Ok so now I have a nice application on the ez430-F2013. Is there an easy way to pump data back throught that nicely provided USB port via either printf or some other stream so I can log the data it produces?
Chris
The USB they provided is connected only to the JTAG Spy-Bi-Wire (i.e., the RST pin and TEST pin) of the F2013 chip. You can use use the debugger to veiw/modify memory and registers after a break-point or between singe-stepping. But you cannot do normal I/O to that USB.
printf is probably the first thing one leared in C. In my opionion, it should be the last thing one uses in programming a microcontroller.
What you can (and should; this is highly useful to be familiar with when working with MCUs) is to get a RS232C line driver/interface IC. The <A HREF="http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm … >MAX232</A> family from Maxim is very popular and easy to use; just make sure you pick one of the low-voltage ones so you can drive both the MSP430 and the MAX232 from the same voltage source.
Nano-howto: connect the MAX232 transmit and receive pins to two available pins on the MCU; connect its power and ground pins; finally, connect its RxD and TxD pins to the proper pins on a serial cable that you then hook up to your PC.
Another alternative (much more complicated) is to get a USB interface chip. FTDI's](http://www.ftdichip.com/">FTDI</A>'s) are very popular, though you may also want to consider TI’s own TUSB3410VF; TI provides an <A HREF="http://focus.ti.com/analog/docs/techdoc … a with schematics, code and Gerbers and whatnot.
The only drawback with the USB solution is that you’ll need to make a PCB; the MAX232 solution can be done on a breadboard. (Bonus recommendation: get some MSP430s in DIP packages and either make a converter from the Mill-Max header on the ez430 to standard .100 pins, or just remove the Mill-Max header from the ez430 and solder some thin, short wires there instead.)