Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Coding and general discussion relating to the compiler

Moderators: David Barker, Jerry Messina

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Thu May 14, 2015 7:58 pm

Please SF Team, your help would be really appreciated.

Today I compiled an SF program which has always been OK before.
I got the following errors (3 lines): Overwriting previous address contents (0000)

OK, to me that means the program has gone over limits, which it really should NOT have done. I always keep a check on the size.

Then I re-compiled previous programs, all of which were OK before, and now I get exactly the same erros on ALL of my previous working programs !!!!!

It seems that SF does not work any more. What is the problem ?

I have bought the full version of SF, so I am not using the free version.

Please, your help is urgently needed.

Best regards,
SB.

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
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Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Thu May 14, 2015 8:57 pm

That's an error from the MPASM assembler.

Try something simple... can you compile a new, empty program?

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 12:00 pm

Hi Jerry,
Thank you so much for your fast reply.

Yes, I tried compiling an empty file and exactly the same thing happens.

Have you any ideas what's going on ?

Best regards,
SB.

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 12:10 pm

Hi Jerry,

This may, or there again may not, be a lead. The only thing I did in between everything working, and suddenly not working, was to download the SF HID plugin (which I had been thinking of doing for ages). I don't see how that can affect the Assembler, but one never knows.

Best regards,
SB.

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
Posts: 1469
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Fri May 15, 2015 12:13 pm

Try this:

In the IDE select 'View | Compile and Program Options...' and on the 'Compiler' tab make sure 'Assembler *.lst file' is checked.
Recompile a blank program and open the .LST file with a text editor. Find all the error messages and post them here.

What OS are you using, and have you installed any new programs or Windows updates since it last worked? The only thing that's changed was the SF HID plugin?

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 12:26 pm

Hi Jerry,

Yes, the Assembly List File option is checked. I tried posting the empty list file and got this message "The extension lst is not allowed".

The only thing that has changed to my knowledge is the HID plugin. I have not updated anything else in SF.

I am using Windows 7 OS. Updates are happening all of the time there. Even when I turn off automatic updates somehow it gets switched back on again sometimes.

Best regards,
SB.

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 12:34 pm

I also tried posting the BAS file and got the message "The extension bas is not allowed".

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
Posts: 1469
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Fri May 15, 2015 12:41 pm

I didn't mean to post the whole lst file... just the error messages in it.

If you google "mpasm Overwriting previous address contents" you'll find a number of people complaining about this. Sometimes it's caused by the actual asm code, but for some folks it's just magically appeared when they try assembling a program for the PIC18.

It's not just SF that's affected... some system file(s) have changed that seems to upset MPASM. I don't see a cure either. For most people it seems reinstalling the program doesn't help. Do you have a System Restore point from before that you could try?

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
Posts: 1469
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Fri May 15, 2015 12:44 pm

I also tried posting the BAS file and got the message "The extension bas is not allowed".
You can always zip the file(s). The forum allows .zip attachments as long as they're not too big.

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
Posts: 1469
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Fri May 15, 2015 2:29 pm

One other thing you could try is to change the Compatibility Mode setting for MPASMWIN.exe

In Explorer, right click on <your swordfish install dir>/bin/MPASMWIN.exe, select 'Properties' and 'Compatibility' tab.

Try different modes and see if that helps. It seems to cure problems for some, but I don't know about this particular issue.

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 3:27 pm

Hi Jerry,

I have two list files I want you to look at. One of them is the empty program and the other is my program. These files are very short because I have taken out only the relevant bits. They both crash in MPASM at exactly the same place. I am sure you will be able to make something out of this.

The bits I have sawn out are two small .txt files. I tried to send them to you but the SF Forum SW said "The extension txt is not allowed".

How can I send you these files ? .lst, .bas, .txt are all not allowed.

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 3:30 pm

Hi Jerry,

Another thing. I have recently been using Visual Studio 2013 to develop HID USB PC apps, and XAMARIN to develop mobile apps. Is there any possibility that the MPASM setup has got changed in any way by these IDE's ?

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Fri May 15, 2015 3:37 pm

Hi Jerry,

The bits I wanted to send you are these. I shall post them directly in this script instead.

First my program. This is the END bit of the program.

0031C6 08614 ?I001253_END; L#MK
0031C6 08615 SBGLB2
0031C6 0003 08616 SLEEP
0031C8 0000 08617 NOP;[BRA#] SBGLB2
08 1A 0E 81 81 0F C0 008618 CONFIG OSC = INTIO67
F E0 0F 40
08619 CONFIG FCMEN = OFF
08620 CONFIG IESO = OFF
08621 CONFIG PWRT = ON
08622 CONFIG BOREN = ON
08623 CONFIG WDT = OFF
08624 CONFIG WDTPS = 128
08625 CONFIG PBADEN = OFF
08626 CONFIG MCLRE = ON
08627 CONFIG STVREN = ON
08628 CONFIG LVP = OFF
08629 CONFIG XINST = OFF
08630 CONFIG DEBUG = OFF
08631 LIST
0031CA 08632 SB#ASMEND
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0000)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0001)
Error[154] : Each object file section must be contiguous (section .config_000000_ASL.O)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0000)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0001)
08633 END

And this is the Empty Program bit:-

00000019 00964 M0_U08 EQU 25
000000 00965 ORG 0X00
000000 EF04 F000 00966 GOTO SBCDSTD
000008 00967 ORG 0X08
000008 00968 SBCDSTD
000008 8C18 00969 BSF 24,6,0
00970 LIST
00000A 00971 ?I000000_F000_000018_M000000 ; L#MK A = 1
00000A 0E01 00972 MOVLW 1
00000C 6E19 00973 MOVWF M0_U08,0
00000E 00974 ?I000001_END; L#MK
00000E 00975 SBGLB2
00000E 0003 00976 SLEEP
000010 0000 00977 NOP;[BRA#] SBGLB2
02 1A 0E 81 81 0F C0 000978 CONFIG OSC = HS
F E0 0F 40
00979 CONFIG FCMEN = OFF
00980 CONFIG IESO = OFF
00981 CONFIG PWRT = ON
00982 CONFIG BOREN = ON
00983 CONFIG WDT = OFF
00984 CONFIG WDTPS = 128
00985 CONFIG PBADEN = OFF
00986 CONFIG STVREN = ON
00987 CONFIG LVP = OFF
00988 CONFIG XINST = OFF
00989 CONFIG DEBUG = OFF
00990 LIST
000012 00991 SB#ASMEND
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0000)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0001)
Error[154] : Each object file section must be contiguous (section .config_000000_ASL.O)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0000)
Error[118] : Overwriting previous address contents (0001)
00992 END

They both die when the Configuration bits are processed and in particular DEBUG.

I can't see that an object file has been produced after the Assembler.

Does this help ?

Jerry Messina
Swordfish Developer
Posts: 1469
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Jerry Messina » Fri May 15, 2015 6:47 pm

If you want to post an attachment post it as a zip file.

Those errors look like what I've seen other people complaining about. It's possible/likely that when you installed Visual Studio 2013 or XAMARIN it changed one of the system files and that's what broke MPASM.

I haven't seen any real fixes. The only thing that has seemed to work is the nuclear option of reinstalling everything, OS and all, minus the offending program. Any way you can roll back to when things used to work? Did you try changing the Compatibility Mode?

I'm not sure if David could be of any help here, or if anybody else has any suggestions?

Sean Banan
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Re: Stupid Compiler problem - eveything has stopped working

Post by Sean Banan » Sat May 16, 2015 4:07 pm

Hi Jerry,

I shall try the compatibility mode as you suggested and report back later.

I am now convinced that it is Visual Studio 2013 or Xamarin which has changed the system setup and killed MPASM. The question is how I fix this. Right now SF is far more important to me.

If there are any other guru's out there that can help I would really appreciate it.

For now it seems that I must get out my old XP computer, blow the dust off, and continue devolopment on that until the MPASM issue gets resolved. Happy days.

Any help would be nice.

Kindest regards to the SF community.
SB

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