Couple of niggles about programmer

[Grogster]

Hi all.


I have a couple of things that annoy me a little about the programmer software.

1) Why bother with the password when you install? It's the same password for everyone, and if you need to install, you just have to hunt down the password(becasue you have forgotten since last install!), and this is just a pest...

2) When programming the chip, it is annoying when the programmer cannot talk to the chip, that it stops with a message and you have to click [OK]. It would be much better and less stressful, if, when ready to program the chip, you press [F5], and a window comes up, with a [CANCEL] button. What would happen now, would be that the programmer would try FOREVER to program the chip, until you click [CANCEL] or the programmer was sucessful in programming the chip.

I find 99% of the time, when you press [F5] to start the programming, you need to cycle the power to the chip, and by the time you have done this, the programmer has timed-out and displayed an annoying message asking for an [OK] click.

Surely, it would be better, if the program automatically made repeated attempts to program the chip, rather then just one - I think this would make life easier for all.

Please don't get me wrong - the programmer software is GREAT apart from these things, and the forums are very helpful, and the Picaxe product is BRILLIANT - these are just a couple of niggles(annoyances) of mine...


G.

 

[Grogster]

ADDITIONAL: Somthing else I forgot to mention that annoys me a litte about the programmer, is that when you write code that results in a "EEPROM FULL! - Program too long" message, when you do a syntax check with [F4]. The message itself is fine, but it would be helpful if on that window, you were told how many bytes over you are, so you can work out the best way to re-code your program to get it to fit in the EEPROM. I have had a couple of program with this message, and it essentially tells you nothing - you need to know how may bytes you must cut back by, to get the program in. How about the window displaying how many bytes the program _IS_; you could work backwards from there to get the program in memory... Any thoughts?

G.

 

[Technical]

1) Because of licensing and distribution regulations. And the password does change regularly!

2) You should not have to cycle power '99% of the time' to get a download, this implies somthing is not quite right with your setup. It is necessary on occassions, but this should be the 1% of times, not 99% of times!

 

[manuka]

Confirming that 1% Tech mentions is more normal! Generally the only time you need a power off reset is when a SLEEP is under way.

 

[hippy]

Regarding lost password; going though the registration process but not actually downloading the software will still cause the password for the latest software to be emailed to you.

If the software has changed and a newer password is delivered, then it will require the downloading of the new software as well. That's not an unreasonable situation to be in if one's lost the password.

One obvious solution to the problem, and that of losing the software entirely, is to backup the downloaded software to a CD-R and write the password on it - Backups are of course only for personal use !

 

[Grogster]

I have my PICAXE setup on a mini-prototype board, as Stan Swan did in the Silicon Chip issues, and this seems to be fine. The chip itself is powered from a 78L05 on the breadboard, that being fed from a 9v battery.

I apply power to the PICAXE circuit BEFORE I attempt the download, but perhaps I will try not powering until I have pressed [F5]...

Regardless, I still think the programmer times out too quickly, and does not give you enough time to cycle power, unless you are very quick with your hands.

Perhaps my 99% figure was a little exagerated(i was frustrated the day I wrote the original post!), but it is fair to say, that at LEAST 50% of the time you need to cycle power. I have both breadboard and fully-etched PCB versions of the PICAXE layout, and it does not seem to matter if you program the chip on the breadboard or the PCB version, you generally still need to cycle power, before the PC will talk to the chip.
I've tried different serial leads, and different PC's; the result is the same, but at the end of the day, cycling power is no problem for me, if this allows the programming to happen.

With respect to my point (1), Ok this is fair enough I suppose, but I still think it is an annoying aspect of installing the software(i rebuild my PC quite often). Having said that, I have opened a file, and documented the password(and all previous versions too), so I should not have quite so much trouble on the next rebuild...


G.