DevWinCE blog
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About DevWinCE blog
DevWinCE is a technical blog by Vaisakh P S that shares hands-on experiences with Windows CE (WinCE) embedded development. The featured series 'Extending Boot loader - Pitfalls & Experiences' provides a detailed walkthrough of implementing SD card access and FAT file system support in a bootloader, covering module integration from U-boot, debugging MBR reading errors, resolving NB0 image generation failures due to large array allocations, and hints at USB client upgrade implementation. The blog targets embedded systems engineers working with WinCE bootloaders and firmware update mechanisms.
Key Features
SD card block read and identification routines
MBR partition table parsing (part_dos.c)
VFAT/FAT data reading from SD card
Integration of U-boot MMC and FAT modules into E-Boot
Debugging GPIO configuration overrides in PXA270
Resolving NB0 image generation failures due to large stack arrays (MAX_CLUSTSIZE 65536)
Using RAM pointers to reduce bootloader image size
USB client firmware upgrade implementation (mentioned)
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Provides real-world debugging experience and solutions
- Covers integration of open-source U-boot components into WinCE
- Includes community interaction via U-boot mailing list
- Detailed explanation of BIN vs NB0 file format differences
- Practical workaround for limited bootloader image size (256KB)
Cons
- Content is from 2010 and may be outdated for modern Windows CE versions
- Focuses on a single platform (PXA270) and specific hardware
- No step-by-step code snippets or complete source code provided
- Limited to bootloader extension; no coverage of other WinCE topics
Best For
Extending bootloader for firmware upgrade via SD cardImplementing FAT access in embedded bootloadersDebugging memory and image size constraints in WinCE bootloadersPorting U-boot drivers to Windows CE bootloader environment