Post by thread:[PIC]:Format of HEX and INX/INHX files

Hi all, I am a newbie to Pic's and have just finished my first project (Digital clock using PIC16c84). In short, I would like to do my own programmer directly from HEX and/or INHX files, my reason for this follows... Can any point me in the direction of the types of files that the assembler generates, together with descriptions of the format. (.HEX and INHX formats in particular) I want to use them in a programmer. REASON FOR PROGRAMMER.. I found it a pain to develop in Windoze and re-boot to DOS to program the chip. The programmer I have does some 'bit banging' on the printer port and NT gets in the way. Furthermore, moving the PIC to and fro between the programmer and the proto-board became annoying. For my next project I want to build a programmer that will run off a com port instead, ideally accepting the .HEX file produced from the assembler. So all I need to do to program a chip is to send the .HEX / .INX etc file to the com port. My programmer would then decode the file and produce the signals for in-circuit-programming. I want to make the programmer as generic as possible, so that it could support all sorts of flash micros. Many thanks in advance Anton Schoultz spam_OUTantonsTakeThisOuTePOS.co.za tel: +27 11 267-9564 -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

> I found it a pain to develop in Windoze and re-boot to DOS > to program the chip. > > The programmer I have does some 'bit banging' on the printer > port and NT gets in the way. Furthermore, moving the PIC to and > fro between the programmer and the proto-board became annoying. > > For my next project I want to build a programmer that will run > off a com port instead, Microchip makes such a thing. The low end unit is called the PicStart Plus, and supports the whole PIC product line, and it connects via a serial port. The price is well under two hours billable time, which is a lot less than it will cost to build one yourself. ***************************************************************** Olin Lathrop, embedded systems consultant in Devens Massachusetts (978) 772-3129, .....olinKILLspam@spam@cognivis.com, http://www.cognivis.com -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

----- Original Message ----- From: Olin Lathrop <olin_piclistKILLspamCOGNIVIS.COM> To: <.....PICLISTKILLspam.....MITVMA.MIT.EDU> Sent: Friday, November 10, 2000 9:59 AM Subject: Re: [PIC]:Format of HEX and INX/INHX files {Quote hidden}> > I found it a pain to develop in Windoze and re-boot to DOS > > to program the chip. > > > > The programmer I have does some 'bit banging' on the printer > > port and NT gets in the way. Furthermore, moving the PIC to and > > fro between the programmer and the proto-board became annoying. > > > > For my next project I want to build a programmer that will run > > off a com port instead, > > Microchip makes such a thing. The low end unit is called the PicStart Plus, > and supports the whole PIC product line, and it connects via a serial port. > The price is well under two hours billable time, which is a lot less than it > will cost to build one yourself. > > ***************************************************************** > Olin Lathrop, embedded systems consultant in Devens Massachusetts > (978) 772-3129, EraseMEolinspam_OUTTakeThisOuTcognivis.com, http://www.cognivis.com > Unless you're a low-budget student, or perhaps you are trying to learn something, or perhaps you are designing a product for sale, or... Not everybody is a big bucks "embedded systems consultant in Devens Massachusetts" or even a "contract developer of high performance, high function, low-level software" :-) Bob Ammerman RAm Systems (contract development of high performance, high function, low-level software) -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

> In short, I would like to do my own programmer directly from > HEX and/or INHX files, my reason for this follows... The fromat is described in an appendix of the MPASM manual, free from uChip. > For my next project I want to build a programmer that will run > off a com port instead, ideally accepting the .HEX file produced > from the assembler. So all I need to do to program a chip is to > send the .HEX / .INX etc file to the com port. My programmer > would then decode the file and produce the signals for > in-circuit-programming. I want to make the programmer as > generic as possible, so that it could support all sorts of > flash micros. I certainly don't want to discourage you from building you own programer (I did so myself), but there are already lots of serial-port based programmer designs on the web, ranging from (almost) 0-components programmers for flash devices only to more elaborate designs. My own is at http://www.xs4all.nl/~wf/wouter/wisp I'm sure James has gathered a usefull list of programmer links somewhere on techref. If I remember well there was at least a plan for a programmer that would accept a raw hex file. Not a good idea IMHO because it would be difficult to do a verification unless your device has enough memory to store the complete image... Wouter -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

In message <000601c04b14$0c3bab00$211ea8c0spam_OUTlothlorien.co.za>, Anton Schoultz <@spam@antonsKILLspamEPOS.CO.ZA> writes >I found it a pain to develop in Windoze and re-boot to DOS >to program the chip. Why not just run a Windows programmer?. >The programmer I have does some 'bit banging' on the printer >port and NT gets in the way. Furthermore, moving the PIC to and >fro between the programmer and the proto-board became annoying. Use an NT compatible programmer, assuming your programmer is a 'David Tait' style programmer, I have free NT software on my website. >For my next project I want to build a programmer that will run >off a com port instead, ideally accepting the .HEX file produced >from the assembler. So all I need to do to program a chip is to >send the .HEX / .INX etc file to the com port. My programmer >would then decode the file and produce the signals for >in-circuit-programming. I want to make the programmer as >generic as possible, so that it could support all sorts of >flash micros. If you want to do it, the HEX file formats used to be in the MPASM documentation, I presume they still are?. -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : KILLspamnigelgKILLspamlpilsley.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

As long as we're talking about programmers... Does anyone make a programmer/evaluation board for PICs somewhat similar to the STAK AVR boards? Ie something with a bunch of LEDs and switches, and maybe a protoboard area, so that simple programs can be written, programmed, and tried out, all without a bunch of socket-swapping? Thanks Bill W -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.

In message <001001c04b60$8c5072c0$spamBeGone0600a8c0spamBeGoneefplus.com>, James Newton <TakeThisOuTjamesnewtonEraseMEspam_OUTpiclist.com> writes >To cross this over to another thread, have you written (or do you think it >would be possible to write) a NT driver for generic EPP or ECP data transfer >both to and from a parallel port connected device? I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, I use a freeware port driver in my NT version, you could use that to transfer bytes at a time - I presume if the port was set to EPP or ECP you could access the extra registers and use those modes. -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : RemoveMEnigelgTakeThisOuTlpilsley.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! use listservEraseME.....mitvma.mit.edu?body=SET%20PICList%20DIGEST

Thank - you for the many useful responses ! Being in South Africa (2Hrs forward, 20 years back) commercial programmers such as PicStart etc are not that easy to come by, and with our exchange rate, they are kinda out-of-pocket for hobby use. I figure I could build one for less, and get to learn something in the process. Particular thanks to - Simon Nield: Wotsit site now book marked, and hex format printed out Wouter: I have already downloaded your design and studied it. Nigel Goodwin: My existing programmer is a Davit Tail derivative, from Farsoft. The programmer I wish to build, must support In-Circuit programming, and should support other embedded micros as well. I'll certainly check out your site for the NT version of your software - I presently use the DOS version for my Farsoft programmer. James Newton: Writing an NT driver is not a prospect that I would cherish ! - and it is not quite the solution I'm after (see comments for Nigel) In response to William's comment re: evaluation boards - I must say that I concur with his desires, perhaps a few boards - main PCB (MPU, crystal, VReg) - RS232 PCB (SP232A, caps, DB9, switch for DTE/DCE) - 7Seg PCB (Mux. & Seg Led, with drive resistors and 1 of N low digit) - Hex PCB (TIL hex display unit(s) ) - Key PCB (Key pad matrix, column driver, pull-ups etc) - LED PCB (10 LED Bar display with series resistors, perhaps a latch) - PROTO PCB (Proto type board, perhaps laid out the same as a bread-board so designs can be migrated from bread board to pcb) - etc all with 0.1" space pins for connection; that way if we have a new project with say 2 RS232 ports, a display and keypad we can fish the requisite bits out of the drawer, and join them up with cables (as used in PC Coms ports etc) Software can then be developed and tested from there. The smart ones amongst us will build up a library of routines that go with these building blocks, which we can then #include in our project ;-) Once we have the design tried & tested, we can design the project specific PCB with the necessary bits. Thanks again for all the help, advise and comments Anton Schoultz EraseMEantonsePOS.co.za tel: +27 11 267-9564 -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: "[PIC]:","[SX]:","[AVR]:" =uP ONLY! "[EE]:","[OT]:" =Other "[BUY]:","[AD]:" =Ads

> > In response to William's comment re: evaluation boards - > I must say that I concur with his desires, perhaps a few boards > - main PCB (MPU, crystal, VReg) > - RS232 PCB (SP232A, caps, DB9, switch for DTE/DCE) > - 7Seg PCB (Mux. & Seg Led, with drive resistors and 1 of N low digit) > - Hex PCB (TIL hex display unit(s) ) > - Key PCB (Key pad matrix, column driver, pull-ups etc) > - LED PCB (10 LED Bar display with series resistors, perhaps a latch) > - PROTO PCB (Proto type board, perhaps laid out the same as a bread-board > so designs can be migrated from bread board to pcb) > - etc Check out SIMMSTICKS! Bob Ammerman RAm Systems (contract development of high performance, high function, low-level software) -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: "[PIC]:","[SX]:","[AVR]:" =uP ONLY! "[EE]:","[OT]:" =Other "[BUY]:","[AD]:" =Ads