x51 microprocessor tools

[ppppenguin]

The 405 to 625 converter I've been working on recently uses an x51 class microprocessor. Actually a Dallas 80C420 but I can treat it as a standard 8051 without any trouble.

My problem is development tools. Many years ago I used the ECAL tools. These is an ancient DOS based toolset that I have no wish to use again. I suppose I could run it in Dosbox but really don't want to.

A few years ago I downlaoded the free MCU 8051 IDE tools. These worked well on my old XP machine so I though I'd download them again for my current W7 PC. Can't find the Windows version anywhere. Seems to be Linux only now. I didn't keep the installation file on my old XP PC and it's difficult to move an installed Windows program from one PC to another.

Here's  a note about the software I was using, with links to the Linux download at Sourceforge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCU_8051_IDE

I could use it on my old XP PC but that's a nuisance.

I'm working in assembler only. I have no knowledge of C and no wish to use it here.

Any ideas for free x51 tools? Possible location of the old Windows instal file?

This seems a possibility though it isn't a nice IDE like MCU_8051_IDE: http://plit.de/asem-51/download.htm

[Mike Watterson]

Linux Mint with Mate Desktop.
I got a Lenovo E460 with Win7 just after MS stopped selling Win7. I repartitioned and setup dual boot. After nearly two years I hadn't used the Win7 so removed it to get extra storage and change the NTFS partition that had my data to EXT4. My wife now has also changed her Lenovo to Mint + Mate only but she has a copy of the OS off her older laptop running in the free VM that comes with Mint. She uses that to play scrabble, with instant near instant load time as she only exits the VM without shutting down XP.

I'd already been using many programs on XP for years that are included on Linux. Even Eagle Schematic / PCB. Though I use my old XP copy on WINE as the latest Linux version needs a different Key. Also Linear Tech (now ADI) latest Spice for Windows works fine on WINE. You do have to set some environment variables on some versions of Linux BEFORE installing WINE so as to get the 32bit and 64bit WINE versions, otherwise you get 64bit only WINE which is pointless. I actually have NO 64bit Windows software as I used 32 bit XP till I got 64bit Win7 a couple of years ago (except maybe LTSpice if it's 64bit). The only things I've used that need XP on a VM rather than WINE on Linux are some games, Office 2002, GSP Designworks, GSP DTP and PSP7. However I don't use the last 3 at all, and only the Word 2002 occasionally to check compatibility (not for a year). I did run PSP7 a few times to convert PSP files to Photoshop as The Gimp reads Photoshop fine and the PSP plugin is for a later Corel version of PSP. Apparently Office 2003 (best) and 2007 (2nd best) do install on WINE, but I don't have those. For most people the LibreOffice is superior now, even on Windows, if you learn how its Styles work. Loads of alternates to Visio on Linux which MS has hardly done anything to since they bought it.

I have a workstation with win10 my son uses for games. It has dual boot to Linux. I have a 10" Win10 tablet that's only used as a portable PDF reader (actual ebooks are read on my eink reader).

Mod edit: Off-topic anti-Microsoft ranting removed

[ppppenguin]

One day I will get round to running Linux (probably Mint) as my main desktop but in the meantime I just need an easy solution to doing 8051 assembler. It may well be this: http://plit.de/asem-51/appn0003.htm

In the future I see my computing as being on Mint Linux as the host OS with VirtualBox to run versions of Windows as required. As you said, WINE can do a lot of Windows stuff in Linux but it may end up being easier just using VirtualBox. I already run XP in VBox for various programs that don't like W7.

[Mike Watterson]

I already run XP in VBox for various programs that don't like W7.

And you can simply copy over the file, the XP snapshot. All the main VM host programs are supported on Linux.
Mapping the XP serial ports can be to Linux physical serial or Linux USB ports that have any USB-Serial adaptor which works on Linux, which is most of them. Seems to work more reliably than USB based serial native on Win XP, 7 or 10.
The VB RS232 OCX works on client XP, or on 32 bit WINE (when the WINE COMx port is mapped to a USB or physical serial port), even on 64 bit Linux. I can't get any VB6 program using the RS232 to work on any 64 bit windows, even if there is a "real" serial port.

[ppppenguin]

Back to my original problem.

I've found a free assembler and a 3rd party IDE based around it.

Assembler: http://plit.de/asem-51/home.htm
IDE: http://www.opcube.com/home.html#MIDE51

Installed it and tried it on a old bit of code which I believed to be blameless. It's giving me a few errors which I'll need to investigate. Most of the errors are "symbol already defined" which is odd for a supposedly working bit of assembler but should be easy enough to track down. I think it's because some labels are pre-defined in a device file with these tools. The remaining 2 are "iilegal statement syntax" on "include" statements where I'm including large lumps of data as db statements. Possibly because the required syntax may differ between different assemblers.

I've also got to work out how to specify which device file (89C420 in this project) the assembler should use. Since I think I'm only using the basic 8051 instruction set and ports this may not matter.

[ppppenguin]

I've just tried assembling the same file on my old XP PC which has MCU8051IDE installed. I don't want to continue using this PC on a regular basis.

The "symbol already defined" errors are showing as warnings of ambiguous symbol definitions. The cause is simple. I'm defining things like TR1, EA etc in my code when they are also in the MCU definition file. I suppose they are there because in the very distant past these weren't pre-defined in the tools.

[ppppenguin]

To include a file which comprised a load of "db" statements
I used to be able to write: include coefft1.asm ;Interpolator coefft table

This worked with all previous assemblers.

This assembler requires: $include(coefft1.asm) ;Interpolator coefft table

Not difficult but I still haven't tracked down the relevant bit of the manual that gives the correct syntax.

The odd thing is that the MCU 8051 IDE assembler required this syntax to include a file with a load of assembler code in it, it was happy with the older syntax if the file only contained "db" directives.

Anyway, it now looks like I have a usable assembler with an IDE. All I have to do now is check that my odd bits of linker etc software still work and squirt the result into an EPROM emulator.