TinyOS on GINA

This page describes how to port TinyOS for the Gina platform.

Overview

Two steps are involved when using TinyOS on motes: compiling nesC code into binaries then flashing those binaries onto the hardware. In adding support for a new platform, those two steps have to be kept in mind.
Gina comes with the MSP430 processor and the AT86RF231 radio. Though the MSP is already supported in TinyOS and both the RF230 and RF212 have ports, it was not a simple task to add support for Gina. The reason is that the version of the MSP on Gina is 2618 while Telos and other motes had the MSP430f1611. Therefore, we needed to add a port for family 2xxx MSP to tinyos (a specific msp430-gcc and MSP430x2xxx TinyOS drivers). Luckily, this had been done before by a startup called Zolertia. They make a mote very similar to the Telosb but with a family 2 MSP. However, the tools they had built for their z1 mote needed a special C compiler: gcc3.4. This is why we decided that the easiest way to start off would be to get a stable OS that came with this version of gcc (step1). Steps 2, 3 and 4 complete adding support for compiling gina specific code onto TinyOS.

Steps 5 to 9 deal with making possible programming Gina motes with the compiled TinyOS code. In fact, compiling on TinyOS generates binaries specific to the processor of choice. One of those files comes in the intel-hex format and can therefore be flashed directly onto the MSP, using the MSP-FET430UIF tool. But this wasn't straightforward. The reason is that TI, who made the JTAG proprietary protocol, did not make it open enough so that developers could make an open-source solution. Before we get into the details of the installation process, one should know that the way to program on Linux through JTAG is to start a GDB proxy server that listens on a specific port and keep that server running in the background, and then flashing the binaries to the processor through that server. Starting the GDB proxy server required files that had to be brought from a working version of IAR on Windows (Steps 5 to 9).

Installation Steps

NOTE: before you start bear in mind that the tinyos version you are downloading is more recent than the one found here. Make changes in the commands accordingly.

Get Ubuntu 8.04 (because it comes with gcc3.4)
Open Synaptic Package Manager then Settings->Repositories->Third-Party Software: add the following line
```
deb http://tinyos.stanford.edu/tinyos/dists/ubuntu hardy main
```
From a terminal window type:
```
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tinyos-2.1.0
```
Get the zolertia z1 support package from https://sourceforge.net/projects/zolertia/files. You should download a file of the form:
```
tinyos-z1-xx-xx_i386.deb
```
cd to the directory where you downloaded it and type:
```
sudo dpkg -i tinyos-z1-xx-xx_i386.deb
sudo chown -R <my_username>:<my_username> /opt/tinyos-2.1.0/
```
Extract gina20.zip to /opt/tinyos/tos/platforms/ and copy gina20.target to /opt/tinyos/support/

Pump up a terminal in your home directory and edit file .gdbinit; add the following lines:

set remoteaddresssize 16
set remotetimeout 999999
target remote localhost:2000
set remote memory-write-packet-size 512
set remote memory-write-packet-size fixed
set remote memory-read-packet-size 512
set remote memory-read-packet-size fixed

Edit file /etc/udev/rules.d/26-ti.rules; add the following lines:
```
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", ATTR{product}=="MSP-FET430UIF JTAG Tool", \
ATTR{bNumConfigurations}=="2", ATTR{bConfigurationValue}="2", \
GROUP="dialout"

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb-serial", DRIVERS=="ti_usb_3410_5052_1", \
SYMLINK+="ttyUSBfet430"
```
This is to set the bConfigurationValue of the TI usb device to "2" everytime it is connected. After finishing all those steps, connect the MSP-FET430UIF to your computer and type dmesgin your terminal. You should see something like:
```
[ 2243.126136] usb 2-1: TI USB 3410 1 port adapter converter now attached to ttyUSB0
```
If this fails (e.g. something with "error -5" contact chraim@berkeley.edu)
Open Synaptic again and get wine. From a terminal, type
```
winecfg
```
Under drives, click on "add" then "ok". In a terminal, type:
```
mkdir -p ~/.wine/dosdevices
ln -s /dev/ttyUSBfet430 ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1
```

Now comes the tricky part. From a terminal, type:

mkdir -p ~/.wine/drive_c/msp430
cd ~/.wine/drive_c/msp430

'Now to this new directory ~/.wine/drive_c/msp430/, we want to copy msp430-gdbproxy.exe, HIL.dll and MSP430.dll.

Those NEED to be compliant with your FET430-UIF firmware version.

Install IAR on Windows, connect the FET tool and update its firmware (it may not ask for a firmware update). Make sure your FET tool works. Search the IAR directory (something like C:\Program Files\IAR) for HIL.dll and MSP430.dll (beware that, in Linux, the names of those files are case sensitive, so they should be renamed as it appears here).

I forgot how I got msp430-gdbproxy.exe but I think that I installed mspgcc-20081230.exe from the mspgcc website. It's the windows tool as well.

Connect the FET tool, open a terminal and type:

wine c:/msp430/msp430-gdbproxy.exe -p 2000 msp430 COM1

This starts the GDB proxy. Keep this running in the background and open a new terminal:

cd /opt/tinyos/apps/Blink
make gina20
cd /build/gina20
msp430-gdb main.ihex
monitor reset
erase
load main.ihex
cont

Et Voila!