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BDM download cables - compatibility issues.

I have a piece of MC68360 based equipment which requires boot block reloading via the BDM port. The procedure calls for running some software (which I have) on a PC, downloading via the parallel port using a P&E Micro "cable16/32" (which I do not have). Are all BDM downloaders pin for pin functionally compatible ?. There seem to be 4 options other than the P&E : A 5 chip public domain DIY unit on the Freescale site , a 2 chip (HC76 and HC132) unit, a single chip GAL based unit and the MacCraigor "Wiggler". Are any of these units directly compatible with the P&E ?. I am not able to hack into the supplied software. Something that concerns me is that the PD GAL based unit uses entirely different parallel port connections to the other two PD units. The Macraigor unit appears to have a lot more than the standard 10 output pins. cheers M

Reply to
Piglit
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The pinning on the board will normally be a standard 10 pin connector, although the original BDM connector had 8 pins so you might see that on very old boards. As for the parallel port side, the P&E Micro setup is the most common, and used by a number of other parallel port dongles - P&E Micro's dongles use a GAL. Devices using two logic chips often follow Motorola's original public domain design.

If you are just looking for a single simple BDM cable, P&E Micro's are as good as any other. There are freely available design files for compatible devices around the net if you want to build them yourself. There are also much faster and more powerful BDM devices around (using USB or Ethernet), at higher prices, but they will not be compatible with your existing parallel port software.

Have a look at bdm.sourceforge.net, and google should give you more useful links (but search for the 68332 rather than the 68360, as it is much more common).

mvh.,

David

Reply to
David Brown

Just when you think the S/N ratio on usenet has reached unity, along comes someone with some really informed and useful stuff. The sourceforge BDM adaptor works a treat (they even included a .jed file for the GAL). It appears that the 74HC chip PD implementations had no hope of ever working with my particular driver. Thanks heaps, David. Mike

Reply to
Piglit

This particular group has an extremely high noise-to-signal ratio (to the extent that American politics, religion, and evolution are always on topic), but electronics is occasionally discussed rationally. In fact, it always amazes me that some of the most delusional and naive posters in the political threads can be so smart in the electronics threads.

If you need more help in the future, comp.arch.embedded is a far more useful resource (c.a.e. is for work, s.e.d. is for entertainment), as are the bdm sourceforge mailing list and the Coldfire mailing list at WildRice (which also covers the 683xx to a lesser extent) - both lists are read by the guys that made the bdm adaptor design and the gdb support code.

mvh.,

David

Reply to
David Brown

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