It compiles and runs fine at my system too.

gcc (Debian 4.7.2-5) 4.7.2 and
GNU gdb (GDB) 7.6-debian

Hi, I’ve tried to compile a drivre for a UART on the TMS470R1B1M part of 
the driver ( the write function is shown below):

static int uart_write( struct _file_descriptor* fd, const void* 
write_buf, int num_bytes )
{
       volatile int bytes_written = -1;
       volatile SCI_TypeDef* SCIx;
       if( ( is_valid_handle( fd ) ) &&
           ( write_buf != NULL )     &&
           ( num_bytes > 0 ) )
       {
             SCIx = ( ( SCI_TypeDef* )( fd->fd_priv_data ) );
             if( ( fd->mode & O_RDONLY ) != O_RDONLY )
             {
                    bytes_written = 0;
                    while( bytes_written < num_bytes )
                    {
                       /* Determine if the transmitter is ready to
                          transmit a byte */
                           while( ( SCIx->CTL2 & SCI_TXRDY ) != 0 )
                               asm("nop;");
                           SCIx->TXBUF =
                              ( ( char* )( write_buf ) 
)[bytes_written++];
                    }
             }
       }
       return bytes_written;
}

When complied with gcc arm-elf 4.2.0 I’ve got the following output:

static int uart_write( struct _file_descriptor* fd,
                       const void* write_buf,
                       int num_bytes )
{
    uart_wri:mov     r12,r13
    stmdb   r13!,{r11-r12,r14,pc}
    sub     r11,r12,#0x4
    sub     r13,r13,#0x14
    str     r0,[r11,#-0x18]
    str     r1,[r11,#-0x1C]
    str     r2,[r11,#-0x20]
    volatile int bytes_written = -1;
    mvn     r3,#0x0
    str     r3,[r11,#-0x14]
    volatile SCI_TypeDef* SCIx;
    if( ( is_valid_handle( fd ) ) &&
        ( write_buf != NULL )     &&
        ( num_bytes > 0 ) )
    ldr     r0,[r11,#-0x18]
    bl      0x11180          ; is_valid_handle
    mov     r3,r0
    cmp     r3,#0x0
    beq     0x11540
    ldr     r3,[r11,#-0x1C]
    cmp     r3,#0x0
    beq     0x11540
    ldr     r3,[r11,#-0x20]
    cmp     r3,#0x0
    ble     0x11540
{
    SCIx = ( ( SCI_TypeDef* )( fd->fd_priv_data ) );
    ldr     r3,[r11,#-0x18]
    ldr     r3,[r3,#0x1C]
    str     r3,[r11,#-0x10]

    while( bytes_written < num_bytes )
    {
        /* Determine if the transmitter is ready to transmit a byte */
        while( ( SCIx->CTL2 & SCI_TXRDY ) != 0 ) asm("nop;");
        SCIx->TXBUF = ( ( char* )( write_buf ) )[bytes_written++];
     }

}
    return bytes_written;
    ldr     r3,[r11,#-0x14]
    mov     r0,r3
    sub     r13,r11,#0x0C
    ldmia   r13,{r11,r13,pc}
}

As can be seen no assembly code is generated for the while loop. These 
are the flags used for gcc

CFLAGS += -mbig-endian  -mcpu=arm7tdmi -mapcs-frame -gdwarf-2 
-I$(PROJECTROOT)

AFLAGS = -mcpu=arm7tdmi  --warn -EB -mfpu=softfpa -mapcs-32 --gdwarf2

LDFLAGS = --script=$(TMS470R1B1MDIR)ldscript -EB 
-Map=$(OUTPUTDIR)/main.map --cref --gc-sections

ODFLAGS = --wide --source --all-headers --reloc --syms --disassemble -t

LDFLAGS += -L /cygdrive/c/GNUARM/arm-elf/lib/be/

LIBS = $(SYSTEMLIBSDIR)libgcc.a
LIBS += /cygdrive/c/GNUARM/arm-elf/lib/be/libc.a
LIBS += /cygdrive/c/GNUARM/arm-elf/lib/be/libg.a
LIBS += /cygdrive/c/GNUARM/arm-elf/lib/be/libm.a


Any suggestion I can try to get the complier to generate the assembly 
code for the while loop?

Thanks