Customers Performing Own Upgrades. How Hard Can It Be?

[towlerg]

Sorry I don't follow, do you use the MFM in your app?

I can see why you are unwilling to port to another PIC but the downside of using CDC is substantial.

An alternative might be to add USB hardware to make a HID connection.

George

[timmers]

... do you use the MFM in your app?

Eventually we would use it in future products requiring customer upgrades. At present it's a return to base upgrade.
I would like to get the *6K22 working first!

[rsocor01]

For a tipical individual that wants to upgrade the programming in their PIC, I don't think the Microchip Bootloader program would be that complicated for him. If you create a good tutorial with pictures on how to use the Microchip Bootloader, I think that that's the way to go.

[towlerg]

@rsocor01 I suspect that the target user wouldn't know a PIC from a pick.

@timmers There are many PIC devices similar to *6K22 with USB builtin but I suspect you have already decided against porting. In which case CDC must look very attractive but I would suggest falsely so. Just a couple of ways that you can have HID, a cheap PIC with USB as a buffer or maybe MCP2210. BTW you do realize that USB bootloader is purely software.

Anyways, I leave you with this thought - CDC bad, HID good.

George

[retepsnikrep]

Perhaps I'm missing something. :?

Can you not supply or advise your customers to buy a cheap pic programmer and simply send them hex files.
The hex files could be zipped and password protected if required on an individual customer basis.

http://www.piccircuit.com/shop/pic-p...rogrammer.html

That's what I do. Same pic programmer covers all of my projects/products.
Even some very elderly punters have been able to cope with using pickit2 and the programmer.

Perhaps it's possible to use pickit 2 in a command line mode with file name in the script.

[towlerg]

Yes you are. He's trying to find a method for a non-technical person to upgrade a "black box", to repeat myself - I suspect that the target user wouldn't know a PIC from a pick.

George

[pedja089]

MikroE have nice little hid bootloader.
http://www.mikroe.com/img/developmen...der_window.jpg
It would be nice to have open source bootloader like that in PBP.