Flash Destroyer passes 2 million writes

Some time in the last few hours the Flash Destroyer passed 2 million write-verify cycles. jnd points to Microchip application notes 01019A [PDF!] and 00537 [PDF!] that explain the EEPROM endurance characterization process.

The higher the temperature, the worse the endurance will be. Generally, and approximately, a device which fails at 10 million cycles at 25°C will fail at 2 million cycles at 85°C and 1 million cycles at 125°C. The reasons for this are not conclusive (although there is much technical literature supporting one theory or another), but it is apparent that the failure mode of EEPROM cells (electron trapping in the tunnel dielectric causing shielding and dielectric breakdown) is strongly dependent on temperature.

The EEPROM is specified for 1 million writes at the specified voltage and temperature extremes. Running at room temperature, this chip might surpass 10 million write cycles. Or not. Stay tuned and find out. Submit your final count guess to win free PCBs.

You can preorder the Flash Destroyer ‘I like to solder’ kit for $30, including worldwide shipping.

Flash Destroyer approaching 1 million writes

The Flash Destroyer, our new EEPROM tester, is going to reach the first million write cycles in the next few hours (see a live stream here). Can you guess what the final write count will be when the EEPROM dies? We’ll give a couple unpublished Dangerous Prototypes PCBs to the three closest guesses.

You can preorder the Flash Destroyer ‘I like to solder’ kit for $30, including worldwide shipping.

Logic Sniffer: Major update, testers needed

This is an old version, see the latest version on the documentation wiki.

This week there should be a major update for the Open Logic Sniffer that fixes a communication problem on some boards when alternate bitstreams are loaded. This fix implements the SPI connection between the PIC and FPGA.  The update improved sample download speeds in our tests, even without any other modifications to the SUMP client software.

Right now we’d like to invite beta testers to try the update. You can download an update package in the forum. Keep reading for a short overview of the upgrade process.

Continue reading “Logic Sniffer: Major update, testers needed”

Prototype: Flash_Destroyer

The most recent documentation is now on the wiki

EEPROMs, such as flash memory, store data in electronic devices like cell phones, smart cards, SD cards, and solid-state drives. This type of memory can only endure a limited number of writes, it will eventually wear out and it won’t store new data. The Flash Destroyer explores that limit by writing and verifying a common EEPROM chip, rated for 1 million writes, until it burns out.

How long will it take to complete a million write-verify cycles? The Flash Destroyer’s current top speed is about 736 cycles per minute, or 22 hours to complete 1 million writes. Back that off to one write per second (11days) or per 10 seconds (110days) and the time increases dramatically. The Flash Destroyer has several alternative firmwares with different write speeds that can be loaded over USB.

Obviously the chip isn’t intended for this type of abuse. A million cycle ‘limitation’ isn’t bad at the user scale. The EEPROM inside a common SLE4442 smart card, often used in copy shops, has similar limitations. The life span is adequate because even one write per minute, every minute, gives it a 2 year lifespan – that’s a lot of copies.  Applications that need to write data more frequently use a different type of memory like SRAM.

How many writes an EEPROM will actually endure is anyone’s guess. Like an overclocked CPU, some will go way over the rated minimum, some will go a little over the minimum, but all should endure at least the rated number of writes. The Flash Destroyer on the live feed is running at about 408 writes per minute. It started at 08:11 GMT May 25, and should reach a million on Wednesday night (May 26), and two million on Friday afternoon (May 28). Can you guess the final count?

Preorder the Flash Destroyer ‘I like to solder’ kit for $30, including worldwide shipping.

When you’re ready to destroy some flash, follow us after the break.

Continue reading “Prototype: Flash_Destroyer”

Bus Pirate PIC 18F24J50 programmer update

We’ve been working on a PIC 24F programmer for the Bus Pirate, now we’re working on PIC18F24J50 support. PIC 24Fs and the 18F ‘J’ parts can be programmed directly by the Bus Pirate because they are 3.3volt chips that don’t require a separate programming voltage.

18FJ support means the Bus Pirate can reprogram any Logic Sniffers with firmware or bootloader problems. Our long-term goal is for all projects we’re involved with to be repairable with the Bus Pirate.

The current version of the Bus Pirate programmer software will now successfully erase a PIC 24FJ64GA002 or 18F24J50, read the chip ID, and program a block of flash. You can grab it from SVN.

Next, we’ll add the ability to read a HEX file and write it to the chip. Look for a test release later this week. We’re looking for any interested testers to give us a shout in the forum.

Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3b

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.

This week we’re giving away two Bus Pirate v3b PCBs. v3b is a minor update to the Bus Pirate with a few tweaks that make it easier to manufacture, read all about it here.

You can get a Bus Pirate for $30, including worldwide shipping at Seeed Studio. Adafruit also has the Bus Pirate and probe cables in stock and ready to ship.

Continue reading “Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3b”

Sigrok: Open source logic analyzer client

We previously posted the Sigrok open source logic analyzer client.  They’ve done a lot of work and it now supports the Saleae Logic, EE Electronics XLA/ESLA100, and ASIX SIGMA. Open Logic Sniffer support is in progress, which will enable Bus Pirate support at the same time.

The Logic Sniffer is $45, including worldwide shipping. The Bus Pirate is available at Seeed Studio and Adafruit Industries.

Logic Sniffer FPGA bitstream/ROM update

This is an old version, see the latest version on the documentation wiki.

The Logic Sniffer stores the FPGA (IC3) bitstream in a flash ROM chip (IC2). The PIC microcontroller (IC1) can update the bitstream from a computer using the multi-platform pump-loader application. This feature lets us release FPGA design updates with new features and bug fixes that can be loaded over the USB connection.

To enter ROM update mode, press the reset button while holding the update button. The ACT LED lights when the board is in ROM update mode. The PIC will also automatically enter ROM update mode if the FPGA doesn’t load correctly after a few seconds because of an error or blank ROM chip.

Update instructions follow the break. You can order the OLS at Seeed Studio for $45, including worldwide shipping. Don’t forget that Seeed now has probe cables for $6 each. Continue reading “Logic Sniffer FPGA bitstream/ROM update”

Laser cut Bus Pirate v2go case

Stewart Allen liked Ril3y’s ideas of using layers of laser cut perspex for a Bus Pirate case, so he designed his own for the Bus Pirate v2go and an AVR Dragon board. You can download the design files at his site.

Thanks for the tip! Here’s a complete list of the Bus Pirate cases we’ve seen so far.

The Bus Pirate is available at Seeed Studio and Adafruit Industries.

Introducing Dangerous Prototypes green, yellow, and red label

Our goal is to make stuff we enjoy, and offer it to like-minded hackers at a price we’d pay. We’re always looking for ways to improve the quality of our projects, but we still want to release prototypes for people who accept the risks of open source, enthusiast-designed hardware.  We’ve settled on two major changes to keep things open, loose, and cheap.

All but a few top secret projects will now be developed openly in the forum. Not many people are doing this in the emerging open source hardware industry, but we’re going to give it a try. Stop by, have a look, and give us a critique before prototypes are sent to the board house. We’ll announce new projects on the blog as they’re added.

In addition to seeing early project development, you’ll now be able to participate by buying engineering samples under the new Dangerous Prototypes ‘green label’. It’s like an Apple program that makes engineering prototypes of new iPhones available to the public. More below.

Continue reading “Introducing Dangerous Prototypes green, yellow, and red label”

Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3b

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.

This week we’re giving away two Bus Pirate v3b PCBs. v3b is a minor update to the Bus Pirate with a few tweaks that make it easier to manufacture, read all about it here.

You can get a Bus Pirate for $30, including worldwide shipping at Seeed Studio. Adafruit also has the Bus Pirate and probe cables in stock and ready to ship.

Continue reading “Free PCB Sunday: Bus Pirate v3b”

Bus Pirate PIC 24F programmer update

The Bus Pirate PIC 24F programmer will now successfully erase a PIC 24F and read the chip ID. In the future this could be a handy way to unbrick one Bus Pirate with another. Our goal is to make all Dangerous Prototypes projects repairable via a Bus Pirate programmer.

We couldn’t get the commands in the programming specification to work, even though everything looked perfect on a logic analyzer. Eventually we had to sniff the ICSP pins while we erased the chip with an ICD2. The actual commands were way off from our understanding of the datasheet. The erase operation seems to included an undocumented command.

A test programmer application should be finished very soon. Then we’ll add support for other 3.3volt PICs. The 18F24J50 in the Logic Sniffer is our next target.

We still have one of Ril3y’s laser-cut Bus Pirate cases to give away, we’ll send it to anyone who makes a contribution to the programmer effort (more below).

The latest source, executable, and scripts are in the SVN.

Continue reading “Bus Pirate PIC 24F programmer update”

Web platform: uIP TCP/IP stack with interrupts, DMA

Here’s another update on the uIP TCP/IP stack port for the web platform. Bonybrown got the uIP stack to work with interrupts from the ENC28J60, and used DMA to transfer buffers to PIC memory.

Performance wise – no real difference I can see from the ping times; theoretically, the biggest improvement will be in “responsiveness” of other tasks on the dsPIC, especially when sending or receiving larger packets.

Bonybrown’s previous work is in the web platform folder of the SVN. We’ll try to release the newer code as a complete project archive in a few days.

Bus Pirate: MMA7456L three-axis accelerometer

Starlino used the Bus Pirate to explore a Freescale MMA7456L, a three-axis accelerometer with both I2C and SPI interfaces.

The surface mount chip is on a homemade though-hole breakout board, there’s also a tutorial on this handy adapter.

You can get a Bus Pirate for $30, including worldwide shipping at Seeed Studio. Adafruit also has the Bus Pirate and probe cables in stock and ready to ship.