This repo built out 0x0dada's repo https://github.com/0x0dada/PROMDATE
Last commit: Dec 4, 2017
95fb16e226e3e1d920e0575aefe1d5346fb1acd7
and
Tramell Hudson's repo https://github.com/osresearch/prom
Last commit: Mar 10, 2017
28d746169d6f328b415295b037a696ce3a58ec96
Both of which were downloaded to a Linux VM that was setup for use and testing of the PROMdate I was building.
It contains everything I needed or thought I might, which may or may not have turned out to be true.
I have added support of ATMega328P
and added folders which contain some additional instructions for using of the PROMdate
(though these maybe specific to my VM which i would be happy to share just make a pull request or something)
Thank you so much to 0x0dada (whoever you are),
Tramell Hudson,
and everyone else who has helped put this together!!!!
Below is the orignal README
This repo is based upon a fork (which has been reset to commit 150223f2b7c302cb04e4cfbb7c424cfa99576c01) of Trammel Hudson's et. al excellent PROMdate project.
I'm not a fan of Arduino IDE, and the original project was ported to Arduino in the first quarter of 2017 (see git log of the original repo @ https://github.com/osresearch/prom ).
If you're happy with the Arduino IDE, use the original flavor.
Being neighborly is a good thing.
As mentioned above, the latest flavor of PROMdate didn't work for me for aesthetic reasons. That's just me, and nothing against the fine folks at Arduino or Mr. Hudson et al.
More importantly, there's little documentation for the original project, beyond a few photos and the code itself. As time permits I'll try to rectify that here. At some point Mr. Hudson may get around to crufting together some documentation, but in the mean time, if you need a path to follow, this will hopefully help.
Most of the following instructions apply to generic flavors of Linux (Debian etc.) OpenBSD requires some tweaking; eventually I'll post OpenBSD specific instructions here. It's most likely that anybody coming to this repo will be a Linux user. If you're hacking hardware with OpenBSD, you tend to know what you're doing. ;) This is nothing against Linux! I use both, all the time, for different reasons. I preach agnosticism -- use what you have wherever it works, use something else if it doesn't, try to figure out why it was failing for extra points.
- 1 Teensy++ (Buy from a real distributor, not Amazon.)
- 4 Short lengths of jumper wire
- 1 40 pin ZIF socket
- 1 5V power source (PL2303 is a cheap source. http://dipmicro.com)
Everything else: distributor of your choice (Adafruit, Mouser etc)
First things first. Plug your Teensy++ into your computer. It has been pre-programmed with the canonical "blinky" program. LED flashing? Good, your board is probably fine. Check to see that it enumerates. Gasp! lsusb shows ... nada...?!? Remain calm. Push the little reset switch. lsusb will now show the device enumerating with the HalfKay bootloader. Great, the board works. If you think that skipping this basic check is a good idea, you have not made it around the block even once. Don't worry, a few more muggings and you'll be a veteran.
Orient the Teensy++ on the pin side of the ZIF socket with the USB connector toward the latch of the ZIF socket. Place the Teensy++ onto the ZIF socket, leaving the bottom two pins of the ZIF socket exposed and 5V and GND holes on the Teensy++ disconnected. Everything fit? Good.
Leaving the Teensy properly placed on the ZIF socket carefully mark the surface of the ZIF socket next to the GND and AREF pins. See the nifty little pocket card that came with your Teensy++ if you prefer not to squint at the board. Remove the Teensy++.
You now have two options:
Option A) Carefully bend or bend and twist the two marked pins outward. The bend needs to be down low enough for the board to fit over the other pins for soldering and not make contact with the two bent pins. Solder two of your jumper wires to these pins. Bending delicate little pins unnerves me, I went with:
Option B) Solder two of your jumper wires, one on each marked pin of the ZIF socket, way down low, as close as possible to the surface of socket without melting the silly thing. I bent the exposed part of the wire into a tiny loop (my fear does not extend to wire) to help hold it during the soldering process. Solder them up. If you've been careful, after soldering you'll have half of the original pins sticking up. Next, cut out a piece of antistatic bag a bit larger than the ZIF socket. Poke the pins through. You'll need to make slightly larger holes for the soldered pins. This is a dust bib. Nip the bit of the exposed pins off that's standing proud of the solder, and then taking a fine file or emery board, gently remove the rest of the soldered pin and extra solder material until you can place the Teensy++ onto the ZIF socket with the rest of the ZIF pins barely poking through the board and a tiny air gap between AREF and GND. Remove the Teensy++ after the final check and clearance confirmation, and place two thin strips of electrical tape over AREF and GND separately and a slightly larger strip over both. (You can use other insulating materials, this is what I had on hand.)
Next, locate the PA3 and PA7 holes on the Teensy++. You're going to poke the two remaining jumpers into these holes from the top (chip/USB connector side) and solder them on the flip side. It's easiest to do them one at a time.
Now place the Teensy++ onto the ZIF socket, remembering to leave the bottom two pins exposed, and start carefully soldering.
Jumper wires:
AREF connects to PA1 just below the chip. GND connects to PA2 just below the chip.
Facing the assembly, USB connector/latch up:
PA3 connects to the exposed pin to the right at the bottom of the ZIF socket.
PA7 connects to the exposed pin to the left at the bottom of the ZIF socket.
Now plug the board in and make sure the blinky runs and it enumerates. Great. Software is next.
In addition to either this repository or the original, you'll need the following:
- avr-gcc and libs
- avrdude (on some platforms, all the avr stuff is in one package)
- https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/teensy_loader_cli (See the instructions at https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/loader_cli.html)
- serial terminal emulator of your choice (minicom works great on Linux)
- lrzsz -- Tools for zmodem/xmodem/ymode file transfer
Props to Paul Stoffregen, the Teensy++ is a well put together and documented project, which is refreshing to say the least. Please, RTFM the instructions in the above link, think it through, you'll be fine. Re-documenting that process is beyond the scope of this document.
NB: Bear in mind that PROMdate's Makefile expects to find teensy_loader_cli in ~/opt/teensy_loader_cli. Tweak the Makefile accordingly if you build in a different location.
To burn prom.hex to Teensy++:
teensy_loader_cli -v --mcu=at90usb1286 prom.hex
On Linux this will cause the board to enumerate as /dev/ttyACM0
Use a separate 5V source for the PROM, make certain you are attached to the correct pins. Nice trick: a test lead the same diameter as the PROM pin; the ZIF socket will clamp both pin and lead this way.
I used what a had: a PL2303 plugged into an adjacent USB port with the 5V and GND pins run out to leads and to the appropriate pins on the PROM.
To "talk" to the PROM via the Teensy++:
Using minicom:
minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0
NB: If you can't connect, make sure minicom is set up properly: 115200 baud, 8N1. 'man minicom'
At prompt, type ? or help for a list of commands. You should run 'l' first. Set your PROM type with m from the list. If you need to extend the list of PROM's, you may do so in chips.c, but you will need to re-make.
Next, check that you are able to read data off the PROM:
>r0
00000000 00 20 61 74 72 53 67 31 20 61 74 72 53 67 32 20 . atrSg1 atrSg2
00000010 61 74 72 53 67 33 20 61 74 72 53 67 34 20 61 74 atrSg3 atrSg4 at
00000020 72 53 67 35 20 61 74 72 53 67 36 20 61 74 72 53 rSg5 atrSg6 atrS
00000030 67 37 20 61 74 72 53 67 38 20 61 74 72 53 67 39 g7 atrSg8 atrSg9
You can read as much as you want manually, but it's handier to just try to dump the data off the prom to a file at this point:
> CTRL-A R (R is for RECEIVE)
A pop-up window will appear. Select xmodem. A pop-up window will appear asking you to name the file. Name it, giving it the .bin extension and hit .
The board will flash like crazy and dump the PROM. The pop up window will display a message like this:
+----------[xmodem download - Press CTRL-C to quit]-----------+
|rx: ready to receive TMS2764JL-45.bin |
|Retry 0: Got 025 sector header |
|Bytes received: 8192 BPS:1676 |
| |
|Transfer complete |
| |
| READY: press any key to continue... |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Congrats, you have now dated a PROM.
To use hex2png:
hex2png <filename.bin> > <newname.png>
To view newname.png:
display newname.png (display requires ImageMagick).
This is an easily extensible project: more devices can be added to chips.c, and you can tweak things to your hearts desire. All that is required is rebuilding with make after making your changes.
Major props to Trammell Hudson et. al and Paul Stoffregen. If you have to work with old hardware (me -- recovering data from industrial equipment -- dying CNC's for example -- and other devices) this is a handy bit of kit to have in your toolbox.
It could be a fun project for kids or a class as well, as anything that has the remotest whiff of Dark Magic has an alarming allure for the young.