Reprogramming EEPROM without propeller tool

tom90

Hey All,

Is it possible to reprogram the EEPROM without using propeller tool software?

I am using the prop as a high speed a/d and for some data manipulation for several different testing instruments.· I will have different spin code for each of them.··We would like to be able to give the necessary spin files to customers so that they can change the code the prop is running without having propeller tool software on their computer.· Ideally we would like to write this into some vb code that we are using for the data collection (We would be able to click a button, and the new setup would be loaded into EEPROM).· We are also open to having the the different setups saved on an sd card connected to the prop.· Would it be possible to load these files into EEPROM from an sd card without using propeller tool?

If either of these options are possible, how would I go about doing this?

Thanks
Tom

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

I'll bet this isn't far from what you are looking for.

Hydra Asset Manager
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=628778

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tom90

OBC

Thanks, this is a good short-term solution to my problem.

However, I would like to eventually write my own code to do this. Is there anybody out there that can give me insight into how something is loaded into EEPROM?

Thanks
Tom

Post Edited (tom90) : 9/8/2008 7:09:24 PM GMT

Paul Baker

Your best bet is to use the Propellent which is availible for download in the Propeller dowloads section, you should be able to bundle it with the code either by including the library in a program you write, or by creating a batch file using the executable. It is also possible to use the .bin or .eeprom image of the program if you dont want your customers to sneak a look at·the code.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Praxis

Hi tom90,

I posted these files on a different thread some time back.

One file is a completed program and the other is the source code.

The PropLoader program allows the distribution of either the Binary or Epprom files without having to disclose the Spin source program to customers etc to give them the ability to do program updates/upgrades etc.

Cheers

PS. The DotNet 2.0 framework is required!

Post Edited (Praxis) : 9/8/2008 7:49:21 PM GMT

Mike Green

There are several programs that run on the Propeller that can load new programs from either EEPROM or an SD card.

There's PropDOS, FemtoBasic and its derivatives, and the Propeller O/S. All of these have to reside in the boot EEPROM
and use a command-driven interface to load a program. FemtoBasic has been used to build a menu-based kiosk that
loads one of a series of demo programs from an SD card. Have a look at the SPIN statement code in FemtoBasic which
does this. You would have a fixed program in the boot EEPROM that would attempt to mount an SD card, then lookup
a file with some kind of fixed name on the SD card. If found, it would load it and start it automatically. If this process
failed somewhere, it could blink an LED with an error code or fall back on an earlier version of your control program
that's included along with this loader.

tom90

Thanks Everyone!

There appears to be some very helpful solutions in your responses.· It looks as though I have much research to do!

Thanks Again

Tom

dMajo

Hi tom90,
·· I have more or less the same needs. I have to remark that I plan to use prop as a reprogramable intelligent IO/Comm controller to offload the main uC (two ST uPSD3454EVB running in redundancy). For that I have planned a ramtron FM32L278-G that can be rewritten unlimited times (through the I2C by the main uC). I have found also interesting the RTC, SN, and CNT features of that chip. I think it can run in place of standard boot eeprom (if not I wait for the community replies).

BTW msg for community: is there out a I2C object capable of multimaster bus arbitration?

regards

PS: sorry for my english