20080917

My FreeRunner Debug Board v3 Has Arrived


Well, I finally received the Debug Board v3 that I've been hounding Koolu for ever since I received my FreeRunner. The Dboard, as it's sometimes called, provides a JTAG interface to the Neo FreeRunner from OpenMoko / FIC and can also be interfaced with any other ARM device via the unpopulated 20-pin JTAG header at the bottom of the image. I'm particularly interested in trying out BeagleBoard debugging with my Dboard after I build a 20-pin to 14-pin adapter.

It's a good thing that I ordered my Dboard from OpenMoko directly because Koolu has publicly stated that they will not be offering the Debug Board to their customers because the FreeRunner is unbrickable. Although, by assuming that the Debug Board's only use is for bootloader debugging, it precludes all sorts of other uses for the board such as step-debugging with GDB through static firmware images, kernel debugging, or the potential of debugging, say, Android, NetBSD or any other OS.

I'm happy now that I have mine anyway. I hope that they don't stop mass production of the Dboard either, because it might be a more versatile alternative than the FlySwatter, although both offer freely available schematics.

If anyone out there has experience JTAG debugging with both the FlySwatter and the Debug Board v3, then I would be very happy to hear comments detailing the pros and cons of each.

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