Author Archives: Ian

Bus Pirate: Fast upgrades on slow chips

See the latest version in the documentation wiki. The individual PIC chip we used on the Bus Pirate v3 is among those that won’t bootload at 115200bps. Our upgrade recommendation until now has been to bootload firmware at 9600bps, or faster if your PIC will allow. After working with one of these ‘slow’ chips, we’ve […]

Chips: DS1307 I2C real-time clock

This is an old version, see the latest version on the documentation wiki. The DS1307 is a simple, inexpensive I2C real-time clock, it’s somewhat similar to the PCF8563 that was previously demonstrated with the Bus Pirate. This chip has some nice features. It has internal capacitors on both oscillator pins, the only required external part […]

Bus Pirate: Repeat command

See the latest version in the documentation wiki. RAW3WIRE>r:5<<<read 5 bytes (DEC) READ 0x05 BYTES: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 RAW3WIRE>r:0x05<<<read 5 bytes (HEX) READ 0x05 BYTES: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 RAW3WIRE>r:0b101<<<read 5 bytes (BIN) READ 0x05 BYTES: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 RAW3WIRE> Many Bus Pirate commands can be repeated by adding ‘: […]

Bus Pirate: 2K pull-up resistor mod

The Bus Pirate v2go shipped with 10K ohm pull-up resistors (R20-23). We modded our Bus Pirate with a 2K pull-up resistor so we don’t need an external resistor to work with 1-Wire devices. Pull-up resistors larger than 2.2K ohms don’t provide enough current for parasitically powered 1-Wire parts. Since we only need the bigger resistor […]

Bus Pirate: Number formats

This is an old version, see the latest version on the documentation wiki. The Bus Pirate terminal interface accepts numbers in three formats: hexadecimal, decimal, and binary. It also displays values in HEX/DEC/BIN and a raw byte format. This short guide explains how to enter number values into the Bus Pirate, and how to adjust […]

Bus Pirate firmware v2.2 roadmap

With Bus Pirate firmware v2.1 out the door, we started thinking about what we wanted to include in v2.2. Here’s our thoughts so far: I2C/SPI EEPROM dump and program macro. I2C hardware slave. I2C sniffer. UART auto baud rate detector. JTAG library integration with bitbang functions, facelift and improvements. Central data struct for syntax variables, […]

Fundamental Logic Bus Pirate v1 kit now $20

Fundamental Logic was the first company to offer a Bus Pirate for sale. Their Bus Pirate v1a through-hole kit is currently on sale for $20.  v1a is completely compatible with the latest firmware updates, the main difference between v1a and v2 & v3 is the connection type (serial vs USB) and the pull-up resistors (manual […]

Bus Pirate HEX/DEC/BIN converter

See the latest version in the documentation wiki. Converting between hexadecimal, decimal, and binary is a pretty constant activity when you work with a new microchip. HiZ>=<<<HEX/DEC/BIN converter command CONVERT (1) >0b1010 <<<convert this value 0x0A <<<HEX equivalent 10<<<DEC equivalent 0b00001010<<<BIN equivalent HiZ>=<<<HEX/DEC/BIN converter command CONVERT (1) >0xf 0x0F 15 0b00001111 HiZ> The latest Bus […]

Hack a Day Bus Pirate preorder 2 update

Seeed Studio just tweeted an update on Hack a Day’s second Bus Pirate preorder. Looks like they’ll ship in one week: After long time waiting,we got ICs from Digikey. Now Bus Pirat Preorder 2 just started manufacture,will be ship out within a week. Check out our Bus Pirate goodies when it arrives. Thanks Mike! Artwork […]

Easy infrared UART data link

Here’s an easy way to transfer data with an infrared LED and an infrared remote control demodulator. The example uses an Arduino, but the technique will work with any microcontroller. The transmitting microcontroller powers an IR LED from a pin configured as a 38KHz pulse-width modulator. Another pin configured as a 2400bps UART switches the […]

Seeed Studio Rainbowduino Carnival contest

Seeed Studio, the team that handles fulfillment of the Bus Pirate, is celebrating the success of their Rainbowduino LED control platform with a design contest. The Rainbowduino can control any LEDs, but it seems to be designed for the 8×8 LED matrix blocks in the picture. The best projects win hardware and Seeed Studio store […]

Bus Pirate Spanish, Italian translations

Project contributor pastus submitted Bus Pirate translations in Spanish and Italian. You can download the localized builds for most hardware versions from the project SVN nightly compiles folder. If you don’t see a build for your language and hardware combination, please request it in the comments. Most of the Bus Pirate interface text is defined […]

VA7DB's web server on a business card build

This is VA7DB’s homemade build of the web server on a business card project Ian posted at Hack a Day. A PIC microcontroller handles incoming connections and serves files from a microSD card. An ENC28J60 ethernet MAC/PHY provides the network interface. There’s a live site, but you’ll have to find the link yourself, we don’t […]