The following is a list of all lab assignments in PDF format. Some of the labs have example programs in the text; if these programs are lengthy then the corresponding text files for those programs are linked below.
Mon/Wed Lab sections -- even though the class schedule shows you meeting twice a week, use the following schedule to show when you actually have to meet (some weeks twice, some weeks only once). Even on weeks when you do not formally meet, your TA will be avaiable for questions.
T/Th Lab sections -- even though the class schedule shows you meeting twice a week, use the following schedule to show when you actually have to meet (some weeks twice, some weeks only once). Even on weeks when you do not formally meet, your TA will be avaiable for questions.
All lab reports must be submitted electronically via the Web as either a POSTSCRIPT, PDF, or Microsoft WORD (.doc) files.
Click HERE to go to the WWW page that is used to submit your lab. You MUST know your ECE login name and password to access this page. Click HERE for a FAQ about electronic submission of lab reports --- it will also tell you how to determine your ECE login/password.
A report for an assignment is due at the lab time for the next time your section meets. In some cases, you might have a holiday between between when you perform a lab, and when the next lab meets, which would mean that you would have more than one week to do the lab report. The last lab meeting is an in-lab practicum, so there is no lab report for that lab. In the case of a two week lab there is only one lab report required and this will be due at the lab meeting after the 2nd week of the 2-week lab.
Some of the labs require you to demo your finished program to the TA. This can be done during the current lab session or at the beginning of the lab session in which the report is due -- you will need to have your .asm, .lst, and .exe files ready to show the TA when he asks for a demonstration of your work.
You CANNOT use part of the lab time of the current session to complete previous lab work. If you need to demo a program to the TA for the previous lab time, you should be ready to do so at the beginning of the lab period. If the TA asks for a demo for work from the previous lab period, and you are not ready, then you get a zero for that lab work.
You are encouraged to enter the lab at any time that another lab is not in session to complete your work if you did not finish it during the normal lab time. You can also use your home PC for completing your lab work as well.
15 points will subtracted per day that a lab is submitted late. The electronic submission directory has time/date information on each file so we can verify when a lab report was submitted. After 1 week (7 days), a lab grade is automatically assigned a 0.
There can be two problems in submitting lab reports via electronic submission. The first problem is that the lab does not reach the server. After you submit your lab, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to check to see if the report reached the server (there is a link provided for this purpose). If it did not reach the server, then keep submitting until it shows up in the report of submitted labs.
The second problem is that you submit your lab report with the wrong lab number. (Submit lab #2 as Lab #3 or submit Lab #5 as Lab #4 which overwrites a previously submitted lab report). This is a USER ERROR, and we cannot prevent you from doing this. If you discover that you have done this, you must resolve this problem with the TA as SOON AS POSSIBLE. It is not acceptable to wait until the end of the semester and then complain about an incorrectly submitted lab that happened several weeks previously. If you do not resolve this with the TA promptly, expect a 0 grade on that lab.
You must earn at least a 60% average on your lab grade or you will fail the course regardless of your lecture grade. This policy is non-negotiable and is independent of the course instructor teaching your lecture session.
ALL students, regardless of major, who take an ECE course (even one that is cross listed as a CS course like ECE 3724/CS 3124) receives an ECE login account. You must know this account name in order to electronically submit your lab reports or check your graded lab reports. If this is the FIRST time that you have taken an ECE course, Ms. Katherine Brooks in the ECE main office (Simrall 216) will have an account slip that has the username/password. If Ms. Brooks does not have your slip, or you have forgotten your username/password, then you will need to see Mr. Michael Lane (1st floor, office in Computer Lab, Rm 139). It usually takes a week for new accounts to be added after the 1st class day of the semester.
We will use programs for editing, assembling/linking, and debugging 80x86 assembly language programs. The lab in Simrall 329 has PCs available for your use with all of the necessary software, but you can also do the labs on your home PC if it is running Win 95/Win98/ME/NT/2000/XP/WTH.
Any text editor that can produce ASCII files (.txt extensions from Wordpad or Notepad) can be used to edit the program files. However, you will find that you need a text editor that can display line numbers since syntax error messages will refer to line numbers. Notepad, Wordpad, Winword etc., do not display line numbers and may not be the best choice for a 'programming' editor. Visit ZDNET and search their downloads for a 'programming' editor - there are many available - some free, some shareware, some commercial products (a nice free one is called PFE for Programmer's File Editor -- see the above link). There is an editor called Programmer's Workbench (PWB) that comes with the Microsoft Macro assembler. However, it is DOS-based and you can only see about 50 lines of text at a time.
For assembling/linking/debugging chores, we will use the Microsoft MASM 6.1+ Assembler and Codview debugger.
This is what the lab has installed, and all of the examples in the Lab assignments assume this environment. There are other assembler/debuggers available as shareware/freeware. Your textbook, Assembly Language for Intel-based Computers by Kip Irvine, has MASM included as a CDROM. This is the full 6.11/6.13 distribution, and has all of the tools mentioned in the lab handouts.
Many of the labs have sample code associated with them that is used to demonstrate different software/hardware topics for the associated lab assignment. Because of the WIDE variety of PC computer platforms out there, and the mismash of different Windows operating systems (Win 95/Win98/ME/NT/2000/XP/WTH), the provided sample code may function incorrectly on your particular PC. We test the code on the PCs in the lab, and on various other PCs/Window OS varieties, but we can't cover them all.
If the provided sample code behaves strangely or incorrectly on YOUR COMPUTER, it would help if you emailed to reese@ece.msstate.edu a description your PC - especially the particular Window's operating system, what processor your PC uses, and the manufacturer. You can use the program 'msinfo32' on your PC (search for it on your system) to give a complete description of your PC. You should also email the sample code that is causing problems. You should also describe how you are invoking the program (what directory you are in, what command line arguments that you use). If you have a portable PC, the best thing would be for you to bring your PC to class and show the problem to the instructor.
If you can't get the sample code to run on your home PC, then you will have to use the PCs in the lab because the assignment will probably require you to modify the sample code in some manner.
To convert a .doc file to PDF from within MS Word, print to the 'Acrobat Distiller' printer. Occassionally, you might have MS Word crash during this process - One cause of this is the use of 'Arial Unicode MS' font in the document, which can happen if a cut and paste from a web page was placed into the .doc file. You can use the Find/Replace option in MS Word to find and replace 'fonts' of some type with another. When the find/replace menu comes up, look at the bottom, and chose the 'format' option, then chose the 'font' option. Replace 'Arial Unicode MS' with 'Times New Roman' and you should no longer have the problem.
