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I got a Hydra today! — Parallax Forums

I got a Hydra today!

4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
edited 2011-10-27 11:56 in Propeller 1
Picked it and a couple of quickstart boards (with FM modules) and when I started to read the very large manual was sadly disappointed. The documentation took great pride in bragging about how the EEPROM can hold 128KB and then points out that the propeller tool won't load any code past 32KB and suggested that the reader write their own apps for their pc and propeller to load code into the remaining 96KB of EEPROM. I was hoping that there would be some info on how to actually do that! I've done a bit of research on how to read and write to an I2C eeprom but my intention was for my propeller code to write state information to it a few longs at a time.

My question is this. Has anyone written code to write binary data from a pc to the upper 96KB of the eeprom preferably from linux. :-)

Comments

  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,516
    edited 2011-10-26 17:32
    4x5n wrote: »
    My question is this. Has anyone written code to write binary data from a pc to the upper 96KB of the eeprom preferably from linux. :-)

    Under Windows, you would use the Hydra Asset Manager. I've not tried it under Linux, but I think it is a .NET app, so it may run under Mono.

    Ross.
  • blittledblittled Posts: 681
    edited 2011-10-26 17:52
    Check out the I2C objects in the OBEX under the Protocol heading. Most of these objects have demos that access EEPROMS at any address
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2011-10-26 18:58
    blittled wrote: »
    Check out the I2C objects in the OBEX under the Protocol heading. Most of these objects have demos that access EEPROMS at any address

    I spent the weekend going through the I2C objects and managed to figure out how to use a couple of the objects in the obex to read and write to eeprom. My desire was to use eeprom to save state between power cycles and resets. The problem with using those objects is getting the up to 96KB of data from a computer to the eeprom in the hydra. What would be cool we be to be able to launch a cog with a pasm program located in eeprom beyond 32KB. :-)
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2011-10-26 19:35
    RossH wrote: »
    Under Windows, you would use the Hydra Asset Manager. I've not tried it under Linux, but I think it is a .NET app, so it may run under Mono.

    Ross.

    I can't seem to find the download. The link in the thread is broken and google isn't helping. :-( I did find an old version of HAM but it only seems to download from the expansion card and I'm trying to download from the on board eeprom. At first I thought well I could upload to the expansion eeprom and then write a program using I2C objects and copy info over. Excited I downloaded the contents from the expansion card with the tool and then found that I could upload the 128K image. When I try the HAM tool complained that the file was to big.

    Sigh!
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2011-10-26 19:49
    AFAIK 1.09 is the latest released revision. Always worked for me.
    zip
    zip
    HAM_1_09.zip
    103K
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2011-10-26 21:04
    kuroneko wrote: »
    AFAIK 1.09 is the latest released revision. Always worked for me.

    That did it! Thanks for posting the zip file.
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2011-10-26 22:00
    I was hoping that the HAM would work with non-hydra boards but I guess that would have been asking for a bit much. :-)
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2011-10-26 22:06
    4x5n wrote: »
    I was hoping that the HAM would work with non-hydra boards but I guess that would have been asking for a bit much. :-)
    IIRC it's just the clock setting which needs changing (10MHz vs 5MHz). And the included drivers (TV & Co) may need replacement. This comes up every now and then ...
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,516
    edited 2011-10-26 22:16
    kuroneko wrote: »
    IIRC it's just the clock setting which needs changing (10MHz vs 5MHz). And the included drivers (TV & Co) may need replacement. This comes up every now and then ...

    Yes, kuroneko is right - I have had the HAM work on other boards. There is a file that needs editing - can't remember the name of it, but one of the threads about the HAM has the details.

    Ross.
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2011-10-27 05:30
    Found it: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=843433
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2011-10-27 08:46
    4x5n wrote: »
    Picked it and a couple of quickstart boards (with FM modules) and when I started to read the very large manual was sadly disappointed. The documentation took great pride in bragging about how the EEPROM can hold 128KB and then points out that the propeller tool won't load any code past 32KB and suggested that the reader write their own apps for their pc and propeller to load code into the remaining 96KB of EEPROM.
    I had a different impression about what I might be able to do with that big old 128KB EEPROM when I bought my Hydra. It was my own fault I guess, but I had naively assumed one could execute code stored in all that space. I was "sadly disappointed" too.

    Fast forward 5 years now ... I am no longer sadly disappointed.

    Today at Meetup Group I will be demonstrating a Propeller-GCC generated C program application that will use much of that EEPROM for code storage; the program will be executed by the Propeller. There is lots of HUB/COG left over for other things.

    I'm sure some would ask "what good is that"? Well, the main program is slow (code running in other cogs is not), but it works and all you have to do is use a bigger EEPROM. The 64KB EEPROMs will also benefit from this. We expect to have a similar feature with an SD card at some point.
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2011-10-27 11:56
    Can't wait to give that a try! Of course I have no need for it now. Just like the idea of it being available!!
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