Freecut v0.1

Free firmware replacement for Cricut(tm) Personal paper cutter.

IMPORTANT: REPROGRAMMING THE AVR WILL PERMANENTLY ERASE YOUR ORIGINAL FIRMWARE

     !!! THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE ORIGINAL FIRMWARE BACK !!!

Original firmware cannot be copied from another machine (it has been locked and cannot be read from the CPU)

Original firmware cannot be restored through any PC application used for normal firmware upgrades.

This Freecut firmware has only been tested on the machine that I have. It may not work on your machine. It may cause permanent damage, and it will certainly void your warranty.

Freecut cannot read your original cartridges and may never read them in the future.

Cricut is a trademark of PROVO CRAFT.

Freecut is not a PROVO CRAFT product. Freecut was developed completely independently, without any documentation to PROVO CRAFT products, and without any original firmware. If you have problems with Freecut, do not consult PROVO CRAFT.

If you still want to proceed:

Attach an AVR programming cable to cartridge connector on the main board (J5):

J5 | AVR ------+----- 1 | PDO 3 | SCK 4 | PDI 5 | RESET 6 | GND

Top view of connector:

   J5

+---- ---+ | 9 7 5 3 1 | |10 8 6 4 2 | +---------------+

===edge of board======

And upload the freecut.hex file.

After reprogramming, the machine should beep, and display "Freecut v0.1" on the LCD display. Use keypad to load/unload paper (bottom right is unload, one to the left is load)

Use the USB cable to communicate (keypad is mostly non-functional, as well as the 3 dials on the front).

USB uses 115200 baud, 8N1.

Following commands are available:

version display version number

move lift pen, and move to coordinates.

draw drop pen, and move to coordinates.

curve drop pen and draw cubic Bezier curve

speed lower numbers are faster. 60 is about the fastest practical speed. 100 is reasonable for most cases. The speed is tied directly to an AVR timer: speed 100 -> 250 kHz/100 = 2.5 kHz stepping frequency -> 6.25"/second. If the speed is too high, the motors will start skipping.

press lower numbers are more pressure. 1023 is minimum, 0 is maximum.

flash just dumps the internal AT45DB041 flash chip in CAR mode.

reset CPU reset

Don't send too many commands too quickly. Wait for '>' prompt before sending another line.

NOTE: This is the first quick & dirty version. User interface may experience sudden changes (like a more sensible speed/press syntax)

e-mail: freecutfirmware@gmail.com