Large number of failures a result of trying to test/use too many pins

[maclobdell]

I've been testing many platforms lately...with lots of failures.

A common issue is that not all platforms connect each pin on the Arduino header.

For example, LPC546XX doesn't have D6, D7, A4, A5 connected by default.

If I want to pass tests that relay on D6, D7, A4, A5, as digital outs (e.g. Bus tests) then I have to find surrogate pins to fly-wire to those locations.

The problem is that all other pins are taken!
D2-D9 (Digital, bus , interrupt tests)
D10-D13(SPI, bus tests)
D14-D15 (I2C, bus tests)
A0-A3(Digital, Analog, Bus tests)

If the tests attempted to test less pins, say just 2-3 per peripheral type, then there would be a higher chance of finding alternate pins to wire in.

My guess is that we would find 95% of issues by just testing two pins of each type.

This would reduce the complexity, make this project much more stable, and widely used.

The only drawback I can see is that we wouldn't be catching and highlighting deviations from the Arduiono standard, but honestly, I don't think that is the job of Mbed OS.

[maclobdell]

cc @bentcooke, @c1728p9