gnupic: Thread: Programmer

> I'm new to pic programming, I did some pic programming years ago on the school 
> and I do not remember much, I'm re-learning...
> So, my problem is that I don't have any hardware anymore... so, I need to 
> build a programmer that works with Linux and that is easy to build (even if 
> I'm stuck with one model of pic at the begining).
> So, what do you recomend me ?
> Any other recomendation about where to start would be great too.

Welcome!

Yes, I have a very firm recommendation.  Make a THVP design by Byron Jeff:
http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys/

I used a 74HC14 in place of the buffer and it works just fine.  Almost
*anything* will work if you keep the cable back to the parallel port
short.  The only slightly tricky/subtle problem is that some parallel
ports set to *some* modes will not work for unresearched reasons.  If
you have trouble getting it running, go into your machines BIOS and
change the parallel port from SPP to ECPP or EPP or back.  Try all of
the settings and one of them will probably work.

I used to use the picprog that Byron has on his page, but I've recently
been completely convinced to switch to using Pikdev: http://pikdev.free.fr/

Depending on how you wire up your socket, you can program a huge number
of modern pics.  It's a parallel port programmer, so it's not ideal,
but it's very good to use to get started--until you decide you need something
better.  Then, come back and, with some luck, we'll have the new 'smart'
programmer done or at least testable. :)

Oh, to answer your other email:
> As you already know, I'm a newbie... trying to learn with on line tutorials... 
> using gpasm I've got this Messages:
> test.asm:14:Message [302] Register in operand not in bank 0. Ensure bank bits 
> are correct.
> test.asm:15:Message [302] Register in operand not in bank 0. Ensure bank bits 
> are correct.
> What do they exactly mean ?
> The lines in question are:
>         movwf   TRISB
>         movwf   TRISA

The assembler is just telling you that the register that you are accessing
is not in the first 'bank' of registers.  Registers 0x00-0x7f are bank 0,
0x80-0xff are bank 1, 0x100-0x17f are bank 2, and 0x180-0x1ff are bank3.  
But, they're all refered to as register 0x00-0x7f in the actual instructions--
like movwf.  The 'bank' is determined by bits in the STATUS register: RP0
and (maybe, if your chip has it) RP1.  Since the assembler doesn't (can't)
really track the status of these bits, it is just being kind and letting
you know that you need to have made sure that you set those bits right
before accessing a register in a bank other than bank 0.

So, in short, they're warnings that you can ignore if you know what you're
doing with selecting the correct register bank.  Check out the STATUS
register description in the datasheet for the chip you're using and also
check out the BANKSEL command in the documentation for the assembler.

Good luck!

Cheers,
David

I've made and used the following programmers ...

- Dontronics.com, DT001
- Kitsrus.com, K119
- Kitsrus.com, K96
- ASAmicros.com, HK-ASAPROG

All are parallel port designs with simple gates.  I use picprg or prog84 
on the Linux client to program chips.

-- 
James Cameron    ####@####.####     http://quozl.netrek.org/

An excellent resource is the piclist (lots of sample code)

www.piclist.com

they have a very active mailing list. subscribe to that one as well.

if you want to use your serial port for programming pic's you can use a 
programmer based on the JDM design and a bit of software called 
"picprog" (see http://hyvatti.iki.fi/~jaakko/pic/picprog.html) You can 
find a pcb mask for the JDM programmer on this page as well.
You can save yourself some soldering getting the ready-built "PIC_PG2B" 
from olimex (www.olimex.com) based on the JDM design for around $10,-

Another option would be using Wisp628 made by Wouter van Ooyen (see 
http://www.voti.nl/wisp628/n_index.html) You can get a kit for around 
€20,- and it comes with it's own python based software

I use the Wisp628. mainly because the JDM will only work if you have a 
true serial port on your PC (the jdm draws power from the serial port 
and a usb-to-serial dongle simply can't give enough power). And there 
are no serial or parallel ports on a Mac.

michiel





On 8-feb-04, at 21:51, Pupeno wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hello people,
> I'm new to pic programming, I did some pic programming years ago on 
> the school
> and I do not remember much, I'm re-learning...
> So, my problem is that I don't have any hardware anymore... so, I need 
> to
> build a programmer that works with Linux and that is easy to build 
> (even if
> I'm stuck with one model of pic at the begining).
> So, what do you recomend me ?
> Any other recomendation about where to start would be great too.
> Thanks.
> - --
> Pupeno: ####@####.####
> http://www.pupeno.com
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux)
>
> iD8DBQFAJqFStCepaMf3unIRAmeGAJ9E/cyuhuTCXNwLamMcbt38lDjTWwCfSElS
> iiu3EVqizFG6WkM13u7XoxA=
> =5a4K
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: ####@####.####
> For additional commands, e-mail: ####@####.####
>

I made a K149 (designed by www.kitsrus.com) based on
my PIC18A prototyping board.  It supports most PICs,
much better than Warp-13.

Mengjin

-----Original Message-----
From: James Cameron ####@####.####
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 2:35 PM
To: ####@####.####
Subject: Re: programmer


I've made and used the following programmers ...

- Dontronics.com, DT001
- Kitsrus.com, K119
- Kitsrus.com, K96
- ASAmicros.com, HK-ASAPROG

All are parallel port designs with simple gates.  I use picprg or prog84 
on the Linux client to program chips.

-- 
James Cameron    ####@####.####     http://quozl.netrek.org/

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Hello,

I propose a simple programmer interface made with a couple of
transistors. It works with the parallel port.
The software manages both ICSP (in-circuit serial programming) and
ICD (in-circuit debugger).

See http://gpicd.sourceforge.net

Regards,
Sylvain

On Sun, Feb 08, 2004 at 04:42:22PM -0500, David Willmore wrote:
> > I'm new to pic programming, I did some pic programming years ago on the school 
> > and I do not remember much, I'm re-learning...
> > So, my problem is that I don't have any hardware anymore... so, I need to 
> > build a programmer that works with Linux and that is easy to build (even if 
> > I'm stuck with one model of pic at the begining).
> > So, what do you recomend me ?
> > Any other recomendation about where to start would be great too.
> 
> Welcome!
> 
> Yes, I have a very firm recommendation.  Make a THVP design by Byron Jeff:
> http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys/
> 
> I used a 74HC14 in place of the buffer and it works just fine.  Almost
> *anything* will work if you keep the cable back to the parallel port
> short.  The only slightly tricky/subtle problem is that some parallel
> ports set to *some* modes will not work for unresearched reasons.  If
> you have trouble getting it running, go into your machines BIOS and
> change the parallel port from SPP to ECPP or EPP or back.  Try all of
> the settings and one of them will probably work.

Thanks for the recommendation, David. BTW the software expects SPP mode IFAICT

> 
> I used to use the picprog that Byron has on his page, but I've recently
> been completely convinced to switch to using Pikdev: http://pikdev.free.fr/

It looks like a winner. I have decided to keep supporting picprg and I'm 
actively working on updating for supporting current parts. More importantly
one of my student last semester suceeded in getting a Windows port working.
This will give a multiplatform base for programming parts via the parallel 
port.

An idea I have waiting in the wings is a programmer with an alternative
interface to parallel, serial, or USB: PS2 keyboard interface. While parallel
and serial will slowly go the way of the dodo, I believe the PS2 ports will
last a while longer than that. The other cool thing is that it'll be self
powering, requiring to additional power supply. But it'll probably be
summer before I get to it.

> 
> Depending on how you wire up your socket, you can program a huge number
> of modern pics.

If it's a High Voltage Programmer, be sure to ground RB3, RB4, and RB5 on
all sockets. This will ensure that no Low Voltage Program issues occur.

BAJ

Byron A Jeff wrote:
> An idea I have waiting in the wings is a programmer with an alternative
> interface to parallel, serial, or USB: PS2 keyboard interface. While parallel
> and serial will slowly go the way of the dodo, I believe the PS2 ports will
> last a while longer than that. The other cool thing is that it'll be self
> powering, requiring to additional power supply. But it'll probably be
> summer before I get to it.

PS/2 ports are rapidly going the way of the dodo too, especially on 
laptops and "compact" PCs. Apple has been using USB for keyboards and 
mice for years now and the PC world is rapidly catching up.

-- 
------------ Alex Holden - http://www.linuxhacker.org ------------
If it doesn't work, you're not hitting it with a big enough hammer

Are there any other software and hardware 
programmer for PIC (16F877) for linux and 
PIC beginners? =)  I chose 16F877 because 
I already have this one. :)  thanks! 

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On Thu, Feb 12, 2004 at 08:22:12PM -0600, bige wrote:
> Are there any other software and hardware 
> programmer for PIC (16F877) for linux and 
> PIC beginners? =)  I chose 16F877 because 
> I already have this one. :)  thanks! 

Take a look at my PIC page and the TLVP programmer:

http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys

BAJ

Since it turns out the PICkit 2 is available for ~$25, the need for a
home-made programmer seems much less pressing.  There's room for some
concern they might discontinue it before making Linux support
available for the PICkit 3, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to
get rid of the '2'.