XC8 Compilers - Discussion

[Manuel]

No more support.

I still use 8.92 to let ICD2 work ... it's faster in programming some controllers...but it's not supported in Win10. Use it in virtualbox.

take care,
X!

[chicowood]

Thanks....however, for me MPLAB 8 has been working fine with Windows 10 (both 32 and 64 bit) for a long time without problems.

But you're probably right about xc8 v2.31 not being supported for use with MPLAB 8...as I recall, in the old days just installing a new xc8 version made it appear in MPLAB 8 as a Toolsuite option...it didn't this time...

I still prefer MPLAB 8 to MPLAB X after all these years, even though it's long outdated...I spend a lot of time fussing with MPLAB X and all its little ongoing issues.

[metal]

may be it is time to move to mplabx..

[Manuel]

Exactly,

move to MPLABX , u will have just advantages...

The only limit I had is the fact that MPLABX do not support ICD2 anymore...

Take care
X!

[chicowood]

Well, indeed, I've been using MPLABX since it first came out.

I'm just not a fan. Of all the IDEs I use, it's by far my least favorite.

When I fired up MPLAB 8 for this old project, it brought back some fond memories of the earlier PIC days.

[tumbleweed]

I don't know how to get v2.31 to register with MPLAB 8

As others have pointed out, AKAIK there's no way to get any of the XC8 v2.xx versions running in MPLAB 8.92.

They stopped including the files you need to get it registered into MPLAB right around the version you have installed that works (v1.43),
although I seem to remember being able to get v1.45 working as well.

I'm with you... even though MPLAB 8 is old, at least it works. I've had nothing but problems with MPLABX, and I've tried them all.
It has SERIOUS problems connecting reliably to the ICD tools and that's across a number of different PC's, OS's and debug tools.

[chicowood]

Yes, I have found the Netbeans IDE structure to be clumsy and difficult to keep running as a problem-free tool.

While not usually a fan of Microsoft products, I like Visual Studio. It has a couple of Arduino plugins that are impressive, much better than the basic Arduino IDE. I also use Visual Studio for .NET work (Visual Basic, mostly).

I haven't used Eclipse but friends tell me it's pretty good, too.

Would love to see a PIC plugin for Visual Studio...(dream on... )

[Jagi]

Yes, I have found the Netbeans IDE structure to be clumsy and difficult to keep running as a problem-free tool.

Well, someone is seeing from my side. I have had enough problems with the IDE, especially when opening large projects. The background scanning is a mess resulting in the code parser failing to work. Connection to the ICD is another problem area and I don't see much hope from Microchip.

As of now we are continuing our development using MPLAB 8.x and we have created some scripts (actually batch files) which invoke the latest 2.xx version compiler. I will check with my Engg dept if they can allow us to share those scripts publicly, once I get the confirmation, I may be able to share the same with you folks.

[metal]

Jagi,

As long as your company is using MPLAB 8.x, why don't they just use Eclipse for an IDE? it offers superior features compared to those offered by outdated MPLAB 8.x, does it offer auto-complete feature as in modern IDEs?

Also, MPLAB X offers MCC which is handy most of the time, regardless of how buggy it is, you must review the code before using it anyway (this is doable for simple projects). However, this is not applicable in the case of STM32 HAL because the library is huge!

So, Netbeans vs. Eclipse, Eclipse wins, why Microchip did not use it, another bad decision..

chicowood, no body is a fan of MPLAB X, thu it is the only solution currently available.

[chicowood]

As long as your company is using MPLAB 8.x, why don't they just use Eclipse for an IDE? it offers superior features compared to those offered by outdated MPLAB 8.x, does it offer auto-complete feature as in modern IDEs?
<snip>
chicowood, no body is a fan of MPLAB X, thu it is the only solution currently available.

Metal, are you saying that Eclipse could be configured to offer basic PIC debugging, or suggesting it as just a code editor?

[metal]

What makes you think I am suggesting such insane idea, I would not even bother thinking about that I just use MPLAB X and live with the issues it has, that's it.

[chicowood]

lol, got it. I agree, I use MPLABX too, but it sure can drive you nuts sometimes...

[metal]

It did that yesterday when it kept complaining about missing shortcuts somewhere on the PC

[Jagi]

As long as your company is using MPLAB 8.x, why don't they just use Eclipse for an IDE? it offers superior features compared to those offered by outdated MPLAB 8.x, does it offer auto-complete feature as in modern IDEs?

Metal,
Thanks for the recommendation, we will look into it for future product development.

[Ahmad_k]

Does anyone know how to debug ELF file generated by XC8 in proteus ? I upgraded an old project from Atmel studio GCC to XC8, but ELF file cannot be debugged.

If i switch from ELF to COFF in settings then the project cannot be compiled.

[metal]

If I remember correctly, I had to use AVR GNU toolchain to be able to produce COFF files.

[Ahmad_k]

If I remember correctly, I had to use AVR GNU toolchain to be able to produce COFF files.

AVR GNU toolchain has serious problem when debugging also. I cannot monitor variable inside a subroutine until it is a global variable, that's why i'm trying to switch to XC8

[pickit2]

AVR GNU toolchain has serious problem when debugging also. I cannot monitor variable inside a subroutine until it is a global variable, that's why i'm trying to switch to XC8

just a thought have you tried compiling with the tools in proteus. I remember it could not use coff files as the program in a project, until built in tools was used.

[Jagi]

just a thought have you tried compiling with the tools in proteus. I remember it could not use coff files as the program in a project, until built in tools was used.

As far as I remember, COFF files are fully used by Proteus and it can be used for debugging at source level. The problem that I have experienced is with the ELF file format. Proteus loads the ELF file and runs the program but there is no source code. This happens only with the XC8 / AVR GNU compilers. However, when using Arduino IDE generated ELF file, it is possible to debug at source code level.
By the way, what built in tools in Proteus are you referring to?

[pickit2]

By the way, what built in tools in Proteus are you referring to?

 
just seen this. The tools are the compliers that come with Proteus, when importing code it would not work with Proteus, but if you compile the same code within Proteus it did.