Edit 28.03.2016: There are more details about the startup code in this post.

CMake

I have recently started playing with the Tiva launchpad. It's a pity, though, that most of the tutorials and course material out there show you how to program it only using something or other on Windows. I have even gone as far as installing it on my old laptop to follow some of these tutorials. But, I have quickly re-discovered the reasons for my dislike of Windows.

There are some great resources available explaining how to use the Stellaris board on Linux. Stellaris is a predecessor of Tiva, and much of this advice applies to Tiva as well. Everyone seems to use Make, though. I don't like it because generating source file dependencies and discovering libraries with it involves black magic and blood of goats. I decided, then, to add my two cents and create a template for CMake (GitHub). It works fine both with or without TivaWare and uses my BSD-licensed start-up files. To use it for your project, all you need to do is:

 1#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2# Some boilerplate
 3#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.4)
 5set(CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/TM4C_toolchain.cmake)
 6set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake)
 7set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
 8include(Firmware)
 9
10#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11# Configure your project
12#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13project(tm4c-template)
14add_executable(tm4c-template.axf main.c tm4c/TM4C_startup.c)
15add_raw_binary(tm4c-template.bin tm4c-template.axf)
16target_link_libraries(tm4c-template.axf ${TIVAWARE_LIB})

And then:

]==> mkdir build
]==> cd build
]==> cmake ../
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 4.9.3
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/arm-none-eabi-c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/arm-none-eabi-c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/ljanyst/Temp/board/cmake/build
]==> make
Scanning dependencies of target tm4c-template.axf
[ 25%] Building C object CMakeFiles/tm4c-template.axf.dir/main.c.obj
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/tm4c-template.axf.dir/tm4c/TM4C_startup.c.obj
[ 75%] Linking C executable tm4c-template.axf
[ 75%] Built target tm4c-template.axf
Scanning dependencies of target tm4c-template.bin
[100%] Creating raw binary tm4c-template.bin
[100%] Built target tm4c-template.bin

Or, if you want TivaWare, do this instead:

]==> cmake .. -DTIVAWARE_PATH=/path/to/tivaware/

Flashing

I wrote a short piece of code that lets you test things without the need for TivaWare. Go here and compile lm4flash, it needs libusb-1.0-0-dev on Debian.

]==> lm4flash tm4c-template.bin
Found ICDI device with serial: 0E21xxxx
ICDI version: 9270

Debugging

You can tweak a bit the instructions from the tutorial over at jann.cc to run a debugging session. Plug-in the board and start an Open On-Chip Debugger session:

]==> openocd -f /usr/share/openocd/scripts/board/ek-tm4c123gxl.cfg
Open On-Chip Debugger 0.9.0 (2015-05-28-17:08)
Licensed under GNU GPL v2
For bug reports, read
        http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html
Info : The selected transport took over low-level target control. The results might differ compared to plain JTAG/SWD
adapter speed: 500 kHz
Info : clock speed 32767 kHz
Info : ICDI Firmware version: 9270
Info : tm4c123gh6pm.cpu: hardware has 6 breakpoints, 4 watchpoints

Then, in another terminal window, run gdb as follows:

]==> cat gdb-embeded.init
target extended-remote :3333
monitor reset halt
load
monitor reset init
break main
continue
]==> arm-none-eabi-gdb --command=gdb-embeded.init  tm4c-template.axf
GNU gdb (7.10-1+9) 7.10
Copyright (C) 2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

-- cut --

Breakpoint 1, main () at /home/ljanyst/Temp/board/cmake/main.c:113
113       init_sys_tick();
(gdb) n
114       init_gpio();
(gdb) n
116       unsigned long led = 0x02;
(gdb) n
119         unsigned long sw1 = !(GPIODATA_REG_PORTF & 0x01);
(gdb) n
120         unsigned long sw2 = !(GPIODATA_REG_PORTF & 0x10);
(gdb) p sw1
$1 = 0
(gdb) p /t *(unsigned long *)0x4005d3fc
$2 = 10001

Have fun!