vascofazza
commented
1 year ago The programming interface is used to program the MK1 using the start9_programming_interface board or directly from the computer through an Arduino serial interface.
1) The purpose of the Start9 programming interface is to store programs ad load them without having a computer laying around. On the board, an ATmega chip reads the programs from an EEPROM and loads them onto the CPU RAM.
The way this works is the following: first, you upload the start9_programming_interface.ino onto the atmega, then you use the flash_composer to create a single binary file that contains all the programs you want to store onto the programming interface.
This is an example:
- List of programs: https://github.com/vascofazza/8bit-cpu/blob/master/start9_programming_interface/code/start9.txt
- Output binary: https://github.com/vascofazza/8bit-cpu/blob/master/start9_programming_interface/code/start9.bin Finally, flash the binary file on the EEPROM and enjoy :)
2) If you want to program the CPU from your computer directly, you only need an Arduino NANO, and this is the code you need to upload https://github.com/vascofazza/8bit-cpu/blob/master/MK1_CPU/code/mk1_computer_uplodader/mk1_computer_uplodader.ino
This way, you can upload the code through the serial port - Everything is already implemented in the code folder, you should find the uploader there.
I hope this is making things a little bit clearer :)
TnnsBeast
Could you please explain how to program the programming interface? I am a little confused as to what the arduino code start9_programming_interface.ino and the flash_composer are meant to do. Also, how does flash composer communicate with the a pc? Sorry for so many questions, I am just trying to follow the build and need a little assistance. Thank you!