User`s guide

www.uTasker.com
µ Tasker – AT91SAM7X Tutorial
V1.4
uTaskerV1.4_SAM7X.doc/0.03 24/36 31.07.2009
A further action is “Restore factory settings” which returns the default settings as defined in
application.c. This also provokes a reset of the device and if the default settings cause
the network values to be modified it will automatically start a three minute validation period
meaning that it will also be necessary to establish a connection using the ‘factory settings’
and validate them before the original ones will become permanent. This is again to ensure
that there is no danger of losing contact with a remote device. Note that the MAC address is
not reset since the Mac address should always remain unchanged in the device.
The last action is a simple reset of the device.
Memory Utilisation
HEAP – the used heap and the maximum defined heap are displayed. Note here that the
simulator will often display that more heap is used as needed in the real target due to the fact
that some variables will be of different sizes when running on a PC compared to an
embedded target. It allows the real use on the target to be monitored and the user can then
optimise the amount of heap allocated to just support the worst case.
STACK – the amount of stack which has not been used (safety margin) is measured and
displayed. As long as the value remains larger than 0 the system is not experiencing any
memory difficulties. A value of zero indicates a critical situation and must be reviewed. The
simulator however doesn’t perform this stack monitoring and will always display zero; its use
is on the target where resources need to be monitored carefully.
The methods used for the memory monitoring are detailed in the µTasker main
documentation.
Present Time – If the demo project is configured to collect the timer from a time server, this
displays the present time. The time may also be available if the device which the µTasker is
operating on processes a RTC.
Running Time - The time since the device started, or since the last reset, is displayed. This
is useful when monitoring a remote device to ensure that it is indeed operating stably since a
watchdog reset due to a software error would allow the device to remover but possibly not
enable its occurrence to be readily detected.
Upload new software
See the following µTasker documents for further details about using the firmware upload
capabilities of the µTasker project. This uses the HTTP post method to transfer new software
to the target.
• http://www.utasker.com/docs/uTasker/uTaskerBoot_003.PDF
• http://www.utasker.com/docs/uTasker/BM-Booloader_for_SAM7X.PDF