[Usbpicprog-technical] new PCB and current software status

[Francesco M. <f18...@ya...>]

Hi Frans,
    I've noticed that you have committed a new version of the PCB (rev 0.3); it 
seems the new schematic will allow to support also lower-voltage PICs; I'll try 
to test it asap (if you say it's ready to be "beta-tested").

May I suggest a new feature? When building UPP for the first time I found out 
that most of the times the UPP failures were due to the pump not reaching 12V 
for some reason. I see that pin #12 (AN11) of the PIC18F2550 used in the 
programmer is not connected to anything.
Connecting it to VPP (through a voltage divider) would allow the firmware to 
self-test the charge-pump using its internal ADC.

I understand that this would further complicate the routing but if it turns out 
that this is not a big problem, then I think the two additional resistors are 
worth it :)

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Other question: does current software/firmware works for you?
I have revised almost all code of upp_wx, in particular the Hardware class, with 
the aim of reducing redundancy and add more safety checks... this helped me to 
better understand the internals of UPP but I still cannot currently 
program&verify any of the following devices I have tested:
- 16F84A
- 18F2550
- 18F4450
I don't know if the problem lies
a) in my UPP HW
b) in the cable a little bit too long I'm using to connect UPP with PICs under 
tests (unfortunately I cannot easily cut it)
c) in the read or program operations of the firmware

OTOH if I do a "program without verify" cycle UPP says everything was programmed 
fine (except for the 16F84A which says "verify error during programming"); I'll 
soon test if this is the case (putting the PIC in the real circuit where it 
needs to go).

I'm using firmware rev 547....

I don't think the problem is the software since in my cases it fails just 
because of the (error) codes returned by the firmware but just to be sure: does 
current software works for you?


Bye,
Francesco


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