gPICp
GNU PIC programmer
Introduction
gnu PIC programmer (gPICp) is a free full-featured PIC programming
environment. It consists of
- a JAVA based driver for PIC programmers
- the firmware for a self-made hardware programmer
- circuit drawing and PCB layout for the hardware
This project differs from many other self-made programmers that the
hardware is fully compliant to the Microchip specifications (including
programmable Vpp and Vdd) and supports in-circuit programming and
debugging.
Project aims
Microchip's PIC Microcontroller are very popular for amateur
electronics. While
open source assembler (http://gputils.sourceforge.net) and simulator
(http://gpsim.sourceforge.net) are available, only expensive commercial
programmers or very limited self-made PIC programmers are currently
available.
The project aims are the development of a driver software (which should
also support other programmer hardware) and the firmware and hardware
of a fully featured self-made PIC programmer.
Current state
The hardware is quite mature and verified with two prototypes. The
firmware is in beta state and needs more testing.
The driver software is in alpha state, which means it is working, but
some fancy things could be added. Besides the own hardware, also the
DECK programmer is supported.
Hardware
First, I would make clear that you must have a detailed knowlege and
experiences
in electronics to build your own programmer. You can easily damage your
computer
if connected to a buggy device.
For now only uncommented (but complete) circuit drawings are available:
Or download everything
as zip archive.
Here are some photos from my programmer: (click to enlage)
This programmer needs a programmed PIC, obviously a chicken-and-egg
situation.
Perhaps you have a friend who has a programmer or as a
work-around you can build a very
simple programmer (connected to parallel-port). They contain only a few
resistors
and Co. Browse the web for this...
The schematics are distributed in the hope that they will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
Software
Things are kept simple! The gui has a log area and three menus, where
you can choose your programmer, the used PIC. Once you have choose
these settings you can load a hex file and write it to the PIC's
program, configuration and data memory.
Download
Besides the gPICp software, you may need two other packages:
Both packages are available for many operating systems including Linux,
Windows, MacOS X etc.
Source code is available here.
Binary:
[1]: not compiled by me
[2]: untested!
Free assembler and simulator for UNIX-like operating systems are
available:
- gputils
a collection of useful tools (including assembler)
- gpsim
a simulator
Documentation
not finished jet...
Installation
A brief installation instruction for UNIX
and windows
operating systems is available.
Usage
Start gPICp (java -jar gPICP<version>.jar or just a
dubble click).
First select the programmer you are using and the port it is connected
to, from the programmer menu. ('Dummy' writes all commands to stdout,
only for debugging)
With file/open you can read an Intel hex file.
Use the commands from the device menu to perform the desired operation.
Legal notice
Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Adjan Kretz <kretza@bluewin.ch>
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License
for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA
02111-1307 USA
;)
;)
;)
;)