Forging a new link

DonkeyProg is dead - long live DonkeyProg! DP should be appearing on SourceForge in the next few days.Feel free to join the fun (Yeah...). I will be closing the web site soon - I have other uses for it! I'll post more when (if) the project is approved.

Stu.

DonkeyProg - The last word?

It's been another lengthy period without a post here - work commitments and other projects have meant that I've had precisely zero time to do anything on this project, including the MicroPro replacement which is currently on a "Back burner" waiting for the new JR/DIY firmware to become widely available.

There is an issue that I need to clarify here with regard to licensing and IP. To put it bluntly, the "official" DIY software/firmware is proprietary and licensed for use with the "official" DIY hardware *ONLY*. If you use it with anybody else's hardware then you are stealing, pure and simple. The issue is a bit cloudier with DP which is released under an open source licence. However, make no bones about it, DP is strictly my own intellectual property and I remain the copyright holder - in other words, it is illegal for anybody other than myself to claim any rights over this software. If you have added functionality of course, you may claim IP rights/copyright to the added functionality - but the GPL requires that you also release the modified source code back into the community, that's the way it works folks.
Technically, it is legitimate to use DP with non-DIY programmer hardware. However, I state on my website and will repeat here - I will *NOT* support DP in any way unless it is being used with *GENUINE* DIY hardware. In other words, if you buy a cheap knock-off on eBay - you are on your own.

Buyer Beware!

Playing the waiting game

Hi, It's been a long time since I updated this blog, and with some good reason - There simply is nothing to report.

Jim is working on the DIY firmware for the existing 628 processors, and I have nothing to add to his efforts. Jim understands the existing P18/MicroPro relationship much better than I do, so I thought it'd be best to let him get on with it without interference from the likes of me - for the record, I think it should go in a different direction, and so does Jim by his own account.

The end result? DonkeyProg is "frozen" as-is. There will be no further updates of any kind unless Jim fails in his quest. And I don't think he will, he knows the firmware inside out.
The only real issue in my mind is the Windows software. MicroPro is getting old, and by all accounts that I've heard cannot even be compiled from its (Delphi 6) sources. I have an alternative, provisionally known as DPXE, which may fit the bill when it's been reworked a little to support P18. This is something I'll be doing shortly - the main part of DPXE already supports PIC10/12/14/16 processors in addition to the PIC18 devices it was originally intended to work with. PIC24/30/33 support can easily be added if required.

I'm waiting for Jim to get the firmware sorted out first, obviously. Then we can go to work on the software - Jim preferred DPXE to the beta version of MP2, so it looks like that approach is dead, and K185 is just not going to happen anytime soon. In some respects, DPXE is better than MP2 - It was written afterwards, and builds on my experience with MP2 but with fewer features.

Anyway, enough of the rambling - Let's see what pans out. I'll be getting DPXE to work with P18 in the next couple of weeks.

Limbo.

Hello again. I'm afraid I don't know what's going on in DIY-Land, all I know is what's available on the DIY forum. I must reiterate that I *never* had any official connection to DIY, and any unofficial connection was strictly through Bob Axtell, who has now retired from the role. He has stated that he will be taking no further part in the development of MP2 or P19, so I feel that morally( especially as I was not contacted by Frank in relation to this project, except for once which I will not go into) I am no longer obligated to DIY.
Unless there are objections, I will make the source code to MP2 Version 0.04a available on my web site as from 3rd July 2006. It will be Google searchable seven days later.

Yes, I'm pissed off. Not at Jim - this guy is brilliant. No, I'm pissed at DIY - the lack of communication is stunning.

Hello Again!

This is a short one - It looks like Jim Robertson (Of WARP-13 fame) is back in the DIY user camp. There are some interesting possibilities for the future of DPXE if Jim wants to get involved - stay tuned.

Edit - I've added Jim's website address (Newfound) to the side bar for those interested in following up...

Damn. I edited it, but it won't stick. To visit Jim's site, go to http://www.newfoundelectronics.com .I'll fix it as soon as I get round the Blogger interface.

I'm still in the game!

Greetings to all, and thanks for your patience on DPXE!

I've had an extremely busy couple of months, but it looks like things might be starting to ease up a little soon. So hopefully I can get back to finishing off the DPXE application.
I will shortly be taking the DonkeyProg/MP2 site down. Don't worry - it's only to replace it with a new, improved version. Initially, all references to MP2 will be removed but they will be fed back in as and when appropriate. Just a warning that it's all going to change!

Update on DPXE

It's now the second week of March. Oh dear. I did promise DPXE would be released in the first week, didn't I?

Unfortunately, work commitments have a way of sneaking up and eating all my time while I'm not looking. It happened again - major panic and scurry, with more than a few 14 hour days involved. It's not going to get much better for about a month now as we've a major exhibition coming up, with all the preparation that that involves. However, I'll do my best to sneak a few hours of time in order to complete DPXE - it really IS that close to finished.

Once again, please bear with me.