Microcontroller (PIC) uncompiling

Shy

Hi,

I just want to ask, is there any way by which PIC microcontroller could be read. I mean its programming. My all the friends are saying it is not possible to read and understand the program in any unknown PIC microcontroller means to uncompile the code.

Is it really like that??

Mike Green

Most PIC (and other) microcontrollers have a mode where you can read the contents of the program memory using external circuitry. Most of these have a mode that disables this (and the mode change cannot be reversed without erasing the complete contents of the program memory). The read mode is usually used for verifying that the memory contains what you think it does. Most PICs used in products have this "read protect" mode turned on because the manufacturer doesn't want others to be able to copy their program. This is certainly true for Parallax.

Even if you were able to read the contents of the program memory, it's very difficult at best to be able to make it readable to humans. The information about variables and labels is missing from the program and can't be reconstructed. If the original program was in C, it's even more difficult because the program structure itself may be missing. Often these programs are optimized and that process tends to destroy some of the structure in the process.

So, the answer is Yes, It's mostly really like that, not absolutely, but, from a practical standpoint, it is like that.