There’s a new IR Toy/WinLIRC tutorial that shows how to decode remote controls on your computer. WinLIRC doesn’t control things alone, but it works as a plugin with automation programs like EventGhost to control your computer using a remote control with almost any protocol. For instant satisfaction, try the WinLIRC irGraph tool. It shows a […]
Author Archives: Ian
Logic Sniffer dynamic memory depth in v2.12
The Gadget Factory released Logic Sniffer upgrade v2.12. There’s a video demonstration of the new features. This update includes dynamic memory depths. This means no more swapping bitstreams to get more samples when you only use 8 or 16 channels. Jochem Govers added this feature in response to the Gadget Factory’s bounty contest. There’s a […]
Inexpensive multi-programmer update
An update of the inexpensive, medium-speed AVR/PIC/CPLD/Arduino programmer is posted in the forum. This programmer is designed for people who don’t own a programmer, and just want to rescue a bricked PIC or AVR. This version takes into account the pin connection diagram MichaelZ outlined during our last design review. The update has a single […]
Logic Sniffer laser cut case
jjshortcut made his own laser cut case for the Logic Sniffer at Fablab Utrecht. Great work! Here’s some other user-submitted cases, some with files you can use to build your own. You can order the Logic Sniffer at Seeed Studio for $45, including worldwide shipping. Don’t forget that Seeed now has probe cables for $6 […]
piratePICprog wiki page
The new Bus Pirate PIC programmer has a wiki page with instructions and examples. The application is nearly complete, there’s just some tweaking required to get the memory settings right for each PIC family. If you’re interested in contributing, there’s a development section on the wiki with links to the source code and compiler.
Preview: Bus Blaster update
A newly updated Bus Blaster design is posted in the forum. The Bus Blaster is a high-speed JTAG debugger and flash ROM programmer based on the FT2232H USB chip. Development started in the spring, but stalled because we couldn’t find the right buffer chip. We wanted to support targets from 2.0volts to 5.0volts, but we […]
Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3.0SE
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few professionally-made PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service. This odd-ball Bus Pirate is […]
Week in (p)review: August 15, 2010
Here’s some highlights from the past week, in case you missed them: MichaelZ is developing a USB LCD backpack in the forum Garak started a discussion about a computer controlled voltage/current source/sink for testing and profiling electronic parts. PCBs arrived for Bus Pirate v4, an updated USB IR Toy, and the 3EEPROM explorer board We […]
Microchip C30 compiler on Linux
A common criticism of Microchip’s compilers and IDE is that they’re only available on Windows. However, the compilers are all based on GCC so they’re open source. Tayken has been working on a Linux port, and linked to this detailed guide with resources for compiling C30 under Linux. Binaries are not yet available, but the […]
Bus Pirate firmware v5.6
Bus Pirate firmware v5.6 is ready to download. This is a bugfix release: Fixed swapped SPI sniffer macros Stop PWM/servo between modes Fixed servo prompt and error Prevent servo in hiz Updated the text for servo code Added servo command to the help Read about the firmware update process for the ds30 Loader GUI (Windows/Linux) […]
USB Infrared Toy manual updated
The documentation wiki for the USB Infrared Toy has been updated. There’s new upgrade instructions, mode overview pages, and easy access to the schematic and partlist. We could still use some help documenting the connection procedure for Linux and Mac. A picture of the IR Toy connecting to Windows for the first time would also […]
Advertising: Sponsor a conference
Dangerous Prototypes is now a sponsor of the Open Hardware Summit. This wasn’t one of the original options in our Advertising roundup, but after pt’s call for sponsors we gave them half of our proposed advertising budget. We won’t pretend it’s altruistic, we get exposure and legitimacy by sponsoring. It is very much part of […]
Bus Pirate v4, IR Toy update, 3EEPROM PCBs
A big box of PCBs arrived from Seeed’s Fusion board service today. Here are a few of the boards that have been mentioned on the blog or in the forum: An updated 3EEPROM explorer board USB Infrared Toy manufacturing update Bus Pirate v4 prototype for developers Most of these boards won’t be available for months, […]
Alternative Logic Sniffer client update released
jawi released v0.8.1 of his fork of SUMP, a logic analyzer client that works with the Logic Sniffer (download here). This version adds baud rates up to 900kbps that take advantage of the SPI interface between the PIC and FPGA added in firmware v0.4+/bitstream v2+. This seems to increase the sample download speed for some, […]
Dummy loads and heat sinks
We really enjoyed Dave’s video about a junk box constant current load. It can be used to test a number of things like battery capacity, heat sink characteristics. Via Hackaday.
Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3.0SE
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few professionally-made PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service. This odd-ball Bus Pirate is […]
Week in (p)review: August 8, 2010
Here’s some highlights from the past week, in case you missed them: PiratePICprog v0.2 was released, program some PICs with the Bus Pirate Bus Pirate firmware v5.5 with servo driver, updated PIC programming support, new Flashrom command A preview of the inexpensive multi-chip programmer. There’s a lengthy discussion in the forum about fixing bugs and […]
Lazy Saturday free PCB
There’s a lot going on in the lab this morning. Instead of writing a post, we’re going to give away a couple PCBs for an all through-hole version of the USB Infrared Toy. This is part of a kit that probably won’t be made because the through-hole version of the PIC18F2550 is four times the […]
Bus Pirate firmware v5.5
Bus Pirate firmware v5.5 is ready to download. This version has a few new features and a couple bug fixes. New servo controller (‘S’), thanks Randy New SPI binary bulk read/write should speed up Flashrom Updated commands to support piratePICprog Some bug fixes, as usual Read about the firmware update process for the ds30 Loader […]
Bus Pirate PIC programmer v0.2
piratePICprog programs PIC microcontrollers using the Bus Pirate. Newer PICs are programmed directly, like the 18F24J50 on the Logic Sniffer and the 24FJ64GA002 on the Bus Pirate. Older PICs, like the 12F/16F/18F require a 13volt supply to enter programming mode, an adapter will be ready soon. piratePICprog v0.2 is now available in the forum. It’s […]