EVBU FOR LINUX

EVBU is a cool simulator for the 68HC11 microcontroller. It has a user-friendly GUI that includes a command line interface, kind of like the BUFFALO monitor, plus a waveform interface to help you simulate I/O. Basically, this program acts like a 68HC11 simulator and mimics many features of an EVBU with the 68HC11 running the BUFFALO monitor program. The way you interact with EVBU is quite similar (but not exactly the same) to what you'd see when using a terminal program connected to the EVBU hardware. And guess what? EVBU is free software licensed under the GPL!

Features of EVBU

This software isn't just about commands; it also gives you a logic-analyzer-like view of the 68HC11 port pins. This means you can see output waveforms and even create input stimulus waveforms.

Main Goals of EVBU

The main aim of the EVBU project is to help people understand the 68HC11 and different concepts in digital systems. It's not meant to be the fastest or most complete simulator around (if that's what you're after, check out THRSim11 or UMPS). Only some peripherals of the 68HC11 are included in this tool, so think of it mainly as a teaching aid, although it does pack some solid simulation capabilities! The execution speed hits around 500X real time for an 8 MHz 68HC11. So, it takes about 500 seconds to simulate just one second of real-time (on a typical 1 GHz Pentium processor). Speeding up this simulator isn't really on top of our priority list.

Technical Details

EVBU is made entirely in Python and utilizes wxPython for its graphical framework. It should run fine on any platform that supports these tools. Just keep in mind that it was developed with Python version 2.1.1 and wxPython version 2.3.2—earlier versions might work too, but no promises! If you're using Unix systems, note that wxPython needs GTK installed.

Cool Enhancements Over BUFFALO Monitor

• You can see logic levels at output port pins graphically, and input pins can be stimulated with your own waveforms.


• Symbolic debugging lets you set breakpoints at labels instead of addresses.


• Tracing through instructions shows not just what just executed but also what's coming next!


• You get commands not found in BUFFALO like executing until subroutine end or running code for set cycles.


• You can enter numbers in different formats: hexadecimal, decimal, binary, or octal.


• Cyle counting feature helps with timing algorithms or executing code for specific cycles.

Requirements

Please Note:

• You need Python version 2.2 ONLY—NO NEWER VERSIONS!


• wxPython version 2.4.2.4 ONLY—NO NEWER VERSIONS!

What's New?

• A bug with the implementation of the inchar() function has been fixed.


• The new cd command lets you change directories easily.


• You can now use up-arrow and down-arrow keys to recall previous commands.