Motorola 68k Dev on an Amiga

[alfredbonnabel]

Not sure how feasible this is, but I would like to give it a shot if possible. I am wanting to work on programming for the m68k for a few other platforms such as the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and was wondering if that would be possible on an Amiga since it has a m68k native. I've been having trouble cross-compiling gcc on my Linux server and I figured it would be best to develop on a native processor if possible anyways. Thoughts?

[commodorejohn]

Honestly, I'd just use the Devpac assembler. 68k assembly language is so advanced it's nearly a high-level language.

[wawrzon]

a good solution for crosscompiling is amidevcpp, the gcc range from 3.4.0 to 4.5.0 is available. native you would probably have to stick to 2.9.x, although it could be changed. also vbcc is regarded a good native compiler on amiga 68k

[Vanilla]

AFAIK the MegaDrive had very similar graphics to the Amiga as well as the CPU so it shoud be even more compatible! :-)

[Franko]

I've been using DevPac since the early ninties, it's clean and not cluttered, configurable, compiles very fast and is in my opinion the best M68k assembler ever on the Amiga.

[commodorejohn]

AFAIK the MegaDrive had very similar graphics to the Amiga as well as the CPU so it shoud be even more compatible! :-)

Not so much. The Mega Drive/Genesis VDP is based around layers of tiles and free-moving sprites, like other game consoles, rather than the Amiga's free-form bitmap approach. That said, the Amiga can do tile-based graphics almost as easily with the blitter, so if you design with that in mind, it shouldn't be that hard to go between them.

[alfredbonnabel]

Nice. Good to see that I have plenty of options. Once I get a keyboard I plan on getting cracking at some of this. Good times ahead. :cool:

[Trev]

An m68k-elf toolchain, complete with newlib and gdb (useful only as a bare CPU simulator), should build out-of-the-box on just about any host. After that, you just need linker scripts and startup code, both of which are readily available.

[Cammy]

You're better off using the Copper for moving tiles around so the Blitter is free to handle all the BOBs on screen.

[matthey]

I've been using DevPac since the early ninties, it's clean and not cluttered, configurable, compiles very fast and is in my opinion the best M68k assembler ever on the Amiga.

Devpac is a great assembler package that set THE standard. There are some other assemblers that have surpassed it in some ways. Many of them are also free where Devpac is not. Examples of FREE Amiga assemblers...

vasm http://sun.hasenbraten.de/vasm/
 + actively supported, retargetable, and free
 + best optimizing 68k Amiga assembler
 + Devpac and PhxAss compatibility as well as many other assemblers
 + very powerful and flexible
 - bigger and slower than assemblers that offer less

PhxAss http://aminet.net/dev/asm/PhxAss.lha
 + easy to use
 + good optimizer
 + fast
 - some bugs and quirks in uncommon 68020 instructions

Asm-One http://aminet.net/dev/asm/ASM-One.lha
 + fast
 + popular
 + all in one editor and debugger is fast and powerful
 - all in one editor and debugger is old and dated
 - a few bugs

Barfly http://aminet.net/dev/asm/BarflyDisk2_00.lha
 + very fast
 + excellent optimizer with control of each optimization
 + debugger, BDebug, in the package is very powerful
 - not the easiest to use
 - not popular

[commodorejohn]

Many of them are also free where Devpac is not.

Feh, HiSoft is a web-design company now and nobody sells it anymore; Devpac is abandonware.

[mongo]

Feh, HiSoft is a web-design company now and nobody sells it anymore; Devpac is abandonware.

There is no such thing as abandonware.

[alfredbonnabel]

Devpac is a great assembler package that set THE standard. There are some other assemblers that have surpassed it in some ways. Many of them are also free where Devpac is not. Examples of FREE Amiga assemblers...

vasm http://sun.hasenbraten.de/vasm/
 + actively supported, retargetable, and free
 + best optimizing 68k Amiga assembler
 + Devpac and PhxAss compatibility as well as many other assemblers
 + very powerful and flexible
 - bigger and slower than assemblers that offer less

PhxAss http://aminet.net/dev/asm/PhxAss.lha
 + easy to use
 + good optimizer
 + fast
 - some bugs and quirks in uncommon 68020 instructions

Asm-One http://aminet.net/dev/asm/ASM-One.lha
 + fast
 + popular
 + all in one editor and debugger is fast and powerful
 - all in one editor and debugger is old and dated
 - a few bugs

Barfly http://aminet.net/dev/asm/BarflyDisk2_00.lha
 + very fast
 + excellent optimizer with control of each optimization
 + debugger, BDebug, in the package is very powerful
 - not the easiest to use
 - not popular

Woah! Sweet. :insane:

[alfredbonnabel]

There is no such thing as abandonware.

That is a good, though touchy point. I've seen both sides of the argument and can understand why either party feels the way they do. Technically someone, somewhere still owns the copyright, patents, intellectual property, etc for the program and should be compensated for it. However, if a company does not have a method to receive that compensation either through a web site, mail order catalog, phone number, or messenger pigeon then it certainly should be an option for a person to acquire it by whatever third party means they wish.

Of course, I am getting a bit off topics. Sorry. :steps off soapbox:

[commodorejohn]

There is no such thing as abandonware.

Well, you tell me where I can buy a new copy of Devpac, and I'll buy it.