USB SPI Flasher with PIC18F2455 - now with source and binaries

[DarkstarTM]

The bootloader is now in git.

[Gee99x]

I have built this device and can read the nand (looks fine too) but when erasing & writing I get errors in NandPro.

Error 481 when erasing & error 681 when programming.

Anyone know why?

Edit: The flash config also seems to vary. I do get 01198010 most of the time but even then it still won't erase or write.

[DarkstarTM]

I have built this device and can read the nand (looks fine too) but when erasing & writing I get errors in NandPro.
Error 481 when erasing & error 681 when programming.
Edit: The flash config also seems to vary. I do get 01198010 most of the time but even then it still won't erase or write.

Which resistors do you use to connect the PIC to your board? Please check if they are on the correct wires and also make sure your ground connection is good.

[Gee99x]

I'm using 100 ohm resistors and the one 10k pull-down. I should also mention that im using a 16MHz resonator but changed the frequency in WinPIC800 before writing to the PIC.

On the USB cable there is the ground (5th) wire- where should this guy be connected? I'v got the positive and negative on pins 20 & 19.

Edit: I have USB negative connected to J1D2.6 as it's the only way it gets a correct flash config. Still errors on erasing & writing. How can it be creating valid dumps but cannot erase & write? The pins are connected according to the PicXFlash readme.

[cory1492]

Confirming Gee99x's issue here, up till now I had not tried writing in the bootloader version (dumping worked fine) - there is definitely an issue with write, getting 681 error for every block and resulting 250 and 210 errors trying to read the corrupt data back off again. Good news is it seems at least some form of error correction is in place as no blocks got inadvertently marked as bad by mistake.

I'm going to fully dump the NAND and reflash to bootloader-less version (original source post adapted to my clock and pic, pins changed to match current) to see if that changes anything - and yep, there are no write issue. I presume either the bootloader is messing with something or usb_bus_sense/CheckUSBState() in main is throwing off the SPI timing, either rate the bad data is confined to the blocks I was messing with via write command.

Next test, try bootloader+current without using CheckUSBState(). Nope, no change, still issues - first block of NAND trashed on write, single pages trashed at intervals.

[DarkstarTM]

I will look into this asap. The PCBs arrived today so this will be a busy evening.

Update: The sector erase function was totally broken. I don't even know why it ever worked. Please use the following file to make it work (program it via PDFSUSB.exe):

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ECLN5R5H

[DarkstarTM]

PCBs have arrived. 

See main post for a picture.

[B1N4RY]

PCBs have arrived. 

See main post for a picture.

Nice, gimme one   

[cory1492]

Thanks Darkstar, confirm it's definitely working great now through the bootloader (r/w/e). Those PCBs turned out pretty sharp, too 

[Gee99x]

Thanks for the fix. Oh, and some very nice boards you have there. I can't wait for mine!! (different project) 

[maximilian0017]

See http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys/ for an example. There are thousands of different more or less sophistiated PIC programmers out there. So use what you have or build a really simple one.

What about:
http://products.foxdelta.com/art2003.htm
Any suggestions?
Or is the one you posted (buffered) preferred?

Have all kind of programmers here just not for PIC....

[DarkstarTM]

http://products.foxdelta.com/art2003.htm

Looks good. The programmer link I posted was just a random example - I have no experience with PICs and PIC programmers. So if you have built a working programmer or know about a good one - please let us know!

[Cpasjuste]

Hi there.

Could someone write an "human readable" schematic without the programmer ? (i have a willem for that).
I'm not very bad with soldering, but it's not the same for reading a shematic ... so if someone could find the time to do a more detailed schematic (without the conection to the programmer, what is the usb connector (jp1?jp2) etc... ).

Thanks in advance

[cory1492]

I hope this helps explain it a bit better Cpasjuste. Also, usb pinout if you don't already have it. All 5V (vdd/rc2) can be tied to USB 5V, all grounds (including one from the 360 like J2B1.12) can be tied together. Important to note (just in case (tm)), D- and D+ are the USB data leads rather than sources.

(updated sept 19 2009)
If you aren't using a LVP there is no reason to use a 10K resistor on RB5, but it should be wired directly to ground instead.

alt if that one isn't working
http://i33.tinypic.com/fm8jgg.jpg
Hopefully I didn't mess any of it up, let me know if something isn't clear enough (if you didn't gather, I kinda suck at diagrams.)

[duggyuk]

got myself an infectus but i have just wanted to say cory, that diagram is superb. i can solder well enough (self taught) but strugle to read diagrams, your picture is very good and i understand it, thank you all the same!

oh and thanks to darkstar for the original 

[DarkstarTM]

Hopefully I didn't mess any of it up, let me know if something isn't clear enough (if you didn't gather, I kinda suck at diagrams.)

I like it. Thank you!

DarkstarTM
(working on JTAG...)

[Cpasjuste]

First, many thanks cory1492, it's really better now

A little question (should not be the last one), the 12mhz resonator i plan to buy have 3 legs (http://fr.farnell.com/ael-crystals/c12m000000l003/resonator-ztt-12mhz/dp/1448128), in your shcema it seems we only need to wire 2 of them, do i read it correctly ?

Thanks again

[Flowmatic]

Hello

correct me if im worng but i think you have to connect it like this

because between pin 1 and 3 the resonance tooks place and the pin number 2 is the ground pin when im right

peace mat

[Gee99x]

You got it right. Pin 2 goes to ground & Pins 1 & 3 connect to PIC Pins 9 & 10.

[cory1492]

Good to hear it will be useful, feel free to use it for your project DarkstarTM. I'll make 'addon' diagrams to it if wanted/needed for other bits as/when/if they become available.

A little question (should not be the last one), the 12mhz resonator i plan to buy have 3 legs (http://fr.farnell.com/ael-crystals/c12m000000l003/resonator-ztt-12mhz/dp/1448128), in your shcema it seems we only need to wire 2 of them, do i read it correctly ?

In my own case I 'salvaged' a 24MHz xtal crystal from an old PS2 multiport thing, when I wired it up I needed 2 caps to ground (which I managed to pull off a broken usb hub with a 30MHz xtal) and the two osc connectors - so I figured it would be best to not go into the oscillator on a simpler diagram as it really depends on the part. I've managed to build this on a breadboard entirely from salvage and an old set aside 18F4550 sample I had from microchip 

You are right though, only two connections are needed for an oscillator, any other connections are going to be specific to the part chosen - in a resonator's case usually the middle pin just goes to ground (as is the case with the farnell one you link to.)