I'm jump'n in !

[morph]

I'm ready to jump in and complete an order form my first PICAXE. I'll probably buy both the 8 and 16 Anderson development boards to see what these things can do.

I'm remembering from the Basic Stamp project that I did about 10 years ago, that I could upload the program from the Stamp using debug prn or something like that. I've read thru the PICAXE manuals and don't see any mention of reading the program from a PICAXE as there is for the Stamp.

Am I missing something in the manual ? Does the PICAXE have a similar ability ?

 

[Jaguarjoe]

You can't read the program from a Picaxe. Documenting what you do is extremely important here.

 

[BCJKiwi]

And keeping copies of previous variations of the program in case you need to go beck!

 

[hippy]

I don't recall there was ever a way to extract a program from a Basic Stamp but it was possible to save the compiled program to disk rather than chip so it could be loaded direct from disk without needing the source - Something along those lines is planned to be part of the PICAXE->Wizards

 

[SD2100]

I don't recall there was ever a way to extract a program from a Basic Stamp but it was possible to save the compiled program to disk rather than chip so it could be loaded direct from disk without needing the source - Something along those lines is planned to be part of the PICAXE->Wizards

So if the compiled program can be saved to disk then all we need is a DOS based program to download the program to the chip, then I can upload the picaxe program to a remote PC (486 running DOS 6.22) via dial up then download the new program to the picaxe, would save a 500km round trim.

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

it is possible with the basic stamp to readout the tokenised code, by hooking up to the eeprom it uses for code storage to a picaxe,
which from memmory happens to be somthing in the 24lc series

try doing that with a picaxe

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

So if the compiled program can be saved to disk then all we need is a DOS based program to download the program to the chip, then I can upload the picaxe program to a remote PC (486 running DOS 6.22) via dial up then download the new program to the picaxe, would save a 500km round trim.

sorry not gunna get any juice on that subject.......

 

[SD2100]

sorry not gunna get any juice on that subject.......

Yeh I was thinkin that, looks like the juice is going in the fuel tank

 

[hippy]

So if the compiled program can be saved to disk then all we need is a DOS based program to download the program to the chip, then I can upload the picaxe program to a remote PC (486 running DOS 6.22) via dial up then download the new program to the picaxe, would save a 500km round trim.

Theoretically. You can save petrol now if your client has the Programming Editor installed and you are prepared to email the source code. In some cases it would be possible to use PICAXE.Net and just FTP the program straight into the target chip.

There were two issues floated; saving token image to disk and encrypting the source code. I have no idea what will get implemented. The first opens the door to what you suggest above, the second would still rely on a client having the Programming Editor ( which they have to download and you cannot supply ). The first will also probably require the Programming Editor but it would, license conditions permitting, be possible to produce third-party tools to do that for MS-DOS, Linux, Mac, PDA etc.

Truth is that what you suggest can be done today and has been possible for years. It's just not documented how to achieve that and the tools necessary are not publicly available.

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

Theoretically. You can save petrol now if your client has the Programming Editor installed and you are prepared to email the source code. In some cases it would be possible to use PICAXE.Net and just FTP the program straight into the target chip.

There were two issues floated; saving token image to disk and encrypting the source code. I have no idea what will get implemented. The first opens the door to what you suggest above, the second would still rely on a client having the Programming Editor ( which they have to download and you cannot supply ). The first will also probably require the Programming Editor but it would, license conditions permitting, be possible to produce third-party tools to do that for MS-DOS, Linux, Mac, PDA etc.

Truth is that what you suggest can be done today and has been possible for years. It's just not documented how to achieve that and the tools necessary are not publicly available.

it's also important to note that devloping external applications that do this very function isn't allowed, i dare say i'm not the only one who has gone to rev-ed in the past requesting the required info, and told no

 

[SD2100]

Truth is that what you suggest can be done today and has been possible for years. It's just not documented how to achieve that and the tools necessary are not publicly available.

It's easy when you know the inner workings but if those tools are not available then it's near impossible, nearly all Picaxe users are experimenters and a lot us are salvaging and using old parts and equipment such as old PC's etc. It would be good to have these tools available but I suppose there is some good reason for not releasing them to the public.

 

[moxhamj]

A 500km round trip is a long way. If you write a picaxe program then you would always save the program This is a simple text file.

If the person at the other end can plug a picaxe board into a computer then there are remote control solutions. You could install the picaxe programmer on their computer and then use remote access software like logmein to take over their computer and download the program. If you don't want them to have access to the source code, you can use a common ftp site. My ISP gives me web space and using windows you can set that up as a common web folder (my network places, then on the left, add a network place). If you do this on both machines you can upload the file to the webspace, then use logmein to log into the remote computer and then download the same file using simple copy and paste. All the above software is free and there are free webspaces around as well. Then reprogram the picaxe.

If you want to keep the source code confidential then delete the .bas file off the remote computer after it has been sent to the picaxe.

Anything to save petrol now it has broken the $100US barrier.

Re the original post there would never really be a need to upload a program from a picaxe to a computer as the program would always be saved on the computer. I usually print out a copy on a piece of paper when I make a project and put it in the project box along with a printout of the schematic.

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

Anything to save petrol now it has broken the $100US barrier.

what are they ripping you off at the pump for down there

it was $1.48 /litre up here in western sydney (liverpool area)

i think it'll be a wise idea to rebuild the old still, and get back into making methanol for fuel, converting an old carolla with a carby can't be too hard

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

A 500km round trip is a long way. If you write a picaxe program then you would always save the program This is a simple text file.

If the person at the other end can plug a picaxe board into a computer then there are remote control solutions. You could install the picaxe programmer on their computer and then use remote access software like logmein to take over their computer and download the program. If you don't want them to have access to the source code, you can use a common ftp site. My ISP gives me web space and using windows you can set that up as a common web folder (my network places, then on the left, add a network place). If you do this on both machines you can upload the file to the webspace, then use logmein to log into the remote computer and then download the same file using simple copy and paste. All the above software is free and there are free webspaces around as well. Then reprogram the picaxe.

If you want to keep the source code confidential then delete the .bas file off the remote computer after it has been sent to the picaxe.

Anything to save petrol now it has broken the $100US barrier.

Re the original post there would never really be a need to upload a program from a picaxe to a computer as the program would always be saved on the computer. I usually print out a copy on a piece of paper when I make a project and put it in the project box along with a printout of the schematic.

it's a little bit teadious, cosidering it's not a difficult thing to do and it's somthing that should be availble, i'm suprised no one has reverse engineered the editor yet and just written one

 

[moxhamj]

DPG, $1.48 here as well. It is getting bad. A patient of mine arrived this morning having just pushed his motorbike 3km to get here. I use logmein to remotely manage a computer for a friend 70Km away and it has already saved at least 5 trips.

 

[Shafto]

$100us a barrel.

I think it's 109.9/liter here, for 87, 94 is the best you can get, it's about 127.9 or so.

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

it looks like it's time to save every drop of fuel we can, i might start looking for a cheap old car to convert to methanol

 

[SD2100]

If the person at the other end can plug a picaxe board into a computer then there are remote control solutions. You could install the picaxe programmer on their computer and then use remote access software like logmein to take over their computer and download the program. If you don't want them to have access to the source code, you can use a common ftp site. My ISP gives me web space and using windows you can set that up as a common web folder (my network places, then on the left, add a network place). If you do this on both machines you can upload the file to the webspace, then use logmein to log into the remote computer and then download the same file using simple copy and paste. All the above software is free and there are free webspaces around as well. Then reprogram the picaxe.

problem is there's no one at the other end just an old 486 with a 2400 modem
hanging off it that runs for a few hours a day, so no fancy stuff.

 

[moxhamj]

That is a bit tricky as the picaxe programmer needs two way comms in real time. Maybe a serial bridge would work using the modem/internet etc but the delay on the signals coming back from pin0 might be too long.

 

[hippy]

it's a little bit teadious, cosidering it's not a difficult thing to do and it's somthing that should be availble, i'm suprised no one has reverse engineered the editor yet and just written one

Doing it is one thing. Publishing it, sharing it or even detailing how would be a different matter.

 

[moxhamj]

That is a rather cryptic comment, Hippy!

I don't begrudge RevEd their (very tiny) profit margin on each chip, and hence I have no desire to try to reverse engineer the programmer. Bottom line is that if a hack went open source, Rev Ed wouldn't make any money and then we would have no more picaxe upgrades or new products. And who would want that?

It is easy to get attached to computers like a 486 but I've been getting giveaways from computer stores up to 800Mhz and XP will run on those just fine. Nothing wrong with dial up modems either, so an XP on the internet (dial up) means logmein and pcanywhere and other solutions are all still possible for free.

Or you could put the picaxe in a box connected to D25 plug as a plug-in module, and when there is an upgrade, use express post to send the new module.