I already have all the Apnotes and code samples from the Z8 page for the MCU I bought... This particular apnote actually uses a external 232 chip using primary function PA0 and PA1, and includes it's own drivers. The eZ8 actually has two UARTs on board (Alternate PA4 PA5 is UART0).
I was hoping I could using the on-bard UARTs without having to resort to external 232 drivers.
However there has been a development in my UART issues... THe dev kit came with eZ8 ZDS II 2.1.0 as the dev environment. After 6 hours of tearing my hair out I finally turned on the register watch and saw that when I wrote to register U0BRH (UART 0 Baud Rate hi-byte) the data actually got stuck into U0BRL (Same, but low-byte). And when I wrote to U0BRL the data wound up in U1STAT0.
I wrote to ZiLog and got a message back acknowledging the bugs and advising I upgrade to ZDS II 4.5.1
(There's also a typo in the ez8.h inc file... To access the alternat function control registers for port A, you write 0x02 to PAADDR (Port A, Address), but this was mistyped in the include file as PADDDR, so non of the code samples that used Port A would even compile.)
I'll try again tonight when I D/L 4.5.1. If I still ahev trouble then I'll use a pair of 232 chips instead.
BTW - it was you that gave me the original recommendation for the Z8 Encore, yeah? Good call!! This chip has exactly the right level of functionlaity for my needs (if one the dev environment weren't so buggy)
One quick question - where can I buy the PCB sockets for the 64-pin LQFP chip? Or would I be better buying one fo the lower Z8 Encores with the sandard DIP package? (assming they still sell DIPs in the Z8 Encore)