JTAG debugger for MPC82xx/MPC83xx

[Mark A. Greer]

On Tue, Sep 19, 2006 at 04:51:07PM -0500, Steven Hein wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> My group is starting a new project includes a custom board
> with an MPC8258E processor on it.   I'm in the process
> of evaluating the state of the Linux kernel, toolchains,
> etc. for the MPC8258E/MPC8360E, as well as selecting a
> JTAG debugger for our project.
> 
> I've been researching the available JTAG debuggers that
> support the MPC82xx/MPC83xx family, and I've found these
> choices so far:
> 
> * Abatron BDI-2000
> * Green Hills Probe
> * Freescale's PowerTAP PRO for PowerPC
> * Lauterbach TRACE32-ICD
> * WindRiver ICE
> * Embedded Toolsmiths Guardian-SE (BUT...this is no longer
>   being sold, according to an email response I received
>   from Embedded Toolsmiths)
> 
> We will definitely want one with a network connection,
> and will will run the debugger software from a Linux host.
> Ideally, we would also like one that provides a library
> to allow us to write apps to function the debugger.
> 
> Can anyone comment on what JTAG debugger they are using,
> and how have your experiences been?   Are there any other
> good options besides the ones mentioned above.
> I'd appreciate any input.

You will find, by far, more bdi2000 users on the linuxppc-dev/embedded
lists than all the others debuggers combined, times 10, etc (at least,
they're that much more vocal).  Other linux arch's have a lot of bdi
users too.  There's even some powerpc linux kernel support for the bdi.

In general, the bdi works really well and their support is top notch.

I do not recieve any kickbacks from abatron, btw.  This question has
been asked before on this list (or -dev) so you can see other responses
in the archives.

Mark