Dangerous Prototypes Open Source Hardware

Hello!

Thank you for the quick reply! I really really appreciate it!

As for details, I recently purchased the Pirate Bus so I believe it is version 3 for the hardware.
I have followed the various instructions on the wiki documentary in upgrading both the bootloader and firmware to version 4.1 both.
(I realize the newest version of firmware is currently something like 5.6... but I figured I might as well use this 4.1 version and cut it down to what I need for my project)

As an overview detail, my project overally is using the Pirate Bus to read some fast-spitting data chip and to write the data to a file on my computer via the USB connection--and this should all be autonomous. Currently, with the firmware 4.1, I can very manually configure the board and then read a selected amount of data and write the bits to the terminal.

My most immediate problem would be just the process of getting from .c/.h projects onto the Pirate Bus and having that work as the code programs it to work.

And yep! I have scoured through the Dangerous Prototypes like no other--though there are a lot of things I don't understand and there's a lot of epic programmers out there with awesome projects too! It's a great resource =)


Questions:
-- 1) When you said, "I recommend you use the hex-file that is outputted by the C30 tool chain.
Do not use MPLAB export unless you have a good reason to" -- what's the process of "activating" or using the C30 tool chain? Is this just building/compiling the project? I noticed that a .hex file is made even before I manually do "export"--however, I think it is too big so that when I try to bootload with the DS30 Loader, it tells me that I'm going to overwrite the bootloader.. (in "export," the Pirate Bus manual suggests changing the size of the .hex file and also to unselect "configuration bits"... how would you do the equivalent with the C30 tool chain??)

-- 2) You also asked if my hardware is set up correctly (in relevance to my second question from my previous email).
So with the BPv3-Firmware-v4.1.hex that I found available on the Pirate Bus website as is, all I have to do with it is bootload it with the DS30 Loader, reset (plug/unplug), open Terminal, and then Terminal responds and displays stuff properly with commands.

However, with the .c/.h project libraries (also available on the Pirate Bus website) or my hashed-up versions of .c/.h projects, I have to open up MPLAB and do the compiling and .hex-ing. They all SEEM TO compile successfully and I make them into .hex files and load them up with the DS30 Loader following the instructions online.... but the Terminal fails to do anything.
The Pirate Bus hardware itself is plugged in with just a USB cord and I do the same things in both "experiments".. so I think the error might be in the MPLAB/compiling/.hex-ing steps that I do pre-bootloading or maybe there's something else in code that would make BPv3-Firmware-v4.1.hex different somehow from the .hex that I make out of the .c/.h projects.
I'm just not sure what.

-- 3) When you said, "I'd guess you don't have the correct versions of the hardware set in base.h"--I do recall that instructions somewhere said that I had to go into base.h to change the versions and such... but I never found where I'm supposed to do that?
There isn't any "hardware version" indication in base.h.. (for looking at the actual .c/.h code.. I am currently looking at version C). Is there any more specific place I'm supposed to change with the versions I have now?

And also, would the 4.1 versions be ok as a jumping board off into my own project and coding, or are there things I need to watch out for with them?

Thank you very much for your help! Any advice or suggestions would be very appreciated!!

-- 1) When you said, "I recommend you use the hex-file that is outputted by the C30 tool chain.
Do not use MPLAB export unless you have a good reason to" -- what's the process of "activating" or using the C30 tool chain? Is this just building/compiling the project? I noticed that a .hex file is made even before I manually do "export"--however, I think it is too big so that when I try to bootload with the DS30 Loader, it tells me that I'm going to overwrite the bootloader.. (in "export," the Pirate Bus manual suggests changing the size of the .hex file and also to unselect "configuration bits"... how would you do the equivalent with the C30 tool chain??)

-- 2) You also asked if my hardware is set up correctly (in relevance to my second question from my previous email).
So with the BPv3-Firmware-v4.1.hex that I found available on the Pirate Bus website as is, all I have to do with it is bootload it with the DS30 Loader, reset (plug/unplug), open Terminal, and then Terminal responds and displays stuff properly with commands.
 so I think the error might be in the MPLAB/compiling/.hex-ing steps that I do pre-bootloading or maybe there's something else in code that would make BPv3-Firmware-v4.1.hex different somehow from the .hex that I make out of the .c/.h projects.
I'm just not sure what.

-- 3) When you said, "I'd guess you don't have the correct versions of the hardware set in base.h"--I do recall that instructions somewhere said that I had to go into base.h to change the versions and such... but I never found where I'm supposed to do that?
There isn't any "hardware version" indication in base.h.. Is there any more specific place I'm supposed to change with the versions I have now?

//this sets the hardware version
//#define BUSPIRATEV0A //http://hackaday.com/2008/11/19/how-to-the-bus-pirate-universal-serial-interface/
//#define BUSPIRATEV2A
//#define BUSPIRATEV25 //AKA Bus Pirate v2go
//#define BUSPIRATEV1A //http://hackaday.com/2009/01/22/how-to-bus-pirate-v1-improved-universal-serial-interface/
#define BUSPIRATEV3 

And also, would the 4.1 versions be ok as a jumping board off into my own project and coding, or are there things I need to watch out for with them?

who's Sjaak?

I have scoured through the Dangerous Prototypes like no other...there's a lot of epic programmers out there with awesome projects too!

I figured I might as well use this 4.1 version and cut it down to what I need for my project

The code I am looking at can be found here: http://blog.mahalo.com/hackaday/howto/buspirate.v0c.zip

the FT232R says it's capable up to 40MHz... how would i access that speed? here's where it says that: http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/ICs/FT232R.htm

the "b" command is for the terminal i think, so after i change the UART speed, i should be able to add in code to increase the speed? they're not the same thing right? they just have to be set at the same speed... so if i can increase the UART speed, i can find some terminal that also can run at that speed..

Also, checking the datasheet, it DOES say that the RS232 serial connection can only transfer data 1-3MBaud speed.... but i'm using a USB to USB connection... it should not restrict the speed right?

please explain in detail if you can!

The wiki entry about the 'b' command:

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Bus ... port_speed

with option 10 you can enter the BRG register value exactly. 34 for example is 115200baud. The lower the value the faster the UART speed. On the end there is a link to a baudrate calculator (there are many more on the internet).

The ftdi chip is an USB to serial converter and is thus limited to the maximum baudrate the PIC understands.