• Important MPASM™ Assembler and MPLAB IDE Compatibility Note
• New in This Release
• Command Line Device Options Supported
• Operating System Support List for v4.06
• Known Problems
• Customer Support

Important MPASM Assembler and MPLAB IDE Compatibility Note

Due to a change in COFF file format, MPLINK Linker v4.00 and later will not be compatible with versions of MPASM Assembler prior to v5.00, versions of MPLAB C18 C Compiler prior to v3.00, or versions of the MPLAB IDE prior to v7.21.

MPLINK Linker v4.00 and later will have backward compatibility to earlier versions at the source level only. Any existing object files or libraries compiled with earlier versions of the tools will not link using new versions of the tools. They will need to be recompiled from source.

If the user attempts to use this release with object files or libraries compiled with earlier versions of MPLAB C18 C Compiler, MPLINK Link, and MPASM Assembler, the error message that will be received will be similar to:

Error - Coff file format for 'C:\mcc18\lib/c018i.o' is out of date.

If the user attempts to use an old version of MPLINK Linker to link object files or libraries compiled with this release, the error message that will be received will be similar to:

Error - Coff file format for 'C:\mcc18\lib/c018i.o' does not appear to be a valid COFF file.

New in This Release

• Problems resolved between v4.05 and v4.06:
  
  

  (28973)

  Modifications were required in the support files for the 18F87J50 and 18F87J11 families.
  The following modifications were made to bit names in these support files:
  
  PMDATA1L renamed PMDIN1L
  PMDATA1H renamed PMDIN1H
  PMDATA2L renamed PMDIN2L
  PMDATA2H renamed PMDIN2H
  ADCON1 renamed ADCON0
  ADCON2 renamed ADCON1
  PADCFGH renamed ANCON0
  PADCFGL renamed ANCONH
  VREGSLP renamed REGSLP (in WDTCON register)

  
  
  

  See early adopter part support added in the Command Line Device Options below.
  
  
• No linker problems resolved between v4.04 and v4.05.
  
• No linker problems resolved between v4.03 and v4.04.
  
  
• Problems resolved between v4.02 and v4.03:
  
  

  (25839)

  Linker scripts written for use with MPASM and those written for use with MPLAB C18 have the same names, based on the device or family of devices which they support.
  To help identify which linker scripts should not be used with MPLAB C18, the linker scripts for use with MPASM projects contain the following comment:

  Not intended for use with MPLAB C18. For C18 projects, use the linker scripts
  provided with that product.

• Problems resolved between v4.01 and v4.02:
  
  

  (27261)

  In 16F716.lkr, the definition of memory 'gpr0' overlapped memory 'gprnobnk'. gpr0 was defined as START=0x20 END=0x70.
  The END address is now 0x6F instead.

  
  
  

  (27423)

  ICD2 linker scripts for the following devices were incorrect:

    18f65j10
    18f65j15
    18f66j10
    18f66j15
    18f67j10
    18f85j10
    18f85j15
    18f86j10
    18f86j15
    18f87j10

  The linker scripts showed code pages for ICD2 resources in program memory but for these devices the program memory is not used by the ICD2 debug executive.
  RAM resources used by the ICD2 were also incorrect for the 18F86J15 linker script.

  
  
  

  (27579)

  Every linker script used CONFIG as a label for the .config section but CONFIG is now an MPASM directive. The label defined in the linker script could no longer be used to access the .config section.

  
  
  

  (24706)

  Wrong calculation of memory utilization. The values present in the table "Program memory usage" and in "Section Info" were wrong.
  For example:

  rom unsigned char array[0x1fffD];
  

  This ROM variable should occupy 1fffD size in the ROM space, but the map file showed only fffD.

  
  
  

  (27970)

  In ICD2 linker scripts for the 18F45J10 family of devices, the address range was outside the range of the device so debug resources were not included.



• Problems resolved between v4.00 and v4.01:
  
  

  (27612)

  18F4520 family device support changes needed to match data sheet DS39631A.
  For 18F4420/18F2420 corrected eedata range. Changed from 0xF00000-0xF003FF to 0xF00000-0xF000FF.

  
  
  

  (27628)

  16F690 family device support change needed to match data sheet DS41262A.
  Removed icd_inst, mfg_code and .device_id sections from linker scripts to be consistent with other devices.

  
  
  

  (27593)

  Linker scripts for PIC18F6525, PIC18F6621, PIC18F8525, PIC18F8621 needed to be updated. For ICD2 linker scripts, the debug exec changed so dbgspr moved from bank 12 to bank 14.

  
  
  

  (27618)

  18F87J10 family device support changes needed to match data sheet DS39663A. For 18F86J15 ICD2 linker scripts, dbgspr was incorrectly assigned to bank 7 but has been moved to bank 14.

  
  
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.05 and v4.06:
  

    12F609
    18F24K20
    18F44K20
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.04 and v4.05:
  

    16F610
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.03 and v4.04:
  

    12F615
    18F87J50
    18F86J50
    18F85J50
    18F67J50
    18F66J50
    18F65J50
    18F86J55
    18F66J55
    18F87J11
    18F86J11
    18F67J11
    18F66J11
    18F86J16
    18F66J16
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.02 and v4.03:
  

    18F2682
    18F4682
    18F63J11
    18F64J11
    18F65J11
    18F83J11
    18F84J11
    18F85J11
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.01 and v4.02:
  

    18F25K20
    18F2685
    18F45K20
    18F4685
    18F63J90
    18F64J90
    18F65J90
    18F83J90
    18F84J90
    18F85J90
    16F631
    16F677
    16F883
    16F884
    16F886
    16F887
  

• Early adopter part support added between v4.00 and v4.01:
  

    16F616
    16HV616
    16HV785
  

Command Line Device Options Supported

110F200       10F202       10F204       10F206
10F220       10F222

12C508       12C508A      12C509       12C509A
12C671       12C672
12CE518      12CE519      12CE673      12CE674
12CR509A
12F508       12F509       12F510       12F609*
12F615       12F629       12F635       12F675
12F683

14000

16C432       16C433       16C505       16C52
16C54        16C54A       16C54B       16C54C
16C55        16C554       16C557       16C558
16C55A       16C56        16C56A       16C57
16C57C       16C58A       16C58B
16C5X
16C61        16C62        16C620       16C620A
16C621       16C621A      16C622       16C622A
16C62A       16C62B       16C63        16C63A
16C64        16C642       16C64A       16C65
16C65A       16C65B       16C66        16C662
16C67        16C71        16C710       16C711
16C712       16C715       16C716       16C717
16C72        16C72A       16C73        16C73A
16C73B       16C74        16C745       16C747
16C74A       16C74B       16C76        16C765
16C77        16C770       16C771       16C773
16C774       16C781       16C782       16C84
16C923       16C924       16C925       16C926
16CE623      16CE624      16CE625
16CR54       16CR54A      16CR54B      16CR54C
16CR56A      16CR57A      16CR57B      16CR57C
16CR58A      16CR58B      16CR62       16CR620A
16CR63       16CR64       16CR65       16CR72
16CR83       16CR84
16CXX
16F505       16F506       16F54        16F57
16F59        16F610       16F616       16F627
16F627A      16F628       16F628A      16F630
16F631       16F636       16F639       16F648A
16F676       16F677       16F684       16F685
16F687       16F688       16F689       16F690
16F716       16F72        16F73        16F737
16F74        16F76        16F767       16F77
16F777       16F785       16F818       16F819
16F83        16F84        16F84A       16F87
16F870       16F871       16F872       16F873
16F873A      16F874       16F874A      16F876
16F876A      16F877       16F877A      16F88
16F883       16F884       16F886       16F887
16F913       16F914       16F916       16F917
16F946

16HV540      16HV616      16HV785

17C42        17C42A       17C43        17C44
17C752       17C756       17C756A      17C762
17C766
17CR42       17CR43
17CXX

18C242       18C252       18C442       18C452
18C601       18C658       18C801       18C858

18F1220      18F1230      18F1231      18F1320
18F1330      18F1331      18F2220      18F2221
18F2320      18F2321      18F2331      18F2410
18F242       18F2420      18F2423      18F2431
18F2439      18F2450      18F2455      18F248
18F2480      18F24J10     18F24K20*    18F2510
18F2515      18F252       18F2520      18F2523
18F2525      18F2539      18F2550      18F258
18F2580      18F2585      18F25J10     18F25K20
18F2610      18F2620      18F2680      18F2682
18F2685      18F4220      18F4221      18F4320
18F4321      18F4331      18F4410      18F442
18F4420      18F4423      18F4431      18F4439
18F4450      18F4455      18F448       18F4480
18F44J10     18F44K20*    18F4510      18F4515
18F452       18F4520      18F4523      18F4525
18F4539      18F4550      18F458       18F4580
18F4585      18F45J10     18F45K20     18F4610
18F4620      18F4680      18F4682      18F4685
18F6310      18F6390      18F63J11     18F63J90
18F6410      18F6490      18F64J11     18F64J15
18F64J90     18F6520      18F6525      18F6527
18F6585      18F65J10     18F65J11     18F65J15
18F65J50     18F65J90     18F6620      18F6621
18F6622      18F6627      18F6680      18F66J10
18F66J11     18F66J15     18F66J16     18F66J50
18F66J55     18F66J60     18F66J65     18F6720
18F6722      18F67J10     18F67J11     18F67J50
18F67J60     18F8310      18F8390      18F83J11
18F83J90     18F8410      18F8490      18F84J11
18F84J15     18F84J90     18F8520      18F8525
18F8527      18F8585      18F85J10     18F85J11
18F85J15     18F85J50     18F85J90     18F8620
18F8621      18F8622      18F8627      18F8680
18F86J10     18F86J11     18F86J15     18F86J16
18F86J50     18F86J55     18F86J60     18F86J65
18F8720      18F8722      18F87J10     18F87J11
18F87J50     18F87J60     18F96J60     18F96J65
18F97J60

EEPROM16     EEPROM8

RF509AF      RF509AG      RF675F       RF675H
RF675K

*Note: Early adopter part support added since last release

THE PARTS CORRESPONDING TO THESE OPTIONS MAY NOT ALL BE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.

The part selection is specified at assembly time and contained within the object file. An appropriate linker command file is necessary to properly link for the chosen part.

Operating System Support List for v4.06

Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows NT v4.0, Windows 2000

Known Problems in v4.06

(3224)

MPLINK Linker always links in the section which loads initialized data from program memory to data memory, even though it is not required.

(18214)

If MPLINK.EXE is invoked without arguments, an error message stating "Error spawning _mplink.exe" is emitted. This message is spurious; it can be ignored.

(18432)

An interrupt with locals of "overlay" storage class which calls a function reachable from main is incorrectly viewed as recursive.
For example, the program:

        int g (void) {
          return 2;
        }

        void f (void);
        #pragma interrupt f
        void f (void) {
          overlay int x;
          x = g ();
        }

        void main (void) {
          int x;
          x = g ();
        }

Will cause a linker error, stating that 'g' is recursive and has locals of "overlay" storage class. The workaround is to use "auto" instead of "overlay" in the interrupt.

(19225 / 24343)

MPLINK Linker may generate an assertion failure on programs which contain a section of zero length. The workaround is to remove such sections from the program.

(20403)

The '/r' option of MP2HEX does not work correctly for ranges specified outside of any existing data.
For example, given the following source, 't.asm':

        LIST P=12C508
        CODE 0x100
        MOVLW 0
        MOVLW 1
        MOVLW 2
        MOVLW 3
        END

After assembly, execute 'mp2hex.exe t.o /r 0x104-0x104'. The hex file content is:

        :02 0000 04 0000FA
        :02 0206 00 030C E7
        :00 0000 01 FF

The data record shows the instruction 'MOVLW 3' at address 0x103, but 0x103 was not specified in the range.
Since no data exists at 0x104 in the COFF file, there should be no data bytes in the hex file.

(22228)

Quiet mode (/q) disables the printing of errors and warnings to standard out.

(22672)

If there is no place to allocate a zero-length section, the error message "cannot allocate section" will be emitted -- even though the section requires no memory. Always remove zero-length sections from your source code.

(22947)

The /? command-line option may give the following error message on Windows 2000:

        Error - unknown switch: /r

Use the /h option instead.

(27314)

Program memory utilization is not correct in map files generated for 18F87J10.

(28114)

The linker may disregard the section information in the last IDATA due to CONFIG syntax directives.

(22483)

MPLIB is unable to work with MPLAB C18 files compiled in the static overlay model.
For example, the source code:

        int add( int a, int b )
        {
           int c;
       
           c = a + b;
           return c;
        }

can be compiled and archived with the commands:

        mcc18 test.c -sco
        mplib -c test.lib test.o

However, attempting to list the files in the archive link the archive will result in the error:

        Error - Coff file 'test.o' could not read string table.
        Error - Could not build member 'test.o' in library file './test.lib'.

Customer Support