diff --git a/make/defs-cpp.mk b/make/defs-cpp.mk
index bd125c2f..64bf47e5 100644
--- a/make/defs-cpp.mk
+++ b/make/defs-cpp.mk
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 COMPILER_SUITE              ?= gcc
 CPP_STANDARD_VERSION        ?= 17
 C_STANDARD_VERSION          ?= 11
+
 ifeq ($(TARGET_TRIPLET),arm-none-eabi)
   LIBTYPE                   ?= static
 else
@@ -132,10 +133,76 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(TARGET_TRIPLET),arm-none-eabi)
   USE_DISABLE_COMPILER_OPTIMISATION_OPTS = false
-  BUILD_CFLAGS              += -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb
-  BUILD_CPPFLAGS            += -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb
-  BUILD_CPPFLAGS            += -fno-exceptions
+  USE_EXCEPTIONS_IN_C        = false
+  ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS    += -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb
+  ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS    += -fno-exceptions
+  ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS    += -Os
+  BUILD_LDFLAGS             += $(ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS)
+  BUILD_CFLAGS              += $(ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS)
+  BUILD_CPPFLAGS            += $(ARM_NONE_EABI_ALLFLAGS)
   BUILD_CPPFLAGS            += -fno-rtti
+
+  # -- used by modm, but currently disabled for test purposes
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fno-threadsafe-statics
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fno-unwind-tables
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fstrict-enums
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fuse-cxa-atexit
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fshort-wchar
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fsingle-precision-constant
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -funsigned-bitfields
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -funsigned-char
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -fwrapv
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -g3
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -gdwarf
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -W
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wall
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wdouble-promotion
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wduplicated-cond
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Werror=format
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Werror=maybe-uninitialized
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Werror=overflow
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Werror=sign-compare
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wextra
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wlogical-op
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wpointer-arith
+  #BUILD_CFLAGS             += -Wundef
+
+
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fdata-sections
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -ffunction-sections
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -finline-limit=10000
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fshort-wchar
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fsingle-precision-constant
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -funsigned-bitfields
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -funsigned-char
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fwrapv
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -g3
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -gdwarf
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -W
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wall
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wdouble-promotion
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wduplicated-cond
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Werror=format
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Werror=maybe-uninitialized
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Werror=overflow
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Werror=sign-compare
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wextra
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wlogical-op
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wpointer-arith
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Wundef
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-threadsafe-statics
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-unwind-tables
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fstrict-enums
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fuse-cxa-atexit
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -std=c++17
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Woverloaded-virtual
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-move-loop-invariants
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-split-wide-types
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-tree-loop-optimize
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -Og
+
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-exceptions
+  #BUILD_CPPFLAGS           += -fno-rtti
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(COMPILER_SUITE),gcc)
@@ -196,6 +263,8 @@ else ifeq ($(COMPILER_SUITE),clang)
 
 endif # COMPILER_SUITE
 
+PROJECT_LDFLAGS             += $(addprefix -u ,$(LD_DEFINE_SYMBOLS))
+
 # -- target files and dirs
 
 SRC_SUFFIX                  += $(sort $(suffix $(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/hdr/*)))
@@ -253,7 +322,9 @@ ifeq ($(USE_X),true)
   BUILD_LDFLAGS             += -L/usr/X11/$(SYSTEM_LIBDIR_NAME) -lXext -lX11
 endif
 
-LPPFLAGS                    += -lstdc++
+ifneq ($(TARGET_TRIPLET),arm-none-eabi)
+  LPPFLAGS                  += -lstdc++
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(GCC_MAJOR),2)
   LPPFLAGS                  += -lm
@@ -487,7 +558,7 @@ ifeq ($(USE_PROJECT_LIB),true)
   LIBFLAGS                  += -L$(BUILD_LIBDIR)
 endif
 
-INCLUDE                     += $(call proj_query, cflags  $(PREREQ_BUILD) $(PROJECT))
+INCLUDE                     += $(call proj_query, cflags $(PREREQ_BUILD) $(PROJECT))
 
 LDFLAGS_QUERY_ARGS           = $(addprefix --exclude ,$(LDFLAGS_EXCLUDE))
 LIBFLAGS                    += $(call proj_query, ldflags $(LDFLAGS_QUERY_ARGS) --add-self $(PREREQ_BUILD))
diff --git a/make/mcu-exe.mk b/make/mcu-exe.mk
index ce049d24..3264968c 100644
--- a/make/mcu-exe.mk
+++ b/make/mcu-exe.mk
@@ -10,10 +10,6 @@ endif
 
 MCU_FLASH_PUSH_FILE_HEX     ?= $(patsubst %.elf,%.hex,$(EXE_BASENAME))
 EXE_MAP                     ?= $(patsubst %.elf,%.map,$(EXE_BASENAME))
-PROJECT_LDFLAGS             += -static
-LD_DEFINE_SYMBOLS           += _sbrk
-
-PROJECT_LDFLAGS             += $(addprefix -u ,$(LD_DEFINE_SYMBOLS))
 
 include $(MODDIR)/make/mcu-defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/exe.mk
diff --git a/make/mcu-tags.mk b/make/mcu-tags.mk
index ebb8763e..5220c3a8 100644
--- a/make/mcu-tags.mk
+++ b/make/mcu-tags.mk
@@ -31,11 +31,17 @@ ifneq ($(findstring cortex-m3,$(TAGGED_TMPL_TAGS)),)
   # create map file
   PROJECT_LDFLAGS           += -Wl,-Map,"$(EXE_MAP)"
 
-  # use newlib-nano (TODO: No -Wl necessary?)
+  # use newlib-nano, provides symbols _write _close _fstat _isatty _lseek (at least)
+  # (TODO: No -Wl necessary?)
   PROJECT_LDFLAGS           += --specs=nano.specs
+  PROJECT_LDFLAGS           += --specs=nosys.specs
 
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(findstring gnu-mcu-eclipse,$(TAGGED_TMPL_TAGS)),)
+  LD_DEFINE_SYMBOLS          += _sbrk
+endif
+
 # ----- build options based on product choices
 
 ifneq ($(findstring $(MCU_CPU),cortex-m3),)