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valemike
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| What is a PIC Bootloader?? |
 Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 7:00 am |
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I've seen app notes and information on the "other" compiler about a PIC Bootloader that works with the 18F series of micros.
What is good about a PIC Bootloader?? It looks nothing more than a method to program the Flash through a serial port w/o needing an ICD2 or programmer.
Is there anything else i'm missing? Perhaps a feature in a bootloader such as being able to reprogram a live micro would be nice, but I don't see it. |
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Haplo
Joined: 06 Sep 2003
Posts: 659
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 7:10 am |
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One of the biggest benefits of bootloader is the ability to re-program your chip in the live circuit. Take a mp3 player, or a mobile phone or even your ICD. The manufacturer can issue new code for any of these devices, and users with minimal technical background can update the code.
In one of our projects we built a Motorola 68HC16 based system which we have installed a few thousands in many countries, spread around evenly (geographically) in each country. If we want to update the firmware in the devices, we do it over the phone, using a bootloader. A field visit to each of those homes would have been very, very expensive. |
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valemike
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| Can #fuses be reconfigured in a Bootloader? |
| Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2004 8:23 am |
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With the flash PIC parts, can I preserve any of the #fuses configurations that protect the ROM from being readable?
Or do I need to turn off such protection if i want a bootloader feature?
Thanks,
Mike |
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