EzDSP does not boot with programmed code

I haven't programmed an MSP430 in assembly, but it seems like the program entry point is not written to the address 0xFFFE:

Program counter (PC) is loaded with the boot code address and boot code execution begins at that address. See Section 1.9 for more information regarding the boot code. Upon completion of the boot code, the PC is loaded with the address contained at the SYSRSTIV reset location (0FFFEh).

So from your description, you are using --entry_point= global_symbol as an option to set the entry point. I can't really see why that wouldn't work, have you checked the actual linker call if that option is applied?

So another option would be to write to the address 0xFFFE the value of your start address. Or at least check in your resulting hex image what value gets written there.

I just found this:

MEMORY
{
    MEM : origin = 0x0200, length = 0xFDFD
    RESET : origin = 0xFFFE, length = 0x0002
}
SECTIONS
{
    .text : {} > MEM
    .const : {} > MEM
    .data : {} > MEM
    .bss : {} > MEM
    .reset : > RESET
    .cinit : {} > MEM ;cflag option only
    .pinit : {} > MEM ;cflag option only
}

as the default placement. So maybe because you also named you label RESET the linker gets confused in some way? Maybe name your entry point differently like START or ENTRY. But this also gives a hint how to get the actual address where you want it. You just have to define a 16 bit constant to be placed in the .reset section.

It's strange how different the TI assembler is from the IAR one, with which I'm a bit more familiar.

[Full disclosure: I am a TI employee who works in the C2000 group.]

The Piccolo series, like all C2000 products, are microcontrollers that use a C28x DSP for their CPU. Although it has DSP features and architecture, the C28x also does everything that a general-purpose CPU does. Using a C2000 MCU is basically the same as using MSP430, TMS570, or any other MCU -- you write code in C, program it to the flash using TI-provided or third-party tools, and let it run.

For something like the C55x series, which has no on-board flash, your code needs to go in an external memory. The on-chip boot ROM has options for loading code from serial peripherals or from an external memory interface. That's about all I can tell you there; I don't know much about C55x.