Activity for Derek
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Derek posted a comment on discussion Help
Excellent Evan. All fixed. I removed #define byte_variable PORTA.0 and added dim byte_variable as Byte and all works as expected in the Real Pic Simulator. One thing to note for users. When using a micro with an 8 bit ADC, the Real Pic Simulator shows it as a 10 bit (at least it does in Visual Mode). This means that the simulator will be expecting a value exactly 4 times what you are wishing to detect in your code ie I set a threshold of ADC value of 128 and the Real Pic Sim will see that as a value...
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Thanks heaps Evan. You are a lifesaver. I've wondered where the new colour coded compiler is hiding. I only downloaded what I believed to be the latest version 5 days ago. There are versions in github, sourceforge & I think at gcbasic.com. Can you give me the link for the latest version?
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Hmmm, seems only one file uploaded. Here is the .gcb file for the above.
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Thank you Evan for all your hard work on the above. I thought I'd start very simple this time. I've attached a very small code snippet that I can't get to work in the Real Pic Simulator, along with a screenshot of the project loaded into the Real Pic Simulator. I'm hopeful you can tell me what's wrong with my code? It compiles fine (Build 1523 04/10/2025). I've detailed the expected outcome as comments in the code. Basically, portB.5 should flash and portB.4 should come on if AD0 is >=128. Real Pic...
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Thank you heaps Evan. I'm looking at your refactoring & will come back after I have thoroughly examined it. I have come from the world of programming using RTOS, so the Goto's was my methodology of how to implement this without using millis and interrupts. One quick question. Normally, does the Real Pic Simulator input/output pin visualisations, show 8 bit ADCs as 10 bit ADCs? All three 8 bit ADCs (AN0, AN1, AN3) show in the Real Pic Simulator (visualisation mode) as being 10 bit ADCs.
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This is sounding excellent Angel. Setting up MPLAB X is quite a pain for simulation. Is there a manual describing how to use the new GC Studio Debugger? I have generated the debug file & can get the debugger to operate. Unfortunately, I have little idea of what to actually look for within the working registers to have much hope of locating why my code does not operate as expected.
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I'm hoping someone can help me. I'm using the PIC16F716. The ADC registers for this chip have some constraints. You can select 4 x ADC pins in, or 3 x ADC pins in & one digital out (RA2, which is what my project does). The ADCs are 8 bit. The attached .gcb code compiles fine & runs through the entire start-up sequence absolutely fine. When it gets to the main loop with the ADC reads, it seems to hang. I don't know if this is my code (probably) or a problem with the chip definitions. I've tried to...
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Simulide is a linux program converted to run on Windows. I found placing the input & output objects and wire connections between them using Windows 10 to be quite buggy, so much so, that I gave up & went looking for greener pastures. Of course, YMMV.
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According to an in-depth AI search, it appears the developer of the Real Pic Simulator has passed away. You cannot download the Real Pic Simulator software from their website anymore (http://digitalelectrosoft.com), nor can you contact them via their contact page (https://digitalelectrosoft.com/contact) It appears you can only download it from 3rd party sites. When you go to pay, you are also send to a 3rd party site. I suspect a family member receives part of the proceeds (after 3rd party expenses)....
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I have some hex files that run on the hardware absolutely perfectly. The hex files were generated in Actum Solutions Realizer software. As this software has not been supported since 2021, I thought that my new designs should be done in GCBASIC to take advantage of several of the latest Microchip parts. After finishing the GCB code, I ran it through the Oshonsoft simulator. Much to my disappointment, the Oshonsoft simulator did not accurately read the code. I spent a great deal of time (unsuccessfully)...
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Excellent idea Angel. With later releases, Microchip has moved PIC-AS into different folders within MPLAB X. I'm wondering, will the new GCBASIC debugger work with the earlier PIC chips that were only supported when using MPASM?
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For those who can't locate the PIC-AS.EXE file in their recent MPLABX installation, perhaps look for it in the Microchip C Compiler. Yesterday I downloaded the latest MPLABX ver 6.30 and, after extensive searching, it appears that Microchip have decided that the PIC-AS.EXE file should now be part of their C Compiler. My Microchip C Compiler got updated at the same time (as I selected the simulator option). YMMV, however this is a heads up if you can't locate it within MPLABX. Added: I should have...
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For those who can't locate the PIC-AS.EXE file in their recent MPLABX installation, perhaps look for it in the Microchip C Compiler. Yesterday I downloaded the latest MPLABX ver 6.30 and, after extensive searching, it appears that Microchip have decided that the PIC-AS.EXE file should now be part of their C Compiler. My Microchip C Compiler got updated at the same time (as I selected the simulator option). YMMV, however this is a heads up if you can't locate it within MPLABX.
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Thank you Evan. You have put a lot of work into supporting these later AVR micros. Many chips like the ATtiny406 & ATtiny806 represent excellent value, and they are available in nice SOIC packages running at 5V.
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Thanks Anobium. You have worked hard in supporting these microcontrollers. I see you programmed these AVR series 0 microcontrollers (that require UPDI programming) using the XNANO board. I'm asking for suggestions to locate a programmer to program both series 0 & series 1 AVR chips in boards that do not contain a USB connector? ie only a programming pin header is loaded onto the board. I see the Pickit5 is one option. Emulation is not a hard requirement. To remain flexible, the programmer should...
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This is just an update for those who may be reading this thread at some time in the future. Evan Venn (Anobium), along with his co-associates, have worked very hard in supporting both the newer ATtiny & Atmega series 0 & series 1 AVR Atmel/Microchip microcontrollers. Most variants are now fully supported. My thanks go out to everyone involved with this project. The AVR series 0 & 1 are fantastic value offering great bang for your buck. Most are available in SOIC packages, or with a pin spacing of...
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Excellent work Evan! Thank you for all your hard work on this project. Great idea to publish the project & its progress on ko-fi.com I'll send you a video of the scrolling LCD information that we currently collect from the Acrel ADL200. This might give you some ideas, but certainly is not set in concrete, so feel free to display whatever information you choose on the LCD for this project.
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Evan, does your interest in supporting the 8051 come from Intel's original 8052-BASIC interpreter residing in ROM? Intel released the source code for their BASIC interpreter some years back. Atmel (now Microchip) manufacture some 8051 variants, so maybe they would help you? Also note that MCS Electronics BASCOM supports the 8051 with their BASIC compiler. Intel's Reference Manual can be found here: https://www.dos4ever.com/8031board/Basic52Manual.pdf and it has been reformatted into compliant HTML...
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Many of us may remember using wooden blocks (in primary school) to learn how fractions worked. This was a visual experience that was very effective for children. Visual programming (or coding as they now call it in schools) has been shown to be the most effective method of introducing primary & middle school students to the power of microcontrollers. As Albert Einstein once said "One picture is worth 1000 words." Just look at where much of Flowcode's (www.flowcode.co.uk) income comes from - Schools...
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@Anobium - Your offer of time & expertise to work on a new project to measure grid import & solar export should bring in new users to experience the ease & power of Great Cow Basic (GCB). I'll reach out separately to organise 2 x ADL200 power meters to go to the UK for you. Normally they come with random (slave) addresses to identify them. We order the power meters with the same slave address as this speeds up our production. @Angel Mier - Thank you for offering your expertise using Mike's (mmotte)...
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I am stumped at the moment on how to resolve supporting donations for a number of major countries. US$ in an envelope might be the only way, however remember that currently it is illegal to be paid from countries on the western sanctions list. This includes Russia & North Korea.
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As many users are aware, the Arduino community out there is pretty big. Many are also aware that the Arduino code is (generally) more cryptic than Great Cow Basic (GCB) and its compiled code (generally) runs slower than GCB. Also, Arduino locks you in to a smallish number of microcontrollers. I ask myself why Arduino, when there is a cheaper, faster & easier solution? One of the main reasons (apart from Google having its hand in developing some of the code) I believe is because the maker community...
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Thanks heaps Kent. Much appreciated. Can you advise - is the list on the weblink below showing GCB supported micros fully up to date? http://gcbasic.sourceforge.net/chipdata.html?latest=1 Thanks.
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Below is an excellent article that clearly shows the differences in the new ATtiny Series 1 & Series 0 chips over the older ATtiny chips. For low cost production, the new ATtiny chips along with the STM8 chips represent the best value out there in microcontroller land. I know it is hard to keep up with all the new chips, but Spence Konde has now released a megaTinyCore to support the new ATtiny range, taking advantage of the work that Arduino have done to support their new ATmega4809-based boards....
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This is excellent news. It seems that social media does have an influence afterall.
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I see the PICKIT4 programmer now has beta support for these new AVR parts. The complete list of supported targets can be found on the Microchip webpage below: http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/Device_Support.pdf
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Realizer uses MPLABX as the code compiler but I would probably prefer to use Atmel Studio for the AVR parts. Normally I design our production board, then program that board to see if everything works as expected. Some years ago we used a Microchip ICD programmer (it was in a round case). We found it not to be reliable (no idea why), so moved over to using the microEnginnering Labs USB programmers which have worked really well for us for close to 20 years. I'm quite willing to use a programmer you...
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@Anobium - thanks heaps. @kent_twt4 1. Is the main focus still on the tiny406? Do you have the chip? Yes, the ATtiny406 is the most interesting micro in Microchip's new AVR range for us. Yes, I have some micros here in SOIC-20 package. 2. What peripherals are you most interested in, or most likely to use? 10 bit ADC, E2, I2C, comparator, WDT. 3. Do you have a Pickit 4, or UPDI programmer? We have 5 or 6 of the microEngineering USB programmers. These will allow us to program the AVR parts with the...
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@Anobium - thanks heaps. @kent_twt4 1. Is the main focus still on the tiny406? Do you have the chip? Yes, the ATtiny406 is the most interesting micro in Microchip's new AVR range for us. Yes, I have some micros here in SOIC-20 package. 2. What peripherals are you most interested in, or most likely to use? 10 bit ADC, E2, I2C, comparitor, WDT. 3. Do you have a Pickit 4, or UPDI programmer? We have 5 or 6 of the microEngineering USB programmers. These will allow us to program the AVR parts with the...
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All good. It is the future direction of Great Basic Cow for the latest AVR parts :) I'm really hanging out for the updated targets :)
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Hi Anobium. I just thought I would touch base & ask if you had heard back from Microchip's Product Division & if so, how is your progress going?
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Thanks for your hard work on this kent_twt4
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Great news Anobium. Thanks for the update. Hopefully over time, Microchip will see Great Cow BASIC as a very worthy 3rd Party support Platform for their micros & list GCB on many of their "Support Tools" webpages & Application Notes in a similar way that STM used to list the Actum Solutions Realizer Compiler. New users looking to learn how to write code for the Microchip parts (including the AVR parts) often look at the fiddleness of Assembly & the unfriendliness of the very cryptic C & end up shaking...
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@kent_twt4 @Anobium Hi, I was just wondering how much support you received from Microchip? You mentioned Microchip was "sorting the configuration files for use by the automation tools." Many thanks.
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Yes, it is unfortunate that footprint miniaturisation is making it harder for the average maker to play around with these parts. For production we prefer SOIC with 1.27 spacing as it makes any re-work viable (time wise). The ATmegas with 0.85 spacing is also OK, but we find for volume production that the 0.65 & 0.5 pin spacing is becoming too fine pitch for "economical" rework. It seems Microchip are moving towards V-QFN/QFN for more of their new releases. I'm assuming this is a combination of further...
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Yes, the ATmega4809 is a great micro for heavy lifting. Lots of memory & better priced than the older mega parts (& certainly a much bigger bang for your dollar over similar Microchip PIC16F parts). As my involvement is mainly around the ATtiny parts (for lightish lifting), I think someone more experienced with the mega range should make the recommendations for which of these parts should be first off the rank to support. Perhaps someone familiar with the mega range (including the new parts) should...
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The ATtiny102 & ATtiny104 will probably be a hard call to support with Great Cow Basic as they only contain 32 bytes of RAM but it has been done before with the ATtiny28, ATtiny4, ATtiny5, ATtiny9 & ATtiny10.
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@Anobium - yes, your list above is correct (& also it is complete).
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@Anobium Core Type: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATtiny_microcontroller_comparison_chart (the parts with the new core we are looking at are listed in the last segment of the spreadsheet ie from ATtiny202 through to ATtiny3217) New/Popular 8-bit AVR Products (shows what's in production, what's being currently sampled & future product): https://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID=30047&popular=1 AVR 8 bit Peripheral Integration: http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/3...
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@Anobium Core Type: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATtiny_microcontroller_comparison_chart (the parts with the new core we are looking at are listed in the last segment of the spreadsheet ie from ATtiny202 through to ATtiny3217) New/Popular 8-bit AVR Products (shows what's in production, what being currently sampled & future product): https://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID=30047&popular=1 AVR 8 bit Peripheral Integration: http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/300...
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Yes, similar internal cores but with an extra 1 x 12bit timer. I was trying to minimise your work by listing the parts with identical internal timers :) If looking at the ATtiny817 core, then the following parts are almost identical: ATtiny212 ATtiny412 ATtiny214 ATtiny414 ATtiny814 ATtiny1614 ATtiny416 ATtiny816 ATtiny1616 ATtiny3216 ATtiny417 ATtiny817 (reference part) ATtiny1617 ATtiny3217
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Thanks Anobium. Feedback received from Microchip advises that the following parts have now entered full production (from my list above): ATtiny202 (SOIC-8) ATtiny204 (SOIC-14) ATtiny402 (SOIC-8) ATtiny404 (SOIC-14) ATtiny406 (both SOIC-20 & VQFN-20) ATtiny807 (VQFN-24) ATtiny1607 (VQFN-24) The other parts listed in my previous post are still in prelim mode.
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I would like to thank both Anobium & kent_twt4 for their interest in this project. I note that the same timer cores in the ATtiny406 appear to also be modelled in the following micros: ATtiny202 ATtiny402 ATtiny204 ATtiny404 ATtiny804 ATtiny1604 ATtiny806 ATtiny1606 ATtiny807 ATtiny1607 This means (over time) that the ATtiny range supported by Great Cow BASIC would increase by almost 27%. All of these micros moved from prelim to full production during 2018 (EDIT: correction - several appear to still...
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I would like to thank both Anobium & kent_twt4 for their interest in this project. I note that the same timer cores in the ATtiny406 appear to also be modelled in the following micros: ATtiny202 ATtiny402 ATtiny204 ATtiny404 ATtiny804 ATtiny1604 ATtiny806 ATtiny1606 ATtiny807 ATtiny1607 This means (over time) that the ATtiny range supported by Great Cow BASIC would increase by almost 27%. All of these micros moved from prelim to full production during 2018. Given Microchip purchased Atmel in 2016,...
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Many, many thanks Anobium. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to reduce your workload. These new parts are where Atmel (Microchip) are now heading with their next design phase.
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This is a set of devices - many modules are not supported in the Great Cow BASIC libraries as the registers and the register/bits are very different. Yes, the later Atmel micros have had considerable core changes over the earlier ones. They however (generally) offer many more features for much less than their predecessors. So, having a dat file is just the start - what modules do you want to use? ADC, E2, I2C for starters. but if you want to start right away with GCB then consider more established...
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Sorry, please see my post 2 below. Thanks.
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This is a set of devices - many modules are not supported in the Great Cow BASIC libraries as the registers and the register/bits are very different. Yes, the later Atmel micros have had considerable core changes over the earlier ones. They however (generally) offer many more features for much less than their predecessors. So, having a dat file is just the start - what modules do you want to use? ADC, E2, I2C for starters. but if you want to start right away with GCB then consider more established...
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<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> I've read Anobium's post on the procedure to generate PIC chip files which is detailed here: https://sourceforge.net/p/gcbasic/discussion/chipfileforum/thread/b7f16525/ It would be great if someone (with much more knowledge than I) could detail the procedure on generating AVR chip files. I'm particularly interested in the chip file for the ATtiny 406 microcontroller. Many thanks, Derek.
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