of local variables
   that have been optimized into live/dead registers, plus other code
   and data optimizations.

 * A mode has been added to allow stepping of source code while interrupts
   are enabled.  The step operation disables interrupts, does the step,
   then re-enables them.  "Go from a breakpoint" also works in this mode.
   A side effect of this mode is that any instruction which modifies the
   I2-0 bits of the SR register has no effect on the SR register after
   it has been stepped over because, in this mode,
   the debugger saves, modifies, steps, then restores the SR register.

 * MICEpack/SLD now reports immediately if the hardware resources have been
   exceeded when setting execution breakpoints.  The previous version
   reported this condition at the time you started emulation.

 * Trace window "page up" in instruction mode is faster.


Part 3: All PowerTools Development Systems

I. System Requirements

The following host computer requirements and recommendations apply:
 1. An Intel 386DX, Intel 486, or Intel Pentium(tm)-based PC or 100%
    compatible system.
 2. 8 Megabytes of RAM
 3. 4.2 Megabytes of available disk space.
 4. VGA or Super VGA graphics card and color monitor
    (a graphics accelerator card will boost performance).
 5. Mouse.
 6. MSDOS 3.3, 5.0, or 6.0
 7. Windows 3.1 running in 386-enhanced mode.
 8. 4 Megabytes or greater swap file (permanent swap file recommended).
 9. Minimum: Files=30  Buffers=30


II. Problems

 1. The Intermetrics CPU32 toolchain, including the FORM695 translator
    to IEEE-695 symbol format, generates pointer types not currently
    dereferencable by the Variable window.  The result is that when
    these pointers are added to the Variable window, the pointer value
    can be viewed and edited but the pointer cannot be dereferenced.
    A partial work-around is to open a Memory window and go to the
    address of the pointer value.  The value it is pointing to can be
    viewed in a choice of radices.  This problem will be fixed in the
    version after MP/SLD 1.0.

 2. When a pointer within a union is edited in the Variable window,
    a child variable of that pointer does not update on the screen
    correctly until you delete the child variable and re-select the
    pointer.

 3. Variables declared with the @far attribute in Whitesmiths files
    appear as 'static' objects in the symbol table, even if you do not
    declare them with the 'static' modifier.  This is a workaround for
    invalid debug records generated by the Whitesmiths IEEE-695 translator.

 4. Variables declared inside nested blocks do not appear in the Stack
    window.  You can use the Source window to select them for inspection. 


III. MICEpack/SLD Application Notes
 1. MICEpack/SLD can be set up to run an auto-initialization script.  The
    script sets up the emulator to your requirements each time the
    MICEpack/SLD software is invoked.  The product is shipped with an
    include file that describes how to do this.  The file is named
    "include.me".  To create your own script file, edit a file with the
    commands you want for initialization.  Be sure to end each command
    with a semicolon.  

    Edit the micepack.ini file (in your windows directory)  Change
    the "script=include.me" line to "script=c:\micepack\reset.inc".
    Be sure to include the path.

 2. For a description of C++ debugging support and limitations, see
    Technical Note #2 in \micepack\teknotes\teknote.2.

 3. This version does support the Whitesmiths 68HC16
    compiler version 3.32 mod 10 and the converter to695.exe that converts
    to IEEE-695 output.  The Whitesmiths compiler is sold by Intermetrics.

 4. Check the Compiler Information appendix in the User's Manual or 
    Compiler Support in the Technical Notes section of the on-line help
    for complete details on compiler and converter options, and other
    issues regarding the toolchain you are using.

 5. Debugging code contained in C include files is not supported.
 
 6. The Source window does not support browsing of data-only modules.
    If you have modules that only contain data declarations, define a
    dummy function in it; you can then browse it and add variables
    to the Variable window from it.

 7. Several operations are available while the target is running if
    runaccess is enabled.  Enable runaccess from the Toolbar Options
    menu or with the Shell command "runaccess on".  To disable target
    access while the target is running, disable runaccess from the
    Toolbar Options menu or issue the Shell command "runaccess off"
    (the initial default).  Memory can be read or written with a small
    amount of processor time taken from the target; a memory read
    reports the current values in target memory or on-chip peripherals.
    However, the CPU registers cannot be accessed during emulation;
    the register display is updated only when emulation halts.  Files
    can be loaded while the emulator is running; you should ensure
    they are loaded at a different location than the program you are
    running.  The MICEpack trace operates independently of the emulator,
    so it can be stopped and started without affecting emulation
    (this is sometimes referred to as logic analyzer mode).

 8. When encountering a STOP instruction, the CPU enters the stop
    state.  From the target, only an interrupt or hardware reset
    can wake up the processor.  From the emulator, only a reset
    command can get control; the Halt operation cannot.  If your
    code has a STOP instruction, you may want to replace it with
    a JMP-to-self instruction so that you don't have to reset the
    processor.

 9. The Stack window high-water mark feature uses the stack
    base and stack size information contained in your load file.
    If the high-water mark is enabled, the Stack window
    automatically initializes the stack memory to 0xAA55 after
    the load is complete, and it uses this information to detect
    how much of the stack has been used.

    If your load file does not contain initial stack information,
    you can provide the information with the following Shell
    window command:

       setStackArea <baseAddress> <size> fillArea;

    <baseAddress> is the starting stack address, <size> is the stack
    size in bytes, and the optional fillArea switch fills the stack
    memory range with the value 0xAA55 so that the high-water mark can
    be calculated.  You can put this command in your power-up
    initialization include file as described in item 1 above.

10. You can access the Shell command history with Ctrl-uparrow
    and Ctrl-downarrow keys.

IV. MICEpack/SLD Limits

 1. MICEpack/SLD recognizes only the first 125 characters of a symbol.

 2. The maximum number of source lines per module is 16000.


Part 4:  MICEpack Emulators

 I. Problems

 1. The Trace window Save As... function has a problem when saving
    trace data with certain frame ranges.  When the range is small,
    the amount of lines saved may be zero even though there are more
    than zero lines of bus or instruction trace in this range.  The
    fix is to decrease the start frame value.  It is also possible to
    get more lines of trace data in the file than specified by the
    frame range, due to the method used for accumulating these lines.

II. MICEpack Emulator Application Notes
 1. MICEpack 68306 doesn't support hardware execution breakpoint in
    DRAM space. Instead, the MICEpack/SLD will use S/W execution 
    breakpoint. That is, target program can not disable write-cycle in 
    DRAM space.

