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Yet another Ethernet module

Posted: 26 June 2006, 8:31 AM
by DH*
The Tibbo EM202 acts as a serial device server out-of-the-box but is also programmable in a proprietary (but free) Basic dialect. It has 64KB of flash and 20KB or RAM. See...Documentation is at...Sample Basic applications for most things one might wish to do are at...This is a 5V device so there's no need for voltage conversion if used with ZX chips. It includes magnetics and LEDs so there's no additional cost. It's $63 from their Canadian distributor. I found their tech support people polite and very helpful.

Posted: 26 June 2006, 11:25 AM
by stevech
They'll give Lantronix XPort some competition!

I haven't used XPort, but I have used Wiport - 802.11 first cousin of XPort.
The Operating system enviornment is kinda clumsy (understatement), and the CPU is not power-frugal.

Posted: 26 June 2006, 11:41 AM
by DH*
stevech wrote:They'll give Lantronix XPort some competition!

I haven't used XPort, but I have used Wiport - 802.11 first cousin of XPort.
The Operating system enviornment is kinda clumsy (understatement), and the CPU is not power-frugal.
I've tried XPort, Connect ME, & SitePlayer Telnet module and think Tibbo's EM202 is "best of breed". It is a little power hungry, too - using 250mA.

I would like to see optional methods for putting the ZX chips into download mode. It would make it easier to interface with this type of device.

Posted: 26 June 2006, 12:08 PM
by stevech
Zx to download mode.
I'd like to see
<esc><esc> or <dle><esc> or some such, on the serial port
trigger download mode, if configured to enable such.

if you need to send binary data on the serial port, you can use this well known protocol from the BSC era to leave the transparent mode.

I use this for my own AVR applications (not ZX based) - application jumps to bootloader in the AVR. Bootloader downloads, the sends command to run application (Atmel's App not 109)

Posted: 27 June 2006, 4:12 AM
by DH*
I have no idea whether this is possible but I think a ZBasic command that would initiate download mode (in the same manner as ResetProcessor, maybe even by passing parameters to an extended version of ResetProcessor) would be best. It would be less likely to be triggered accidentally as it would not depend on looking for esoteric character combinations in the input stream. The user could then create his/her own trigger procedure. The Tibbo EM202 can be updated over the Internet. It would be nice it the ZX chip could be updated in the same way.

I would also like either a DLL or a standalone Windows GUI application that would display a progress bar instead of the current console application. Before incorporating it in their IDE, NetMedia gave me a standalone app for this. I could close the main serial port, shell to the standalone app (passing the port on the command line) which displayed a progress bar, and then reopen the main port after the process completed. It was all accomplished from a menu within my Windows interface and was transparent to the user.

Posted: 27 June 2006, 9:30 AM
by stevech
I wrote a windows application called BLIPS (Boot Loader for IP and Serial) - runs on Windows with a GUI. It's on AVRFreaks.net.
It downloads intel .HEX and EEPROM files for Atmel chips. It downloads following the Atmel App note 109 protocol. The connection can be serial direct COM port or TCP or UDP, with the latter being via an ethernet-to-serial converer such as Lantronix Xport, WiPort or Moxa Nport, or some homebrew equivalent.

With this I can download AVR chips via IP.

The concept for the ZX could be similar. The ZX's VM needs an "instruction" like I use in the AVR to pass control to the bootloader. What I do in my application is to cause a watchdog timer timeout. This triggers the bootloader to run. BLIPS then talks to the bootloader to pass a new program. If the bootloader doesn't connect with BLIPS it times out and re-runs the application code.

I'd be happy to help out in adapting these techniques for ZBasic.

Posted: 27 June 2006, 9:40 AM
by DH*
stevech wrote:What I do in my application is to cause a watchdog timer timeout.
Given that ResetProcessor forces a WDT reset, it could be fairly easy to adapt.

Posted: 27 June 2006, 9:43 AM
by stevech
yes - I use BLIPS and this scheme to reprogram AVR chips that are located remotely or in an inconvenient place and with a serial port connected to an operational computer (not a development PC). Utilities like ProxySerial (public domain) are handy - it makes a physical COM port on a remote PC accessable via telnet to some port #.

Tibbo EM202

Posted: 26 July 2006, 13:07 PM
by zbasicandy
Tibbo EM202 --> At $99 it outrageous!

Re: Tibbo EM202

Posted: 26 July 2006, 15:27 PM
by DH*
zbasicandy wrote:Tibbo EM202 --> At $99 it outrageous!
But at its price of $63 (from their Canadian distributor) it's not so bad, especially considering it's programmable in Basic. It is however difficult to solder, with through hole pins on 0.050" centers.

Tibbo

Posted: 26 July 2006, 17:01 PM
by zbasicandy
My quote was for the development board with all the necessary electronics to support it. Your cost is just the module without the PCB and support electronics and this will drive the cost skyward. The "Rabbit" and "TIBBO" can share the title of the most costly Ethernet solution.
Better get a bank loan.
:) :) :)

Re: Tibbo

Posted: 27 July 2006, 4:22 AM
by DH*
zbasicandy wrote:My quote was for the development board with all the necessary electronics to support it. Your cost is just the module without the PCB
My figure was for the EM202, the same model I cited and linked to when I started the thread. I also mentioned that it was $63 from their Canadian distributor in initiating the thread. Your figure is apparently for the EM202-EV. Comparing apples to oranges like this is usually done when one is trying to distort or obfuscate an issue. However, $99 for a serial server evaluation board is not a bad price in comparison to similar packages.

I think the obvious apples for comparisons with the EM202 are the Lantronix XPort and Digi Connect ME which both cost about $55. A few $ more for programmability and far more RAM doesn't seem outrageous. And, the EM202-EV compares quite favorably with Lantronix XPort SDK ($140) or XPORT AR evalution board ($190).

Re: Tibbo

Posted: 28 July 2006, 10:54 AM
by DH*
zbasicandy wrote:Your cost is just the module without the PCB and support electronics and this will drive the cost skyward.
Just in case anyone is misled by this disinformation, the EM202 needs +5V, GND, TX, RX & Reset (whether you need to connect any of the other handshake lines depends on your application). I assume most of the denizens of this forum will have +5V, GND and a pin or two available since they would likely be interfacing it with a ZX-24 or ZX-40. The only added cost is space on your circuit board and the EM202 requires about the same space as an XPort and slightly less than a Connect Me or SitePlayer module or even the ENC28J60 and its associated hardware.

Posted: 28 July 2006, 17:19 PM
by zbasicandy
You tend to get Bafflegaber when you eat Skyline Chili.
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Posted: 29 July 2006, 5:45 AM
by zbasicandy
I have to apologize for my next door neighbor's 9 year old son for
connecting to the Internet and trying to communicate with people in cyberspace forums that he thinks are in his own age group. He loves to talk technobabble. He's very bright and he even knows to put a do/loop in a waitforinterrupt task routine in ZBasic!