I haven't a clue what syscalls.c is. It came with Ndless.

syscalls.c contains OS stubs requires by "newlib" (the implementation of stdlib integrated with YAGARTO).
The stdlib is not really required in our case, because most of the functions can be found in the TI-Nspire OS, you just need to define them in Ndless headers.
And it appears that newlib is built without -fpic in YAGARTO (pc-relative instructions), so the stdlib functions may crash.
The stdlib should only be enabled if the program uses floating-point arithmetic, similarly to the Ndless's particles demo.

Most programs should be built with the -nostdlib option for nspire-ld.

There has to be some way to have it not include the unused functions.  I am almost sure TIGCC/GCC4TI dose it.

Headers do not influence program size, the libraries does. The .a file should contain separate .o files (as it does). The granularity for inclusion is a .o file. So your problem is quite strange.

Could you try to build with the flag -nostdlib for nspire-ld? Could you check that the .tns doesn't contain series of zeros?
Could you try to run a "arm-none-eabi-objdump.exe -D <your_program.elf>" which disassemble the program, and see which symbols appear?

The scope is not clearly defined yet, but probably not 2.0.

The behavior probably depends on the version of GCC.

Ncubate is a custom version of Goplat's nspire_emu (released with his permission) enhanced with features I personally needed for my own use and I'd like to share.
This version mainly adds calculator state save and reload, useful debugger commands and support for the GDB debugger.

-> Ncubate v032b

Help for the GDB support is available on Hackspire.

Ncubate adds the following features to nspire_emu v032:

GUI:
- NEW: 'File -> Save State' let you save the whole emulator state to a file
  named <flash_image>.sav. The file is loaded on startup if it exists. You can
  request a state reload with 'File -> Reload State'
  Caution, newer versions of Ncubate may fail to read .sav files produced by
  previous versions. Delete these files when upgrading.
- NEW: 'File -> Save Flash As...' suggests the current flash image name
- NEW: several keyboard shortcuts added

Debugger:
- NEW: Supports the GNU Debugger GDB. You can debug at source-level programs
  built with Ndless. More information available at http://hackspire.unsads.com
- NEW: The register PC can be changed with the command 'rs
- NEW: Command 'j' to jump to the next instruction. This is useful for example
  to jump over an halt() call in an Ndless program.
- NEW: Command 'ww' to write a word to an address
- NEW: Command 'ss' to search a string in memory
- NEW: "+x" is the default flag for the breakpoint command 'k'
- NEW: Command 'wf' to load a file to memory
- NEW: Command-line option /R=cmdfile can be used to automatically run debugger
  commands on startup. Use a single line for each command. At the end of the file,
  the debugger switches to the standard input. You can use 'c' as the last
  command to continue the emulation.
- CHG: The breakpoint command 'k' takes as parameter a virtual address instead
  of a physical address
- CHG: Debugger command 'w' renamed to 'wm'
- CHG: The command 'wm' takes as parameter a virtual address instead of a
  physical address
- CHG: Read/write breakpoint logs display a virtual address instead of a
  physical address
- FIX: Command 'd' doesn't crash if the parameter is missing
- FIX: Broken 'w' command

CPU/Ports:
- ADD: (internal) ARM loader for arbitrary ARM snippet execution by the emulator
- FIX: no more 'bad read word' on auto power down, but still hangs

Flash:
- FIX: Flash image closed when synced to disk, for external edition

Build:
- NEW: Makefile.config for custom compilation flags
- NEW: make clean
- FIX: compilation warnings

There is also an RTC documented here: http://hackspire.unsads.com/wiki/index.php/Memory-mapped_I/O_ports#90090000_-_Real-Time_Clock_.28RTC.29

I've had this issue for several months since I opened the board, until the point I couldn't switch it on at all
I've magically solved it with a piece of paper folded and inserted under the board.

Thanks apcalc. Everything is correct except the link to Ndless

fb39ca4: anyway I hope Nleash won't be required for Ndless in the near future.
bwang: yes, the program format hasn't change.