How to drive the Vinculum VDIP1 in UART mode

[mackrackit]

I can only talk about the VDIP1 as that is the only one I have used so far.

1- Thas CTS pin is connected to GND and "RstVDIP1 var portb.4 'active LOW reset line to VDIP1" port in the above code?

Yes, the CTS pin is connected to ground. The RESET pin on the VDIP is not needed to be connected unless you want to reset the VDIP with the PIC. A power down and up will reset the VDIP.

2- There is a need to put same resistors or others things on the 4 vdip2 and 4 pic conections?

I do not use any resistors. Might be a good idea though.

3- What new firmware did you put to updat the vdip and please can explain me the how to precess?

The VDIP1 comes with firmware burned in from the factory. The firmware can be modified / customized somewhat.

Here is a good page to start
http://www.vinculum.com/

This page has the different firmwares available
http://www.vinculum.com/downloads.html#vfirmware

Near the bottom of that page in applications and utilities. there is a program called
Vinculum Firmware Customiser (V1.1b)

This allows to modify some of the main settings of the firmware. Once the firmware has been modified, if using the VDIP1, copy the firmware to the root of a USB "thumb drive". Placs the drive into the VDIP1, at power up the VDIP1 will load the new firmware from the "thumb drive". This all can also be accomplished via serial port connected to the VDIP1 but the flash/thumb drive is so easy.

[circuitpro]

I saw a post (somewhere! - can't seem to find it again) where mackrackit posted some code on the VNC1L and used 'flowcontrol' to somehow handshake with this chip. I am putting the VNC1L on my board and, basically laying out a VDIP1. I am using this chip in order to plug a USB keyboard into this board, and am at a total loss of what to expect. With no handshaking per se supported already, I guess we're going to 'roll our own'.

I don't want to miss any keyboard characters, so, can you tell me how you are using 'flowcontrol' ?

Thanks much!

[mackrackit]

I saw a post (somewhere! - can't seem to find it again) where mackrackit posted some code on the VNC1L and used 'flowcontrol' to somehow handshake with this chip. I am putting the VNC1L on my board and, basically laying out a VDIP1. I am using this chip in order to plug a USB keyboard into this board, and am at a total loss of what to expect. With no handshaking per se supported already, I guess we're going to 'roll our own'.

I don't want to miss any keyboard characters, so, can you tell me how you are using 'flowcontrol' ?

Thanks much!

I can not remember the post you are referring to, but the only time I used anything like flow control was when using a VDIP to write to a flash drive like the example shown by Brian above. And that is not really flow control, just checking to see if the write operation is finished before going on to the next step.

In your case I think an interrupt will be needed. I have not used a VDIP with a keyboard so I am not sure if it will work that way.

The VDIP when given the read command will "dump" whatever it has in the file you are calling, at least that is the way I was using it. So setup a hardware serial input on the PIC with an interrupt. DTs instants will work well here. That way you will not miss anything.

[circuitpro]

Thanks! Will do, and hope this VNc1L chip does it's thing!

[kirtcathey]

Hi All. Totally agree with SkiMask RTFM policy, so made sure I scoured this forum, Googled, thoroughly read data sheets, and re-reviewed a lot of code available.

BrianT's code and explanation above is good, but still have a few questions....
I want to receive keyboard strokes to an 18F2550 via UART from a keyboard plugged into the VDIP1. When I press a key on the keyboard, does that automatically get forwarded to the UART interface on the VDIP1 and wait for transfer? Or, somehow do I need to tell the vnc1l that it needs to forward that keystroke to UART? Then how do I tell the VDIP1 to transfer each byte to the PIC serial port?

The code above focuses on sending data out to a disk on the VDIP1, but doesn't show how to get data back.... I think. Somebody point it out if I've missed something.

Thank you.
Kirt

[Bogs1217]

Hi,

I am new here and as well as using VDIP1, I need it for my thesis prototype. I need help on how to reflash the frimware of VDIP1, I did these steps but i don't think something happens

1. I downloaded the latest firmware from vinculum, edit the filename of the file "ftrfb_main_3_68VDAP.ftd" to "ftrfb.ftd"
2. I copied the ftrfb.ftd to the root directory of my flash disk (PQI 512mb).
3. I made the circuit for the VDIP1 module:
3a. pin 1 to VCC (5V)
3b. connected pins 7 and 18 to GND
3c. pin 23 (PROG#) to GND
3d. I connected pin 22 (RESET#) into a reseting circuit that I made, There is a button that when pressed the output is low and when not pressed the output is high.
3e. I remove the jumper pins (both of them)
4. I inserted the flash disk to the VDIP1 module
5. Power the circuit, then press reset circuit to reset the module
6. Nothing happens.

I don't know if it is already reflashed or no, nothing is happening even the LEDs. I already e-mailed vinculum, but i haven't get any response for more than a week now. I really need the help, if you can, can you please give me a step-by-step procedure to reflash the module.

Thanks,
Bogs

[mackrackit]

Welcome to the forum.

This post may help
http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/show...6&postcount=88

[jellis00]

The VDIP1 comes with firmware burned in from the factory. The firmware can be modified / customized somewhat.

This page has the different firmwares available
http://www.vinculum.com/downloads.html#vfirmware

Dave, I am in the process of adding a USB interface to my WiFi application so that I can interface it with a temperature probe/datalogger product via USB connection (see the product at http://www.vfcdataloggers.com/usbtcdatalogger.aspx ). The application will send a command to the data logger via its USB interface instructing it to grab the last temperature measurement it made from its datalog and send it along with its date/time stamp over the USB interface to the PIC board. The PIC will then send the data to the ConnectOne Wifi MiniSocket for transmission via the internet to my Website for posting.

To do this I am considering use of a V1DIP1 or a V2DIP1 module to provide the USB interface to my PIC based application. I recognize that the pre-compiled firmware that is available for it will make my coding job easier to implement this. However, the FTDI people told me that if I want to use pre-compiled firmware with the V2DIP1 that they strongly recommend using a V2DIP1-48 rather than the V2DIP1-32.....no explanation why or if this indicates problems when using pre-compiled firmware with the V2DIP1-32. Any ideas why they would say that? I would prefer to use the simpler V1DIP1-32 or the V2DIP1-32.

I am also having difficulty in determining which Firmware package I would have to use in my application. Since the PIC will use its EUSART to implement a UART interface with the V2DIP1, it would probaby have to be either the UART to USB HID Class Device version or the UART to CDC Modem Sample version as shown at their firmware page (see http://www.ftdichip.com/Firmware/Precompiled.htm ), but I don't know which one. I have asked the manufacturer of the VFC5000-TC to advise me which class their product uses on its USB interface and to confirm it operates as a host, but they haven't answered me yet. The VFC5000-TC USB interface is capable of interfacing with a PC and downloading its datalog to special software they use on a PC, so I suspect they use a USB HID Class. However, I notice the firmware for this class from FTDI says it "allows data to be transferred from the UART to the USB Host", which is the wrong direction for my application. For the UART to CDC Modem class they say it "will bridge a CDC class device present on the VNC2 USB host port 1 to a UART interface, with data transferrable in both directions." This sound more like what I need but I don't think it would work with a HID class USB host.

Can you clarify any of this for me and tell me your opinion which V2DIP1 I should order and which firmware?

[mackrackit]

It has been a couple of years since I played with this so I have not kept up with the new stuff.
I think I was using the Vinculum Firmware Customiser (V1.1b) found here
http://www.ftdichip.com/Firmware/VNC1Ltools.htm


When the data logger is plugged into a PC is the software needed to read it or can it be accessed as a drive? If it can not be accessed as a drive I do not think the VDIP will help.

[pthakkar]

Hi

I am using VDIP1 module in UART mode. I have been able to interface the module and everything works fine as long as I use a pen drive of capacity 2 GB or less. I read in the datasheet that the pen drive must have 512 bytes per sector and in 4GB pen drive this option is not available.
The issue is that I cannot find pen drive with capacity less than 2 Gb in the market. So is there any way I can use 4GB pendrive with VDIP1?

[Archangel]

They're not cheap but are available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Trave...3518109&sr=1-4

[asadkhanfamt]

Hi pthakkar,

I am using VDIP1 module in UART mode. I have been trying to interface the module with my 8051 controller. But so far I have not been able to send the data from microcontroller to the pen drive visa VDIP1 module. Can I get some input from you?