diff --git a/sam/utils/make/Makefile.sam.in b/sam/utils/make/Makefile.sam.in
index 23c66977..96f41bbf 100644
--- a/sam/utils/make/Makefile.sam.in
+++ b/sam/utils/make/Makefile.sam.in
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ AS              := $(CROSS)as
 CC              := $(CROSS)gcc
 CPP             := $(CROSS)gcc -E
 CXX             := $(CROSS)g++
-LD              := $(CROSS)g++
+LD              := $(CROSS)gcc
 NM              := $(CROSS)nm
 OBJCOPY         := $(CROSS)objcopy
 OBJDUMP         := $(CROSS)objdump
diff --git a/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.c b/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27b3a8e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.c
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include <osmocom/core/utils.h>
+#include "microvty.h"
+
+/* microVTY - small implementation of a limited feature command line interface
+ * (C) 2019 by Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>
+ *
+ * modelled after libosmovty (part of libosmocore.git), which in turn is a fork
+ * of the command line interface of GNU zebra / quagga.
+ *
+ * microVTY is intended for very small bare-iron microcontroller. It doesn't need
+ * any dynamic allocations/heap, and tries to stay very simplistic to conserve
+ * resources.
+ */
+
+struct microvty_state {
+	const char *prompt;
+	char buf[MICROVTY_CMD_BUF_SIZE];
+	unsigned int buf_idx;
+	const struct microvty_fn *cmd[MICROVTY_MAX_CMD];
+	unsigned int cmd_idx;
+};
+
+static struct microvty_state g_cmds;
+
+/*! register a command with microVTY */
+int microvty_register(const struct microvty_fn *cmd)
+{
+	if (g_cmds.cmd_idx >= ARRAY_SIZE(g_cmds.cmd))
+		return -1;
+	g_cmds.cmd[g_cmds.cmd_idx++] = cmd;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*! built-in help command */
+DEFUN(help, help_cmd, "help", "Print command reference")
+{
+	unsigned int i;
+	printf("Help:\r\n");
+	printf(" Command          Help\r\n");
+	printf(" ---------------- ----\r\n");
+	for (i = 0; i < g_cmds.cmd_idx; i++)
+		printf(" %-16s %s\r\n", g_cmds.cmd[i]->command, g_cmds.cmd[i]->help);
+}
+
+static void cmd_execute()
+{
+	char *argv[16];
+	unsigned int i;
+	int argc = 0;
+	char *cur;
+
+	printf("\r\n");
+	memset(argv, 0, sizeof(argv));
+
+	for (cur = strtok(g_cmds.buf, " "); cur; cur = strtok(NULL, " ")) {
+		if (argc >= ARRAY_SIZE(argv))
+			break;
+		argv[argc++] = cur;
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < g_cmds.cmd_idx; i++) {
+		if (!strcmp(g_cmds.cmd[i]->command, argv[0])) {
+			g_cmds.cmd[i]->fn(argc, argv);
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+	printf("Unknown command: '%s'\r\n", argv[0]);
+}
+
+static void cmd_buf_reset(void)
+{
+	memset(g_cmds.buf, 0, sizeof(g_cmds.buf));
+	g_cmds.buf_idx = 0;
+}
+
+static void cmd_buf_append(char c)
+{
+	g_cmds.buf[g_cmds.buf_idx++] = c;
+}
+
+/*! print the prompt to the console (stdout) */
+void microvty_print_prompt(void)
+{
+	printf(g_cmds.prompt);
+}
+
+/*! try to receive characters from the console, dispatching them */
+void microvty_try_recv(void)
+{
+	unsigned int i = 0;
+
+	/* yield CPU after maximum of 10 received characters */
+	while (microvty_cb_uart_rx_not_empty() && (i < 10)) {
+		int c = getchar();
+		if (c < 0)
+			return;
+		if (c == '\r' || c == '\n' || g_cmds.buf_idx >= sizeof(g_cmds.buf)-1) {
+			/* skip empty commands */
+			if (g_cmds.buf_idx == 0)
+				return;
+			cmd_execute();
+			cmd_buf_reset();
+			printf(g_cmds.prompt);
+			return;
+		} else {
+			/* print + append character */
+			putchar(c);
+			cmd_buf_append(c);
+		}
+
+		i++;
+	}
+}
+
+/* initialize microVTY. Should be called once on start-up */
+void microvty_init(const char *prompt)
+{
+	g_cmds.prompt = prompt;
+	microvty_register(&help_cmd);
+}
diff --git a/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.h b/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..17aca559
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/microvty/microvty.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#pragma once
+
+/* micrVTY - small implementation of a limited feature command line interface
+ * (C) 2019 by Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>
+ *
+ * modelled after libosmovty (part of libosmocore.git), which in turn is a fork
+ * of the command line interface of GNU zebra / quagga.
+ *
+ * microVTY is intended for very small bare-iron microcontroller. It doesn't need
+ * any dynamic allocations/heap, and tries to stay very simplistic to conserve
+ * resources.
+ */
+
+/*! Total size in bytes for microvty command buffer (max command line length) */
+#define MICROVTY_CMD_BUF_SIZE 128
+
+/*! Maximum number of VTY commands that can be registered with microvty_register() */
+#define MICROVTY_MAX_CMD 32
+
+struct microvty_fn {
+	const char *command;
+	const char *help;
+	void (*fn)(int argc, char **argv);
+};
+
+#define DEFUN(funcname, cmdname, cmdstr, helpstr)	\
+	static void funcname(int argc, char **argv);		\
+	static struct microvty_fn cmdname = { 			\
+		.command = cmdstr,				\
+		.help = helpstr,				\
+		.fn = funcname,					\
+	};							\
+	static void funcname(int argc, char **argv)
+
+void microvty_init(const char *prompt);
+int microvty_register(const struct microvty_fn *cmd);
+void microvty_try_recv(void);
+void microvty_print_prompt(void);
+
+/* to be provided by implementation: tell the code if UART Rx is non-
+ * empty and hence if a subsequent getchar() would return something */
+bool microvty_cb_uart_rx_not_empty(void);