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Old 4th Jan 2023, 11:08 pm   #70
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,484
Default Re: Tesla Programmer

I have the Tesla programmer PCB about 60% populated now - found a reasonably priced 8255A which I hope is similar enough to the Intel version. Of course I couldn't find any of the several that I know I have. I've decided to order the specific low-ESR capacitors and inductor from the BOM to be sure that the 10V SMPSU will work as intended.

Having started with the Arduino Micro (which I will probably keep for this project as it is 5V-friendly) I got sidetracked into trying the code on a Pi Pico because the Arduino IDE does now have proper 'board' support for the Pico.

In both cases I'm having a peculiar problem which I don't think normally happens on the UNO -

If I initialise the serial port and send an initial prompt, like this:

Code:
 
Serial.begin(115200,SERIAL_8N1);
Serial.println("Ready - waiting for Intel Hex file at 115200,8,N,1");
I don't see the "Ready" prompt, yet the serial port is working beyond that point because the next thing I do is continually read from the serial port until a whole Intel Hex file has been received and then parsed / checksummed, and that works.

Whether the code is successfully received or not, the serial port is then closed at the end of the main loop.

Back at the beginning of the main loop the first thing encountered is the Serial.begin code above, and this time it DOES display the 'ready' prompt. It's as though I have to read from the serial port first to wake it up before I can send anything to it.

I have the same problem when using the Arduino Micro and the Pi Pico - no initial prompt on first connection. Does anyone know the work-around for this?

Last edited by SiriusHardware; 4th Jan 2023 at 11:20 pm.
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