downloading from pic
- Thread starter dave_scfc
- Start date
BeanieBots
Moderator
As manuka has subtly stated, it's not possible.
Even if you could get back what was sent to it, it would simply be the tokenised values. You would need a de-compiler to make that resemble anything close to BASIC and even then, any label names, symbols and the like would no longer be meaningful.
Even if you could get back what was sent to it, it would simply be the tokenised values. You would need a de-compiler to make that resemble anything close to BASIC and even then, any label names, symbols and the like would no longer be meaningful.
I'm going to state the bleedin' obvious:
BACKUP / COPY / DUPLICATE and BACKUP again.
The practice of backing up / archiving really must be DRIVEN HOME.
... and NO, this is NOT me being wise after the event. It's obvious and basic Good Practice.
Is there a note in the Manuals about this so that we can link to it?
This question has cropped up about 3 times in the last fortnight.
BACKUP / COPY / DUPLICATE and BACKUP again.
The practice of backing up / archiving really must be DRIVEN HOME.
... and NO, this is NOT me being wise after the event. It's obvious and basic Good Practice.
Is there a note in the Manuals about this so that we can link to it?
This question has cropped up about 3 times in the last fortnight.
westaust55
Moderator
This question arises almost weekly.
I presume that many are so used to the idea of writing to a USB memory stick, SD memory card, CD-ROm, even the EEPROM within a PICAXE chip, etc and being able to then read that information back that for many the progression is that one can also read back from the PIACXE program area. Then there are likely some who have less legitimate reasons for wanting to read the program.
It would be good if Rev Ed placed a warning note near the start of both manual 1 and manual 2 for the next revision,
clearly stating that while a program can be downloaded (written to) a PICAXE chip, that there is no way that the program can be uploaded (read back) from the PICAXE chip.
Also reinforcing the need to ensure the user saves the program and highlighting that it is good practice to also back up the program files into/onto another location.
I presume that many are so used to the idea of writing to a USB memory stick, SD memory card, CD-ROm, even the EEPROM within a PICAXE chip, etc and being able to then read that information back that for many the progression is that one can also read back from the PIACXE program area. Then there are likely some who have less legitimate reasons for wanting to read the program.
It would be good if Rev Ed placed a warning note near the start of both manual 1 and manual 2 for the next revision,
clearly stating that while a program can be downloaded (written to) a PICAXE chip, that there is no way that the program can be uploaded (read back) from the PICAXE chip.
Also reinforcing the need to ensure the user saves the program and highlighting that it is good practice to also back up the program files into/onto another location.
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slimplynth
Senior Member
It's been almost a month since my laptop was nicked, fortunately i did backup most stuff but regrouping has been a time consuming pain. Another option is to post projects/code on the forum, well perhaps not every little snippet but every little helps.
Saw a good quote recently, "Data you don't backup is data your don't care about"
Saw a good quote recently, "Data you don't backup is data your don't care about"
Considering the simplest backup can be just the cost of a USB Memory Stick or an SD card it's well worth the effort. Putting data into a well organised structure ( below a single directory for example ) can help in making it just a drag-and-drop process. ISP web space and 'cloud computing' can offer other zero-cost options.
Backup serves not just for stolen PC's but crashed PC's, damaged hard drives, deleted files, and ( if it's done properly ) going back to earlier versions of files if you've made some catastrophic editing error you didn't notice until too late.
It's more getting a strategy and into the habit of doing it rather than anything else. There's plenty of software and devices to help in that.
Backup serves not just for stolen PC's but crashed PC's, damaged hard drives, deleted files, and ( if it's done properly ) going back to earlier versions of files if you've made some catastrophic editing error you didn't notice until too late.
It's more getting a strategy and into the habit of doing it rather than anything else. There's plenty of software and devices to help in that.
slimplynth
Senior Member
However hard I try it's only a matter of time before a usb stick ends up in washer.
heh, happened to me once also.. But i guess the outcome depends of the stick, since that memory stick is still working & it retained all the information even during the spin dry cycle
inglewoodpete
Senior Member
Dave, When you say 'project', I presume this is a school project. You may have to treat this as a valuable learning exercise: you will always create backups in the future, as others have suggested. While your examiner may mark you critically on the project, you have come away with a valuable (and painful) piece of knowledge. I guess most of us learn this lesson at some time in our careers, possibly not in front of an examiner. A future employer would also get upset at the extra expense due to lack of backup software/sources code. If you happen to be self-employed in the future, guess who pays?
Manuka: There's a subtle difference between the Iceland volcano (can you pronounce it yet?) and the "south seas" ones. Iceland is in a unique postition in the world where it straddles two diverging continental plates. Who knows when the gap will stop spreading? Unless someone has a big stapler!!
Manuka: There's a subtle difference between the Iceland volcano (can you pronounce it yet?) and the "south seas" ones. Iceland is in a unique postition in the world where it straddles two diverging continental plates. Who knows when the gap will stop spreading? Unless someone has a big stapler!!
I was live witness to a real-life horror story - that of my sister's thesis.
This was back in the days of DOS, and a 486 laptop. She had 95% written it(several hundred pages), and the laptop crashed, taking out the HDD at the same time.
Her words to me when I suggested(before the disaster) that she should have a backup on floppy disk or at least a printout still remain etched into my memory: "Why?! It's saved on the computer!" - my sister and I did not get on all that well as teenagers, so I never took it any further, and guess what happened?
Now, even though I did not exactly like my sister back then, I still would not have wished that on anyone including her - to see the anguish and despair on her face - I still remember it, and there was NOTHING we could do to fix the problem - we even took the laptop to data-recovery service of the time(costing $$$ just to look at it), and they said that a power surge had taken out the motherboard and the HDD electronics, and so there was no way(at that time) to access the HDD again - dead duck.
A very painful lesson was learned that day, and she had about two weeks once we got a new computer, to re-write her thesis from the very beginning from her memory, but all that pain for the sake of a couple of floppies and maybe $5...
With respect to PICAXE code, which too can represent hours and hours of effort, I employ a simple multiple-redundant backup method: (1) Backup to another folder on the working laptop, (2) backup to a floppy disk, (3) backup to a USB-drive, (4) backup to my server, (5) a hardcopy printout of EVERY code variation, and finally (6) backup to this machine I write this post on tonight.
Anyhoo...
This was back in the days of DOS, and a 486 laptop. She had 95% written it(several hundred pages), and the laptop crashed, taking out the HDD at the same time.
Her words to me when I suggested(before the disaster) that she should have a backup on floppy disk or at least a printout still remain etched into my memory: "Why?! It's saved on the computer!" - my sister and I did not get on all that well as teenagers, so I never took it any further, and guess what happened?
Now, even though I did not exactly like my sister back then, I still would not have wished that on anyone including her - to see the anguish and despair on her face - I still remember it, and there was NOTHING we could do to fix the problem - we even took the laptop to data-recovery service of the time(costing $$$ just to look at it), and they said that a power surge had taken out the motherboard and the HDD electronics, and so there was no way(at that time) to access the HDD again - dead duck.
A very painful lesson was learned that day, and she had about two weeks once we got a new computer, to re-write her thesis from the very beginning from her memory, but all that pain for the sake of a couple of floppies and maybe $5...
With respect to PICAXE code, which too can represent hours and hours of effort, I employ a simple multiple-redundant backup method: (1) Backup to another folder on the working laptop, (2) backup to a floppy disk, (3) backup to a USB-drive, (4) backup to my server, (5) a hardcopy printout of EVERY code variation, and finally (6) backup to this machine I write this post on tonight.
Anyhoo...
westaust55
Moderator
was a bit hard to electronically back up toggle switch settings for the boot strap to get a PDP-11 up and able to read the paper tape.
Kept as a series of tables/images.
Kept as a series of tables/images.
For backup purposes, I highly recommend GIT. It is a fast version control system that works at the folder level, not create a database elsewhere like subversion.
That coupled with a decent backup of the folder (I'm on a Mac so use Time Machine and an AppleScript to copy the folder contents to an online file-store) means that not only do I have a backup, I can also go through my code back to a previous version very easily - clients are available for all OS's of there is the command line for the hard-core enthusiasts
That coupled with a decent backup of the folder (I'm on a Mac so use Time Machine and an AppleScript to copy the folder contents to an online file-store) means that not only do I have a backup, I can also go through my code back to a previous version very easily - clients are available for all OS's of there is the command line for the hard-core enthusiasts
That takes me back some years - we had a set of pages with the switch settings for boot and diagnostics in a binder next to the PDP-11/70. After a while, the boot settings were committed to memory ;-)was a bit hard to electronically back up toggle switch settings for the boot strap to get a PDP-11 up and able to read the paper tape.
Kept as a series of tables/images.
John
Many moons ago, when I worked as a programmer, one of the support department techs told me...
A client phones with a problem. It’s established over the phone that restoring from backups is required. She has been diligently making and filing backups, so someone from the support department drives out to the client. When asked for the backup floppies, she produces a ring binder with all the floppies punched with a hole puncher, neatly threaded onto the rings.
A client phones with a problem. It’s established over the phone that restoring from backups is required. She has been diligently making and filing backups, so someone from the support department drives out to the client. When asked for the backup floppies, she produces a ring binder with all the floppies punched with a hole puncher, neatly threaded onto the rings.