MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler

Version 2.50 Release Notes

for AVR® MCU

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

RELATING TO THE MPLAB XC8 C COMPILER WHEN TARGETING MICROCHIP AVR DEVICES.
PLEASE READ IT BEFORE RUNNING THIS SOFTWARE.

SEE THE
MPLAB XC8 C COMPILER RELEASE NOTES FOR PIC DOCUMENT
IF YOU ARE USING THE COMPILER FOR 8-BIT PIC DEVICES.

Overview
Documentation Updates
What’s New
Migration Issues
Fixed Issues
Known Issues
Microchip Errata

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 1

 1. Overview
1.1. Introduction
This release of the Microchip MPLAB® XC8 C compiler is a minor update that contains several
new features, bug xes, and new device support.

1.2. Build Date

The of cial build date of this compiler version is the 26 July 2024.

1.3. Previous Version

The previous MPLAB XC8 C compiler version was 2.49, a functional safety compiler, built on
23 January 2024. The previous standard compiler was version 2.46, built on 5 January 2024.

1.4. Functional Safety Manual

A Functional Safety Manual for the MPLAB XC compilers is available in the documentation
package when you purchase a functional safety license.

1.5. Component Licenses and Versions

The MPLAB XC8 C Compiler for AVR MCUs tools are written and distributed under the GNU
General Public License (GPL) which means that its source code is freely distributed and avail-
able to the public.
The source code for tools under the GNU GPL may be downloaded separately from Microchip's
website. You may read the GNU GPL in the le named license.txt located the avr/doc sub-
directory of your install directory. A general discussion of principles underlying the GPL may be
found here.
Support code provided for the header les, linker scripts, and runtime libraries are proprietary
code and not covered under the GPL.
This compiler is an implementation of GCC version 5.4.0, binutils version 2.26, and uses avr-
libc version 2.0.0.

1.6. System Requirements

The MPLAB XC8 C compiler and the licensing software it utilizes are available for a variety of
operating systems, including 64-bit versions of the following: Professional editions of Mi-
crosoft® Windows® 10 and 11, Ubuntu® 20.04, macOS® 13.2 (Ventura) and 12.5 (Monterey),
and Fedora 34. Binaries for Windows have been code-signed. Binaries for macOS have been
code-signed and notarized.
The MPLAB XC Network License Server is available for a variety of 64-bit operating systems,
including Microsoft Windows 10 and above; Ubuntu 20.04 and above; or macOS® 13.2 (Ventu-
ra) and above. The server may also run on various other operating systems including Windows
Server, Linux distributions, such as Oracle® Enterprise Linux® and Red Hat® Enterprise Linux
as well as older versions of supported operating systems. However, the MPLAB XC Network
License Server is not tested on these operating systems. The MPLAB XC Network License

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 Server can be run on Virtual Machines of the supported OS using a virtual machine license for
network licenses (SW006021-VM). All 32-bit versions of the MPLAB XC Network Server are
discontinued starting from version 3.00.

1.7. Devices Supported

This compiler supports all available 8-bit AVR MCU devices at the time of release. See
avr_chipinfo.html (in the compiler's doc directory) for a list of all supported devices. These
les also list con guration bit settings for each device.

1.8. Editions and License Upgrades

The MPLAB XC8 compiler can be activated as a licensed (PRO) or unlicensed (Free) product.
You need to purchase an activation key to license your compiler. A license allows for a higher
level of optimization compared to the Free product. An unlicensed compiler can be operated in-
de nitely without a license.
An MPLAB XC8 Functional Safety compiler must be activated with a functional safety license
purchased from Microchip. The compiler will not operate without this license. Once activated,
you can select any optimization level and use all the compiler features. This release of the
MPLAB XC Functional Safety Compiler supports the Network Server License.
See the Installing and Licensing MPLAB XC C Compilers (DS50002059) document for informa-
tion on license types and installation of the compiler with a license.

1.9. Installation and Activation

See also the Migration Issues and Limitations sections for important information about the latest
license manager included with this compiler.
If using MPLAB IDE, be sure to install the latest MPLAB X IDE version 5.0 or later before in-
stalling this tool. Quit the IDE before installing the compiler. Run the .exe (Windows), .run
(Linux) or .app (macOS) compiler installer application, e.g. XC8-1.00.11403-windows.exe
and follow the directions on the screen. The default installation directory is recommended. If you
are using Linux, you must install the compiler using a terminal and from a root account. Install
using a macOS account with administrator privileges.
Activation is now carried out separately to installation. See the document License Manager for
MPLAB® XC C Compilers (DS52059) for more information.
If you choose to run the compiler under the evaluation license, you will now get a warning dur-
ing compilation when you are within 14 days of the end of your evaluation period. The same
warning is issued if you are within 14 days of the end of your HPA subscription.
The XC Network License Server is a separate installer and is not included in the single-user
compiler installer.
The XC License Manager now supports roaming of oating network licenses. Aimed at mobile
users, this feature allows a oating license to go off network for a short period of time. Using this
feature, you can disconnect from the network and still use your MPLAB XC compiler. See the
doc folder of the XCLM install for more on this feature.
MPLAB X IDE includes a Licenses window (Tools > Licenses) to visually manage roaming.
1.9.1. Resolving Installation Issues

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If you experience dif culties installing the compiler under any of the Windows operating sys-
tems, try the following suggestions.
• Run the install as an administrator.
• Set the permissions of the installer application to 'Full control'. (Right-click the le, select
Properties, Security tab, select user, edit.)
• Set permissions of the temp folder to ‘Full Control’.
To determine the location of the temp folder, type %temp% into the Run command (Windows
logo key + R). This will open a le explorer dialog showing that directory and will allow you to
determine the path of that folder.
1.10. Compiler Documentation
The compiler's user's guides can be opened from the HTML page that opens
in your browser when clicking the blue help button in MPLAB X IDE dash-
board, as indicated in the screenshot.
If you are building for 8-bit AVR targets, the MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler
User's Guide for AVR® MCU contains information on those compiler op-
tions and features that are applicable to this architecture.

1.11. Customer Support

You can ask questions of other users of this product in the XC8 Forum.
Microchip welcomes bug reports, suggestions or comments regarding this compiler version.
Please direct any bug reports or feature requests via the Support System.

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2. Documentation Updates
For on-line and up-to-date versions of MPLAB XC8 documentation, please visit Microchip's On-
line Technical Documentation website.
New or updated AVR documentation in this release:
• None
The AVR® GNU Toolchain to MPLAB® XC8 Migration Guide describes the changes to source
code and build options that might be required should you decide to migrate a C-based project
from the AVR 8-bit GNU Toolchain to the Microchip MPLAB XC8 C Compiler.
The Microchip Uni ed Standard Library Reference Guide describes the behavior of and interface
to the functions de ned by the Microchip Uni ed Standard Library, as well as the intended use
of the library types and macros. Some of this information was formerly contained in the
MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler User’s Guide for AVR® MCU. Device-speci c library information is
still contained in this compiler guide.
If you are just starting out with 8-bit devices and the MPLAB XC8 C Compiler, the MPLAB®
XC8 User’s Guide for Embedded Engineers - AVR® MCUs (DS50003108) has information on
setting up projects in the MPLAB X IDE and writing code for your rst MPLAB XC8 C project.
This guide is now distributed with the compiler.
The Hexmate User's Guide is intended for those running Hexmate as a stand-alone application.
The following sections provide corrections and additional information to that found in the user's
guides shipped with the compiler.

2.1. Inline-functions Option

The -finline-functions option requests that all functions be considered for inlining, even if
they are not declared inline. The compiler heuristically decides which functions are worth inte-
grating in this way.
If all calls to a function are integrated and that function is declared static, the function is nor-
mally not output as assembler code in its own right.
This option is automatically enabled when the optimization level is set to 3 or s.

2.2. No-data-init Option

The -mno-data-init option disables runtime startup data initialization, preventing uninitialized
objects from being cleared and initialized objects from being assigned their initial value. Use this
compiler option in preference to the -Wl,--no-data-init linker option, as the compiler will
omit several symbols if it knows that data initializations is not required. This might reduce the
size of the generated code.
Use this option with caution, as any code that relies on objects being cleared or containing their
initial value at startup might fail.

2.3. W: Enable/disable warning Option

The -Wmsg option enables warning and advisory messages. The msg argument is the name of a
message issued by the compiler. The special message argument all indicates that all messages

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should be enabled. This option has precedence over the -w option, which disables all warning
messages, so it can be used to re-enable selected messages when -w has been used.
The -Wno-msg form of the option disables the indicated message. Where the msg argument cor-
responds to a warning or advisory message, this message will never be issued by the compiler or
assembler. If it corresponds to an error or is not recognized, the compiler will indicate via an er-
ror that this operation is not permitted.
The name of the message is printed in compiler warnings. For example, the following is an ex-
ample of a return-type warning.
main.c:12:1: warning: control reaches end of non-void function [-Wreturn-type]
In the case where -Wno-msg has been issued and msg is a number that corresponds to a warning
that has been promoted to an error through the -Werror option, then that message will not be
issued by the compiler, nor will any error corresponding to that message.

2.4. Keep Attribute

The keep attribute can be used with variables and functions to ensure that they are not removed
from the output, even if they have not been referenced in the program.
While the used attribute ensures that unused symbols are output to the object module, those
symbols might still be removed by the linker's garbage collection if their sections have not been
used. The keep attribute ensures that the symbol will be present in the nal output without hav-
ing to disable garbage collection or pass the linker an unde ned symbol reference.

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3. What's New
The following are new AVR-target features the compiler now supports. The version number in
the subheadings indicates the rst compiler version to support the features that follow.

3.1. Version 2.50

New Device Support Support is now available for the following AVR devices: AVR16DU14,
AVR16DU20, AVR16DU28, AVR16DU32, AVR32DU14, AVR32DU20, AVR32DU28,
AVR32DU32, AVR64DU28 and AVR64DU32.
Shipped DFPs The following are the AVR-speci c DFP versions that ship with the compiler:
ATautomotive_DFP v3.1.73, ATmega_DFP v3.0.158, ATtiny_DFP v3.0.151, AVR-
Dx_DFP v2.5.294, AVR-Ex_DFP v2.9.197, XMEGAA_DFP v2.2.54, XMEGAB_DFP
v2.3.149, XMEGAC_DFP v2.2.40, XMEGAD_DFP v2.3.50, and XMEGAE_DFP
v2.2.47
DIVA module support (XC8-3321) For AVR devices that implement a 32-bit Divide Accelera-
tor (DIVA) module, which can perform 32-bit signed or unsigned integer hardware divi-
sions and 32-bit shifts and rotates in hardware, the compiler can employ routines which set
up, initiate, and obtain results from this module. The DIVA feature is automatically enabled
when available, so that C division, shift and modulo expressions will invoke the DIVA rou-
tines. The -mdiva driver option makes this action explicit. The -mno-diva option can be
used to disable this feature, having these operations instead performed by conventional li-
brary routines that will be larger and slower than the DIVA routines.
Disable warnings (XC8-3308) A new xc8-cc driver option can be used to enable and disable
warning and advisory messages. The -Wno-msg form of the option disables the message.
The -Wmsg form of the option enables the indicated message. The special message argu-
ment all indicates that all messages should be enabled or disabled. See the Documentation
Updates section for more information.
Keep attribute (XC8-2648) The compiler now implements a keep attribute that can be used
with variables and functions to ensure that they are not removed from the output, even if
they have not been referenced in the program.

3.2. Version 2.49 (Functional Safety Release)

Disabled dongle (XC8-3312) To improve compile times, the functional safety compiler installer
instructs the installed license manager to omit the check for a dongle license. Dongle li-
censes are not available with functional safety compilers, so this does not impact on the
compiler's usability.

3.3. Version 2.46

New Device Support Support is now available for the following AVR devices:
None.
Shipped DFPs The following are the AVR-speci c DFP versions that ship with the compiler:
ATautomotive_DFP v3.1.73, ATmega_DFP v3.0.158, ATtiny_DFP v3.0.151, AVR-
Dx_DFP v2.3.272, AVR-Ex_DFP v2.8.189, XMEGAA_DFP v2.2.54, XMEGAB_DFP

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 v2.3.149, XMEGAC_DFP v2.2.40, XMEGAD_DFP v2.3.50, and XMEGAE_DFP
v2.2.47.
Dongle license option (XC8-3281) The compiler installer now provides an option to control
whether checks are made for a USB dongle when the compiler operates. When not using a
dongle license, ensure the dongle license option is disabled when installing the compiler, as
this might improve compile times.
MISRA-compliant headers (XC8-3279) To ensure that the compiler can conform to language
speci cations such as MISRA, the headers of the non-functional safety compiler have been
updated to ensure that the <builtins.h> header le is automatically included by <xc.h>,
that builtin_avr_flash_segments is de ned only on architectures that support __memx
(that is, all architectures except avrtiny), and that declarations of the builtins are provided
in avr-libc.
XCLM Upgrade (XC8-3259) The XCLM license manager has been upgraded to version 3.20.
Memory con guration based on fuse settings (XC8-3240) The toolchain is now aware of cer-
tain fuse settings speci ed in source code and automatically con gures the available device
memory ( ash regions and RAM) based on these fuse values. The -mfuse-action option
controls this action.

3.4. Version 2.45

Universal license manager (XC8-3175, XCLM-224) The macOS version of the license manag-
er used with the compiler is now universal, offering native support for both Intel- and M1-
based machines. The Linux version of the license manager now requires at least version
2.25 of glibc.
Mac universal binaries (XC8-3168, XC8-2951) The compiler binary les for macOS are now
universal, offering native support for both Intel- and M1-based machines.
Reduced oating-point library sizes (XC8-3112, XC8-3071) Improvements have been made to
oating-point library functions, including sinf(), cosf(), tanf(), pow(), sqrt(),
expf(), log1fp(), and nextafterf(), which see a reduction in code size for these rou-
tines.
New device support Support is now available for the following AVR parts: AVR16EA28,
AVR16EA32, AVR16EA48, AVR32EA28, AVR32EA32, AVR32EA48, AVR16EB14,
AVR16EB20, AVR16EB28, and AVR16EB32.

3.5. Version 2.41

Bootrow support (XC8-3053) The compiler will place the content of any sections with
a .bootrow pre x at address 0x860000 in the HEX le. These sections are used for
BOOTROW memory, which is designed for the storage of keys and other secure informa-
tion that should only be accessible to a bootloader.
Redundant return elimination (XC8-3048) The compiler will now eliminate redundant ret
instructions in functions with a tail jump when custom linker scripts are used. This is a
similar optimization to that performed previously, but it is now performed on all orphaned
sections, even if a custom linker script is used and the best t allocation scheme is not in
play.

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 Time type change (XC8-2982, 2932) The C99 standard library type, time_t has been changed
from a long long to an unsigned long type, which gives code-size improvements in
some time-related functions, such as mktime().
New nop (XC8-2946, 2945) The macro NOP() has been added to <xc.h>. This macro inserts a
nop no-operation instruction into the output.
Update to XCLM (XC8-2944) The license manager used with the compiler has been updated
and is now more responsive when checking the compiler's license details.
Trampolined calls (XC8-2760) The compiler can now perform replacement of long-form call
instructions with shorter relative calls when the relative forms of the instructions would
normally be out of range of their destination. In this situation, the compiler will attempt to
replace call with rcall instructions to a jmp instruction that will 'trampoline' execution
to the required address. In the below example, there are two calls to foo() that end up re-
laxed to relative calls.

rcall tramp_foo ;was call foo

...
rcall tramp_foo
...
tramp_foo:
jmp foo
This optimization, along with similar program flow optimizations, is controlled by the
-mrelax option.

3.6. Version 2.40

New device support Support is now available for the following AVR parts: AT90PWM3,
AVR16DD14, AVR16DD20, AVR16DD28, AVR16DD32, AVR32DD14, AVR32DD20,
AVR32DD28, AVR32DD32, AVR64EA28, AVR64EA32, and AVR64EA48.
Improved procedural abstraction The procedural abstraction (PA) optimization tool has been
improved so that code containing a function call instruction (call/rcall) can be outlined.
This will only take place if the stack is not used to pass arguments to nor obtain return val-
ue from the function. The stack is used when calling a function with a variable argument
list or when calling a function that takes more arguments than there are registers designated
for this purpose. This feature can be disabled using the -mno-pa-outline-calls option,
or procedural abstraction can be disabled entirely for an object le or function by using the
-mno-pa-on-file and -mno-pa-on-function, respectively, or by using the nopa at-
tribute (__nopa speci er) selectively with functions.
Code coverage macro The compiler now de nes the macro __CODECOV if a valid -mcodecov
option is speci ed.
Memory reservation option The xc8-cc driver will now accept the
-mreserve=space@start:end option when building for AVR targets. This option re-
serves the speci ed memory range in the either the data or program memory space, pre-
venting the linker from populating code or objects in this area.
Smarter smart IO Several improvements have been made to the Smart IO functions, including
general tweaks to the printf core code, treating the %n conversion speci er as an indepen-

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 dent variant, linking in vararg pop routines on demand, using shorter data types where pos-
sible for handling IO function arguments, and factoring common code in eld width and
precision handling. This can result in signi cant code and data savings, as well as increase
the execution speed of IO.

3.7. Version 2.39 (Functional Safety Release)

Network Server License This release of the MPLAB XC8 Functional Safety Compiler supports
the Network Server License.

3.8. Version 2.36

None.

3.9. Version 2.35

New device support Support is available for the following AVR parts: ATTINY3224, AT-
TINY3226, ATTINY3227, AVR64DD14, AVR64DD20, AVR64DD28, and AVR64DD32.
Improved context switching The new -mcall-isr-prologues option changes how interrupt
functions save registers on entry and how those registers are restored when the interrupt
routine terminates. It works in a similar way to the -mcall-prologues option, but only
affects interrupt functions (ISRs).
Even more improved context switching The new -mgas-isr-prologues option controls the
context switch code generated for small interrupt service routines. When enabled, this fea-
ture will have the assembler scan the ISR for register usage and only save these used regis-
ters if required.
Con gurable ash mapping Some devices in the AVR DA and AVR DB family have an SFR
(e.g. FLMAP) that speci es which 32k section of program memory will be mapped into
the data memory. The new -mconst-data-in-config-mapped-progmem option can be
used to have the linker place all const-quali ed data in one 32k section and automatically
initialize the relevant SFR register to ensure that this data is mapped into the data memory
space, where it will be accessed more effectively.
Microchip Uni ed Standard Libraries All MPLAB XC compilers will share a Microchip Uni-
ed Standard Library, which is now available with this release of MPLAB XC8. The
MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler User’s Guide for AVR® MCU no longer includes the documen-
tation for these standard functions. This information can now be found in the Microchip
Uni ed Standard Library Reference Guide. Note that some functionality previously de ned
by avr-libc is no longer available. (See Library functionality.)
Smart IO As part of the new uni ed libraries, IO functions in the printf and scanf families are
now custom-generated on each build, based on how these functions are used in the pro-
gram. This can substantially reduce the resources used by a program.
Smart IO assistance option When analyzing calls to smart IO functions (such as printf() or
scanf()), the compiler cannot always determine from the format string or infer from the
arguments those conversion speci ers required by the call. Previously, the compiler would
always make no assumptions and ensure that fully functional IO functions were linked into
the nal program image. A new -msmart-io-format=fmt option has been added so that

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 the compiler can instead be informed by the user of the conversion speci ers used by smart
IO functions whose usage is ambiguous, preventing excessively long IO routines from be-
ing linked. (See smart-io-format Option for more details.)
Placing custom sections Previously, the -Wl,--section-start option only placed the speci-
ed section at the requested address when the linker script de ned an output section with
the same name. When that was not the case, the section was placed at an address chosen by
the linker and the option was essentially ignored. Now the option will be honoured for all
custom sections, even if the linker script does not de ne the section. Note, however, that
for standard sections, such .text, .bss or .data, the best t allocator will still have com-
plete control over their placement, and the option will have no effect. Use the -Wl,-Tsec-
tion=addr option, as described in the user's guide.

3.10. Version 2.32

Stack Guidance Available with a PRO compiler license, the compiler's stack guidance feature
can be used to estimate the maximum depth of any stack used by a program. It constructs
and analyzes the call graph of a program, determines the stack usage of each function, and
produces a report, from which the depth of stacks used by the program can be inferred.
This feature is enabled through the -mchp-stack-usage command-line option. A summa-
ry of stack usage is printed after execution. A detailed stack report is available in the map
le, which can be requested in the usual way.
New device support Support is available for the following AVR parts: ATTINY427, AT-
TINY424, ATTINY426, ATTINY827, ATTINY824, ATTINY826, AVR32DB32,
AVR64DB48, AVR64DB64, AVR64DB28, AVR32DB28, AVR64DB32, and AVR32DB48.
Retracted device support Support is no longer available for the following AVR parts: AVR16-
DA28, AVR16DA32 and, AVR16DA48.

3.11. Version 2.31

None.

3.12. Version 2.30

New option to prevent data initialisation A new -mno-data-init driver option prevents the
initialisation of data and the clearing of bss sections. It works by suppressing the output of
the do_copy_data and do_clear_bss symbols in assembly les, which will in turn pre-
vent the inclusion of those routines by the linker.
Enhanced optimizations A number of optimization improvements have been made, including
the removal of redundant return instructions, the removal of some jumps following a skip-
if-bit-is instruction, and improved procedural abstraction and the ability to iterate this
process.
Additional options are now available to control some of these optimizations, speci cally -
fsection-anchors, which allows access of static objects to be performed relative to
one symbol; -mpa-iterations=n, which allows the number of procedural abstraction it-
erations to be changed from the default of 2; and, -mpa-callcost-shortcall, which
performs more aggressive procedural abstraction, in the hope that the linker can relax long
calls. This last option can increase code size if the underlying assumptions are not realized.

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 New device support Support is available for the following AVR parts: AVR16DA28, AVR16-
DA32, AVR16DA48, AVR32DA28, AVR32DA32, AVR32DA48, AVR64DA28, AVR64-
DA32, AVR64DA48, AVR64DA64, AVR128DB28, AVR128DB32, AVR128DB48, and
AVR128DB64.
Retracted device Support Support is no longer available for the following AVR parts:
ATA5272, ATA5790, ATA5790N, ATA5791, ATA5795, ATA6285, ATA6286, ATA6612C,
ATA6613C, ATA6614Q, ATA6616C, ATA6617C, and ATA664251.

3.13. Version 2.29 (Functional Safety Release)

Header le for compiler built-ins To ensure that the compiler can conform to language speci -
cations such as MISRA, the <builtins.h> header le, which is automatically included by
<xc.h>, has been updated. This header contains the prototypes for all in-built functions,
such as __builtin_avr_nop() and __builtin_avr_delay_cycles(). Some built-ins
may not be MISRA compliant; these can be omitted by adding the de ne __XC_STRIC-
T_MISRA to the compiler command line. The built-ins and their declarations have been up-
dated to use xed-width types.

3.14. Version 2.20

New device support Support is available for the following AVR parts: ATTINY1624, AT-
TINY1626, and ATTINY1627.
Better best t allocation The best t allocator (BFA) in the compiler has been improved so that
sections are allocated in an order permitting better optimization. The BFA now supports
named address spaces and better handles data initialization.
Improved procedural abstraction The procedural abstraction optimizations are now performed
on more code sequences. Previous situations where this optimization might have increased
code size have been addressed by making the optimization code aware of the linker's
garbage collection process.
Absence of AVR Assembler The AVR Assembler is no longer included with this distribution.

3.15. Version 2.19 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

3.16. Version 2.10

Code Coverage This release includes a code coverage feature that facilitates analyzis of the ex-
tent to which a project’s source code has been executed. Use the option -mcodecov=ram to
enable it. After execution of the program on your hardware, code coverage information will
be collated in the device, and this can be transferred to and displayed by the MPLAB X
IDE via a code coverage plugin. See the IDE documentation for information on this plugin
can be obtained.
The #pragma nocodecov may be used to exclude subsequent functions from the coverage
analyzis. Ideally the pragma should be added at the beginning of the le to exclude that
entire le from the coverage analyzis. Alternatively, the __attribute__((nocodecov))
may be used to exclude a speci c function from the coverage analyzis.

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 Device description les A new device le called avr_chipinfo.html is located in the docs
directory of the compiler distribution. This le lists all devices supported by the compiler.
Click on a device name, and it will open a page showing all the allowable con guration bit
setting/value pairs for that device, with examples.
Procedural abstraction Procedural abstraction optimizations, which replace common blocks of
assembly code with calls to an extracted copy of that block, have been added to the com-
piler. These are performed by a seperate application, which is automatically invoked by the
compiler when selecting level 2, 3 or s optimizations. These optimizations reduce code
size, but they may reduce execution speed and code debugability.
Procedural abstraction can be disabled at higher optimization levels using the option -mno-
pa, or can be enabled at lower optimization levels (subject to your license) by using -mpa.
It can be disabled for an object le using -mno-pa-on-file=filename, or disabled for a
function by using -mno-pa-on-function=function.
Inside your source code, procedural abstraction can be disabled for a function by using
__attribute__((nopa)) with the function's de nition, or by using __nopa, which ex-
pands to __attribute__((nopa,noinline)) and thus prevents function inlining from
taking place and there being abstraction of inlined code.
Lock bit support in pragma The #pragma config can now be used to specify the AVR lock
bits as well as the other con guration bits. Check the avr_chipinfo.html le (mentioned
above) for the setting/value pairs to use with this pragma.
New device support Support is available for the following parts: AVR28DA128, AVR64DA128,
AVR32DA128, and AVR48DA128.

3.17. Version 2.05

More bits for your buck The macOS version of this compiler and license manager is now a 64-
bit application. This will ensure that the compiler will install and run without warnings on
recent versions of macOS.
Const objects in program memory The compiler can now place const-quali ed objects in the
program Flash memory, rather than having these located in RAM. The compiler has been
modi ed so that const-quali ed global data is stored in program ash memory and this
data can be directly and indirectly accessed using the appropriate program-memory instruc-
tions. This new feature is enabled by default but can be disabled using the -mno-const-
data-in-progmem option. For avrxmega3 and avrtiny architectures, this feature is not re-
quired and is always disabled, since program memory is mapped into the data address
space for these devices.
Standard for free Unlicensed (Free) versions of this compiler now allow optimizations up to
and including level 2. This will permit a similar, although not identical, output to what was
previously possible using a Standard license.
Welcome AVRASM2 The AVRASM2 assembler for 8-bit devices is now included in the XC8
compiler installer. This assembler is not used by the XC8 compiler, but is available for
projects based on hand-written assembly source.
New device support Support is available for the following parts: ATMEGA1608, AT-
MEGA1609, ATMEGA808, and ATMEGA809.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 13

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3.18. Version 2.00
Top-level Driver A new driver, called xc8-cc, now sits above the previous avr-gcc driver and
the xc8 driver, and it can call the appropriate compiler based on the selection of the target
device. This driver accepts GCC-style options, which are either translated for or passed
through to the compiler being executed. This driver allows a similar set of options with
similar semantics to be used with any AVR or PIC target and is thus the recommended way
to invoke the compiler. If required, the old avr-gcc driver can be called directly using the
old-style options it accepted in earlier compiler versions.
Common C Interface This compiler can now conform to the MPLAB Common C Interface,
allowing source code to be more easily ported across all MPLAB XC compilers. The
-mext=cci option requests this feature, enabling alternate syntax for many language ex-
tensions.
New librarian driver A new librarian driver is positioned above the previous PIC libr librarian
and the AVR avr-ar librarian. This driver accepts GCC-archiver-style options, which are
either translated for or passed through to the librarian being executed. The new driver al-
lows a similar set of options with similar semantics to be used to create or manipulate any
PIC or AVR library le and is thus the recommended way to invoke the librarian. If re-
quired for legacy projects, the previous librarian can be called directly using the old-style
options it accepted in earlier compiler versions.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 14

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 4. Migration Issues
The following are features that are now handled differently by the compiler. These changes may
require modi cation to your source code if porting code to this compiler version. The version
number in the subheadings indicates the rst compiler version to support the changes that follow.

4.1. Version 2.50

None.

4.2. Version 2.49 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

4.3. Version 2.46

None.

4.4. Version 2.45

None.

4.5. Version 2.41

Inaccurate fma functions removed (XC8-2913) The C99 standard library fma()-family func-
tions (<math.h>) did not compute a multiply-add with in nite precision to a single round-
ing, but instead accumulated rounding errors with each operation. These functions have
been removed from the supplied library.

4.6. Version 2.40

None.

4.7. Version 2.39 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

4.8. Version 2.36

None.

4.9. Version 2.35

Handling of string-to bases (XC8-2420) To ensure consistency with other XC compilers, the
XC8 string-to functions, like strtol() etc., will no longer attempt to convert an input
string if the base speci ed is larger than 36 and will instead set errno to EINVAL. The C
standard does not specify the behaviour of the functions when this base value is exceeded.
Inappropriate speed optimizations Procedural abstraction optimizations were being enabled
when selecting level 3 optimizations (-O3). These optimizations reduce code size at the
expense of code speed, so should not have been performed. Projects using this optimization
level might see differences in code size and execution speed when built with this release.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 15

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 Library functionality The code for many of the standard C library functions now come from
Microchip's Uni ed Standard Library, which might exhibit different behaviour in some cir-
cumstances compared to that provided by the former avr-libc library. For example, it is no
longer necessary to link in the lprintf_ t library (-lprintf_flt option) to turn on format-
ted IO support for oat-format speci ers. The smart IO features of the Microchip Uni ed
Standard Library makes this option redundant. Additionally, the use of _P suf xed routines
for string and memory functions (e.g. strcpy_P() etc..) that operate on const strings in
ash are no longer necessary. The standard C routines (e.g. strcpy()) will work correctly
with such data when the const-data-in-program-memory feature is enabled.

4.10. Version 2.32

None.

4.11. Version 2.31

None.

4.12. Version 2.30

None.

4.1. Version 2.29 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

4.2. Version 2.20

Changed DFP layout The compiler now assumes a different layout used by DFPs (Device Fam-
ily Packs). This will mean that an older DFP might no work with this release, and older
compilers will not be able to use the latest DFPs.

4.3. Version 2.19 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

4.4. Version 2.10

None

4.5. Version 2.05

Const objects in program memory Note that the by default, const-qual ied objects will be
placed and accessed in program memory (as described here). This will affect the size and
execution speed of your project, but should reduce RAM usage. This feature can be dis-
abled, if required, using the -mno-const-data-in-progmem option.

4.6. Version 2.00

Con guration fuses The device con guration fuses can now programmed using a config
pragma followed by setting-value pairs to specify the fuse state, e.g.
#pragma config WDTON = SET
#pragma config BODLEVEL = BODLEVEL_4V3

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 16

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 Absolute objects and functions Objects and functions can now be placed at speci c address in
memory using the CCI __at(address) speci er, for example:
#include <xc.h>
int foobar __at(0x800100);
char __at(0x250) getID(int offset) { ... }
The argument to this specifier must be a constant that represents the address at which the
first byte or instruction will be placed. RAM addresses are indicated by using an offset of
0x800000. Enable the CCI to use this feature.
New interrupt function syntax The compiler now accepts the CCI __interrupt(num) speci-
er to indicate that C functions are interrupt handlers. The speci er takes an interrupt num-
ber, for example:
#include <xc.h>
void __interrupt(SPI_STC_vect_num) spi_Isr(void) { ... }

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 17

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 5. Fixed Issues
The following are corrections that have been made to the compiler. These might x bugs in the
generated code or alter the operation of the compiler to that which was intended or speci ed by
the user's guide. The version number in the subheadings indicates the rst compiler version to
contain xes for the issues that follow. The bracketed label(s) in the title are that issue's identi -
cation in the tracking database. These may be useful if you need to contact support.
Note that some device-speci c issues are corrected in the Device Family Pack (DFP) associated
with the device. See the MPLAB Pack Manager for information on changes made to DFPs and to
download the latest packs.

5.1. Version 2.50

Scanf return value (XC8-3355) If the [ conversion speci er (to match a nonempty sequence of
characters from a set of expected characters) is used in format strings with the scanf()
family of functions, the return value of those functions might be in error.
Printing length zero strings (XC8-3317) Calls to snprintf() with an "n" argument of 0 were
writing characters to the string array, which should not have occurred. This has been corrected.

5.2. Version 2.49 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

5.3. Version 2.46

Missing chip information (XC8-3223) Chipinfo (HTML) les were not being generated for
Device Family Packs (DFPs). The chipinfo les shipped with the compiler were present
and correct.
EEPROM update failure (XC8-3150) Calls to the eeprom_update_byte() routine on AVR
EA devices silently failed, leaving the addressed byte unchanged. This routine has now
been corrected and the x ships in the latest DFPs.

5.4. Version 2.45

Roaming license failure (XCLM-235) Roamed licenses failed to work correctly on Linux plat-
forms using glibc versions later than 2.28.
Internal error with arrays of structures (XC8-3069) When multi-dimensional array members
of a structure were processed, the address space quali er was not correctly propagated to
the array. This led to a mismatch in the address space quali er information and
an internal compiler error. This situation has been corrected.
Bad writes to uninitialized streams (ML-353, XC8-3100) If the standard output/error streams
were not explicitly setup using FDEV_SETUP_STREAM or _init_stdout/_init_stderr,
attempting to write to them resulted in unde ned behavior. This also affected writes from
stdlib functions, such as perror(). Any writes to these streams before they have been ini-
tialized will now be ignored.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 18

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Unsupported modi er (XC8-2505) The avr-libc library did not support the * modi er in printf-
style conversion speci ers, for example "%.*f". This is now supported with the introduc-
tion of the Microchip Uni ed Standard Library.
Multiple uninitialized warnings (XC8-2409) The compiler was issuing multiple identical warn-
ing messages when encountering a const array that was not initialized. The message
should have been issued just the once, which is now the case when this situation occurs.

5.5. Version 2.41

Dongle issues on Ventura (XC8-3088) Dongles used to license the compiler might not have
been properly read on macOS Ventura hosts, resulting in licensing failures. Changes to the
XCLM license manager correct this issue.
Incorrect indication of memory allocation (XC8-2925) Attempting to allocate SIZE_MAX bytes
(or a value close to this) of memory using the standard library memory management func-
tions (malloc() et al) incorrectly succeeded. It did not take into account that extra bytes
were needed in addition to the block requested when using the simple dynamic memory
allocation implementation. A NULL pointer will now be returned and errno set to ENOMEM
in such situations.
Inaccurate fma functions removed (XC8-2913) The C99 standard library fma()-family func-
tions (<math.h>) did not compute a multiply-add with in nite precision to a single round-
ing, but instead accumulated rounding errors with each operation. These functions have
been removed from the supplied library.
Bad handling of string conversion (XC8-2921, XC8-2652) When a 'subject sequence' for con-
version by strtod() contained what appeared to be a oating-point number in exponen-
tial format and there was an unexpected character after the e/E character, then where
endptr had been provided, it was assigned an address that had it point to the character af-
ter the e/E, whereas it should have been pointing to the e/E character itself, since that had
not been converted. For example, strtod("100exx", &ep) should return 100.00 and set
ep to point to the "exx" part of the string, whereas the function was returning the correct
value but setting ep to point to the "xx" part of the string.
Bad conversion of hexadecimal oats (XC8-2626) Functions in the strtof() family and
scanf() family always converted a hexadecimal oating-point number missing an expo-
nent part to zero. So for the statement f = strtof("0x1.1", &endptr); instead of as-
signing f the value 1.062500, it would assign 0. The oating-point formatted input conver-
sions of scanf() were similarly affected.

5.6. Version 2.40

Too relaxed (XC8-2876) When using the -mrelax option, the compiler was not allocating some
sections together, resulting in less optimal code sizes. This might have occurred with code
that used the new MUSL libraries or with weak symbols.
Mapping feature not disabled as stated in warning (XC8-2875) The const-data-in-con g-
mapped-progmem feature is reliant on the const-data-in-progmem feature being enabled. If
the const-data-in-con g-mapped-progmem feature was explicitly enabled using the option
and the const-data-in-progmem feature was disabled, the link step failed, despite a warning

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 19

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 message stating that the const-data-in-con g-mapped-progmem feature had been automati-
cally disabled, which was not entirely correct. The const-data-in-con g-mapped-progmem
feature is now fully disabled in this situation.
DFP changes to correctly access NVMCTRL (XC8-2848) The runtime startup code used by
AVR64EA devices didn't take into account that the NVMCTRL register was under Con g-
uration Change Protection (CCP) and was not able to set the IO SFR to the page used by
the const-data-in-con g-mapped-progmem compiler feature. Changes made in AVR-
Ex_DFP version 2.2.55 will allow the runtime startup code to correctly write to this regis-
ter.
DFP changes to avoid ash mapping (XC8-2847) A work-around for a problem with the ash-
mapping device feature reported in the AVR128DA28/32/48/64 Silicon Errata
(DS80000882) has been implemented. The const-data-in-con g-mapped-progmem compil-
er feature will not be applied by default for affected devices, and this change will appear in
AVR-Dx_DFP version 2.2.160.
Build error with sinhf or coshf (XC8-2834) Attempts to use the sinhf() or coshf() library
functions resulted in a link error, describing an unde ned reference. The missing function
referenced has now been included in the compiler distribution.
Build errors with nopa (XC8-2833) Using the nopa attribute with a function that has had its
assembler name speci ed using __asm__() triggered error messages from the assembler.
This combination is not possible.
Variadic function failure with pointer arguments (XC8-2755, XC8-2731) Functions with a
variable number of arguments expect 24-bit (__memx type) pointers to be passed in the
variable argument list when the const-data-in-progmem feature is enabled. Arguments that
were pointers to data memory were being passed as 16-bit objects, causing code failure
when they were ultimately read. When the const-data-in-progmem feature is enabled, all
16-bit pointers arguments are now converted to 24-bit pointers.
strtoxxx library functions failing (XC8-2620) When const-data-in-progmem feature was en-
abled, the endptr parameter in the strtoxxx library functions was not updated properly for
source string arguments not in program memory.
Alerts for invalid casts (XC8-2612) The compiler will now issue an error if const-in-progmem
feature is enabled and the address of a string literal is explicitly cast to data address space
(dropping the const qual ier), for example, (uint8_t *) "Hello World!". A warning
is issue if the address might be invalid when a const data pointer is explicitly cast to data
address space.
Placement of uninitialized const objects (XC8-2408) Uninitialized const and const
volatile objects were not being placed in program memory on devices that map all or
part of their program memory into the data address space. For these devices, such objects
are now placed in program memory, making their operation consistent with other devices.

5.7. Version 2.39 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

5.8. Version 2.36

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 20

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Error when delaying (XC8-2774) Minor changes in the default Free mode optimizations pre-
vented constant folding of operand expressions to the delay built-in functions, resulting in
them being treated as non-constants and triggering the error: __builtin_avr_delay_cy-
cles expects a compile time integer constant.

5.9. Version 2.35

Contiguous allocation using __at (XC8-2653) Contiguous allocation of multiple objects places
in a section with the same name and using __at() did not work correctly. For example:
const char arr1[] __attribute__((section(".mysec"))) __at (0x500) = {0xAB,
0xCD};
const char arr2[] __attribute__((section(".mysec"))) = {0xEF, 0xFE};
should have placed arr2 immediately after arr1.
Specifying section start addresses (XC8-2650) The -Wl,--section-start option was silent-
ly failing to place sections at the nominated start address. This issue has been xed for any
custom-named sections; however, it will not work for any standard sections, such as .text
or .bss, which must be placed using a -Wl,-T option.
Linker crashes when relaxing (XC8-2647) When the -mrelax optimization was enabled and
there were code or data sections that did not t into the available memory, the linker
crashed. Now, in such a circumstance, error messages are issued instead.
No no-falling-back (XC8-2646) The --nofallback option was not correctly implemented, nor
documented. This can now be selected to ensure that the compiler will not fall back to a
lower optimization setting if the compiler is unlicensed, and will instead issue an error.
Inappropriate speed optimizations (XC8-2637) Procedural abstraction optimizations were be-
ing enabled when selecting level 3 optimizations (-O3). These optimizations reduce code
size at the expense of code speed, so should not have been performed.
Bad EEPROM access (XC8-2629) The eeprom_read_block routine did not work correctly on
Xmega devices when the -mconst-data-in-progmem option was enabled (which is the
default state), resulting in EEPROM memory not being read correctly.
Invalid memory allocation (XC8-2593, XC8-2651) When the -Ttext or -Tdata linker option
(for example passed through using a -Wl driver option) is speci ed, the corresponding text/
data region origin was updated; however, the end address was not adjusted accordingly,
which could have led to the region exceeding the target device's memory range.
Crash with over-attributed function (XC8-2580) The compiler crashed if a function was de-
clared using more than one of the interrupt, signal or nmi attributes, e.g.,
__attribute__((__signal__, __interrupt__)).
Invalid ATtiny interrupt code (XC8-2465) When building for ATtiny devices and the optimiza-
tions were disabled (-O0), interrupt functions may have triggered operand out of
range assembler messages.
Options not being passed through (XC8-2452) When using the -Wl option with multiple,
comma-separated linker options, not all of the linker options were being passed to the link-
er.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 21

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Error indirectly reading program memory (XC8-2450) In some instances, the compiler pro-
duced an internal error (unrecognizable insn) when reading a two byte value from a
pointer to program memory

5.10. Version 2.32

Second access of library fails (XC8-2381) Invoking the Windows version of the xc8-ar.exe
library archiver a second time to access an existing library archive may have failed with an
unable to rename error message.

5.11. Version 2.31

Unexplained compiler failures (XC8-2367) When running on Windows platforms that had the
system temporary directory set to a path that included a dot '.' character, the compiler may
have failed to execute.

5.12. Version 2.30

Global labels misplaced after outlining (XC8-2299) Hand-written assembly code that places
global labels within assembly sequences that are factored out by procedural abstraction
might not have been correctly repositioned.
A relaxing crash (XC8-2287) Using the -mrelax option might have caused the linker to crash
when tail jump relaxation optimizations attempted to remove ret instruction that were not
at the end of a section.
Crash when optimizing labels as values (XC8-2282) Code using the "Labels as values" GNU
C language extension might have caused the procedural abstraction optimizations to crash,
with an Outlined VMA range spans fixup error.
Not so const (XC8-2271) The prototypes for strstr() and other functions from <string.h>
no longer specify the non-standard const quali er on returned string pointers when the
-mconst-data-in-progmem feature is disabled. Note that with avrxmega3 and avrtiny
devices, this feature is permanently enabled.
Lost initializers (XC8-2269) When more than one variable in a translation unit was placed in a
section (using __section or __attribute__((section))), and the rst such variable
was zero initialized or did not have an initializer, initializers for other variables in the same
translation unit that were placed in the same section were lost.

5.1. Version 2.29 (Functional Safety Release)

None.

5.2. Version 2.20

Error with long commands (XC8-1983) When using an AVR target, the compiler may have
stopped with a le not found error, if the command line was extremely large and contained
special characters such a quotes, backslashes, etc.
Unassigned rodata section (XC8-1920) The AVR linker failed to assign memory for custom
rodata sections when building for avrxmega3 and avrtiny architectures, potentially produc-
ing memory overlap errors

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 22

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 5.3. Version 2.19 (Functional Safety Release)
None.

5.4. Version 2.10

Relocation failures (XC8-1891) The best t allocator was leaving memory 'holes' in between
sections after linker relaxation. Aside from fragmenting memory, this increased the possi-
bility of there being linker relocation failures relating to pc-relative jumps or calls becom-
ing out of range.
Instructions not transformed by relaxation (XC8-1889) Linker relaxation did not occur for
jump or call instructions whose targets become reachable if relaxed.
Missing <power.h> functionality (XC8E-388) Several de nitions from <power.h>, such as
clock_div_t and clock_prescale_set(), were not de ned for devices, including the
ATmega324PB, ATmega328PB, ATtiny441, and ATtiny841.
Missing macros The preprocessor macros _XC8_MODE_, __XC8_VERSION, __XC, and __XC8
were not automatically de ned by the compiler. These are now available.

5.5. Version 2.05

Internal compiler error (XC8-1822) When building under Windows, an internal compiler error
might have been produced when optimizing code.
RAM over ow not detected (XC8-1800, XC8-1796) Programs that exceeded that available
RAM were not detected by the compiler in some situations, resulting in a runtime code
failure.
Omitted ash memory (XC8-1792) For avrxmega3 and avrtiny devices, parts of the ash
memory might have been left un-programmed by the MPLAB X IDE.
Failure to execute main (XC8-1788) In some situations where the program had no global vari-
ables de ned, the runtime startup code did not exit and the main() function was never
reached.
Incorrect memory information (XC8-1787) For avrxmega3 and avrtiny devices, the avr-size
program was reporting that read-only data was consuming RAM instead of program mem-
ory.
Incorrect program memory read (XC8-1783) Projects compiled for devices with program
memory mapped into the data address space and that de ne objects using the PROGMEM
macro/attribute might have read these objects from the wrong address.
Internal error with attributes (XC8-1773) An internal error occurred if you de ned pointer
objects with the __at() or attribute() tokens in between the pointer name and dereferenced
type, for example, char * __at(0x800150) cp; A warning is now issued if such code
is encountered.
Failure to execute main (XC8-1780, XC8-1767, XC8-1754) Using EEPROM variables or
de ning fuses using the con g pragma might have caused incorrect data initialisation and/
or locked up program execution in the runtime startup code, before reaching main().

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 23

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 Fuse error with tiny devices (XC8-1778, XC8-1742) The attiny4/5/9/10/20/40 devices had an
incorrect fuse length speci ed in their header les that lead to linker errors when attempt-
ing to build code that de ned fuses.
Segmentation fault (XC8-1777) An intermittent segmentation fault has been corrected.
Assembler crash (XC8-1761) The avr-as assembler might have crashed when the compiler
was run under Ubuntu 18.
Objects not cleared (XC8-1752) Uninitialized static storage duration objects might not have
been cleared by the runtime startup code.
Con icting device speci cation ignored (XC8-1749) The compiler was not generating an error
when multiple device speci cation options were used and indicated different devices.
Memory corruption by heap (XC8-1748) The __heap_start symbol was being incorrectly
set, resulting in the possibility of ordinary variables being corrupted by the heap.
Linker relocation error (XC8-1739) A linker relocation error might have been emitted when
code contained a rjmp or rcall with a target exactly 4k bytes away.

5.6. Version 2.00

None.

MPLAB® XC8 C Compiler Version 2.50 Release Notes for AVR® 24

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6. Known Issues
The following are limitations in the compiler's operation. These may be general coding restric-
tions, or deviations from information contained in the user's manual. The bracketed label(s) in
the title are that issue's identi cation in the tracking database. This may be of bene t if you need
to contact support. Those items which do not have labels are limitations that describe modi
operandi and which are likely to remain in effect permanently.
6.1. MPLAB X IDE Integration
MPLAB IDE integration If Compiler is to be used from MPLAB IDE, then you must install
MPLAB IDE prior to installing Compiler.
Array debug information (XC8-3157) The debug information produced by the compiler does
not accurately convey the object type for arrays in the __memx address space. This will
prevent observation of the object in an IDE.
6.2. Code Generation
No unique section allocation (XC8-3387) The -fdata-sections option does not create a
uniquely named section for an object de ned as const volatile and using the progmem
attribute. It is instead assigned to the same generic section that would have been selected if
the -fdata-sections was not used.
Custom section allocation failure (XC8-3256) Section-ref based allocation is not ignoring sec-
tions mapped to a different region, and is not handling absolute addressed sections in the
linker script as it would orphaned sections with an absolute address. This might result in a
linker error when using the -mrelax option and custom output sections that are mapped to
a region other than text.
Errno not set (XC8-3239) The strtod() function does not correctly set errno to ERANGE
when appropriate.
Section overlap (XC8-3185) The best t allocator might ignore any linker-script-de ned output
sections that are mapped to the data memory region, leading to a possible overlap of input
sections with linker-script-de ned sections. There is no indication from the compiler if sec-
tions overlap.
Segfault with section-anchors option (XC8-3045) Program that de ned functions with variable
argument lists and that use the -fsection-anchors option might have triggered a in-
ternal compiler error: Segmentation fault.
Debug info out of sync (XC8-2948) When linker relaxation optimizations shrinks instructions
(for example call to rcall instructions), source line to address mappings might not re-
main in sync when there is more than one shrink operation occurring in a section.
PA memory allocation failure (XC8-2881) When using the procedural abstraction optimizers,
the linker might report memory allocation errors when code size is close to the amount of
available program memory on the device, even though the program should be able to t the
available space.
Not so smart Smart-IO (XC8-2872) The compiler's smart-io feature will generate valid but
sub-optimal code for the snprintf function if the const-data-in-progmem feature has been
disabled or if the device has all of its ash mapped into data memory.

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 Even less smart Smart-IO (XC8-2869) The compiler's smart-io feature will will generate valid
but sub-optimal code when the -flto and -fno-builtin options are both used.
Suboptimal read-only data placement (XC8-2849) The linker is currently not aware of the
APPCODE and APPDATA memory sections, nor the [No-]Read-While-Write divisions in
the memory map. As a result, there is a small chance that the linker might allocate read-
only data in an unsuitable area of memory. The chance of misplaced data increases if the
const-data-in-progmem feature is enabled, especially if the const-data-in-con g-mapped-
progmem feature is also enabled. These features can be disabled if required.
Object le processing order (XC8-2863) The order in which objects les will be processed by
the linker might differ based on the use of procedural abstraction optimizations (-mpa op-
tion). This would only affect code which de nes weak functions across multiple modules.
Linker error with absolute (XC8-2777) When an object has been made absolute at an address
at the start of RAM and uninitialized objects have also been de ned, a linker error might be
triggered.
Short wake-up IDs (XC8-2775) For ATA5700/2 devices, the PHID0/1 registers are only de ned
as being 16 bits wide, rather than 32 bits wide.
Linker crash when calling symbol (XC8-2758) The linker might crash if the -mrelax driver
option is used when the source code calls a symbol that has been de ned using the -Wl,--
defsym linker option.
Incorrect initialization (XC8-2679) There is a discrepancy between where the initial values for
some global/static byte-sized objects are placed in data memory and where the variables
will be accessed at runtime.
Bad indirect function calls (XC8-2628) In some instances, function calls made via a function
pointer stored as part of a structure might fail.
Inaccurate stack advisor messaging (XC8-2542, XC8-2541) In some instances, the stack advi-
sor warning regarding recursion or indeterminate stack used (possibly through the use of
alloca()) is not emitted.
Failure with duplicate interrupt code (XC8-2421) Where more than one interrupt function has
the same body, the compiler might have the output for one interrupt function call the other.
This will result in all call-clobbered registers being saved unnecessarily, and the interrupts
will be enabled even before the epilogue of the current interrupt handler has run, which
could lead to code failure.
Bad output with invalid DFP path (XC8-2376) If the compiler is invoked with an invalid DFP
path and a 'spec' le exists for the selected device, the compiler is not reporting the missing
device family pack and instead selecting the 'spec' le, which might then lead to an invalid
output. The 'spec' les might not be up to date with the distributed DFPs and were intended
for use with internal compiler testing only.
Memory overlap undetected (XC8-1966) The compiler is not detecting the memory overlap of
objects made absolute at an address (via __at()) and other objects using the
__section() speci er and that are linked to the same address.

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Failure with library functions and __memx (XC8-1763) Called libgcc oat functions with an
argument in the __memx address space might fail. Note that library routines are called from
some C operators, so, for example, the following code is affected:
return regFloatVar > memxFloatVar;
Limited libgcc implementation (AVRTC-731) For the ATTiny4/5/9/10/20/40 products, the
standard C / Math library implementation in libgcc is very limited or not present.
Program memory limitations (AVRTC-732) Program memory images beyond 128 kb are sup-
ported by the toolchain; however, there are known instances of linker aborts without relax-
ation and without a helpful error message rather than generating the required function stubs
when the -mrelax option is used.
Name space limitations (AVRTC-733) Named address spaces are supported by the toolchain,
subject to the limitations mentioned in the user's guide section Special Type Quali ers.
Time zones The <time.h> library functions assume GMT and do not support local time zones,
thus localtime() will return the same time as gmtime(), for example.

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