Metal ARM x01 - Starting Chasm (Lab Notes)

Project 1 consists of:

• Bootstrapping the chasm compiler driver
• Building enough of the assembler to compile an assembly version of Project 0

Work Completed

• Created the chasm binary application
  • The chasm binary is intended to be the driver for all build/test actions, similar to cargo and (less so) gcc
  • Subcommands will enable access to different parts of the toolchain
    • build and test for application-level projects
    • assemble and link for manual assembly/linking
• Converted Project 0's binary to assembly
• Implemented enough of chasm assemble to recreate Project 0's binary
  • chasm commit faf4d33d0a956e5c23c8be5308ee47148de6ef0b
• Flashed and tested on EK-TM4C123GXL

The full assembly program is:

; vector table
x2000.8000         ; sp starting address
x0000.0009         ; reset handler address | 1 (thumb mode)

; Reset handler - Initializes and continuously increments R0
MOVS R0 x01

@loop
    ADDS R0 x01
    B @loop

Next Steps

Well for one, it's unlikely that I'll write any more handcrafted binaries. It was a good exercise in Project 0 for getting a grip on encoding, but going forward I'll be adding whatever support is needed to chasm assemble and let the machine handle it.

Implementation-wise, I'd like to interact more with the board itself, probably by cycling the RGB spectrum on the built-in LED.