DOS saves - A tale of retrocomputing

It is early 2020 AD and I am developing some Arduino firmware for a friend. I chose Arduino for several reasons, one of them is that the friend in his 70's can program Arduino clones using a legacy PC that runs Windows XP. You know, HAM and electronics enthusiasts have a bunch of equipment that requires software/drivers that have never been updated/ported to newer operating systems: so why change it, when it works?!

My computer runs a supported Ubuntu distribution and the latest Arduino IDE. Actually our Arduino IDEs are not too far apart version-wise, so I started sending him updated .ino source code.

First problems appeared with I2C LCD driver libraries that misbehaved: there are too many with the same name and you can't know which one is being used at compile time. This forced me to find an I2C LCD library with a different name than LiquidCrystal_I2C, which is actually better than others:

#include <hd44780&.h> // main hd44780 header

#include <hd44780ioclass/hd44780_i2cexp.h> // i2c expander i/o class header

This solved it, but the same firmware worked differently on his hardware than mine. What broke was a function that picks a random value and looks it up in a static table, which went out of bounds. This happened at the second iteration of the main loop() and then the firmware basically crashed.

Since it didn't happen on my side, one solution was to send him the compiled firmware (.hex) and burn that directly. It is fairly easy: have Arduino IDE print out the avrdude programmer command and replay it with the .hex that you want to load. I planned to do it over TeamViewer, as I had done few years ago.

Second problem: his WinXP has TeamViewer 10 and cannot be upgraded, while on my Ubuntu I got TeamViewer 15. They don't talk to each other. Fair enough. TeamViewer guys let you download old versions (excellent!), so I installed 10 on my Ubuntu, but it still refused to connect. No time to troubleshoot that, so I switched to Plan B which required a bit of preparation: blindly write down the instructions and have my friend do it without my real-time assistance.

Once I got from him the complete avrdude command (in form of screenshots because you cannot copy the debug output in Arduino IDE!), I needed the safest way to get him on the right track. Consider that I do not have a Windows machine to try the procedure beforehand.

So, I produced a DOS batch file hoping that the Arduino board would end up always on the same COM port. The simplest thing was to put everything in C:\ so to avoid long paths. A .bat file cannot be sent over email, so it was a .txt then renamed. Once I explained to click on the batch file, nothing happened: the DOS window just flicked quickly. I needed to see the error message.

We worked out together an old DOS trick: pause the execution of the batch. He remembered the right command was "pause", so he did everything on his own to edit the file, rename and run again. I could now see (a screenshot) that I had misread an avrdude flag in "1" rather than "i". So, one more edit and run and .... mission accomplished! DOS saved us.

Even better, he managed to program a second Nano board that ends up on COM10 simply editing the batch file.

My binary firmware works as expected on his hardware, no more array out-of-bound and firmware crashes. His Arduino installation probably has stale libraries or doesn't work properly on the experimental now-dead WinXP 64 bit.

For the next updates I will send him the .hex microcode and all will be fine. And if something else goes wrong, there is always DOS!

TIL311 clock and fun KiCad project

PCB travel box :)

While in the past I tried (and not documented) to wire four TIL311 displays on perfboard, I quickly realized the project would need too much wiring to be fun and relaxing. Fast forward a couple of years and a positive experience of PCB design with KiCad, I decided to refresh the whole process.

 

PCB under vacuum

This time I would design a PCB composed of two detachable parts: one with the logic and another with the display. This way I can choose between two physical layouts and reuse the logic board for other projects, provided a new display or daughter board is designed.

Few requirements for the logic board in order to exploit TIL311 peculiarities:

• per-digit independent dimming control (needs PWM outputs),
• per-digit latch control (obviously),
• common BCD DCBA bus to all displays,
• independent LED voltage vs logic voltage (to reduce heat generation and thermal stress on TIL311),
• free form management of embedded decimal points (provide pads on PCB, wire later).

 Further on, from my previous experience as clock builder:

• interface to common I2C RTC board
• interrupt driven time base,
• build-time choice of 1 pps or 32 kHz interrupt from RTC
• LDR for dimming
• button + potentiometer to handle user interaction

Click and zoom for details.

This time I ordered 10x PCBs from JLCPCB.com . I chose black finish because I think it matches best the red-purplish displays. I did a DIY panelisation in the sense that I drew a line where it should be cut, and I do it with a cutter if needed. They arrived in a sturdy cardboard box. Click and zoom in the picture to see how the small font has been printed.

And here it is, #1 clock resulting from this project. It turns out that the RTC module doubles as a standoff, so the whole thing stays upright in a nice-looking position for a desk.

A 4x TIL311 clock with Arduino Nano.

Sostituzione pistoni a gas sul pensile della cucina

Nel 2008 ho comprato una cucina con due pensili in vetro/alluminio con apertura a vela, sostenuti con un meccanismo a pistoncini a gas: lo scolapiatti (90 x 70 cm) e sopra i fornelli (90 x 62 cm). Nel giro di tre anni i pistoni si sono scaricati ed ho provveduto alla sostituzione. Passano altri tre anni e di nuovo, i pensili non stanno su. Altra sostituzione, questa volta con pistoncini Effegi Brevetti Stabilus Lift-o-Mat 6011SE da 450N contro i 350N originali (stesso produttore). Questi durano 4 anni sullo scolapiatti, ma alla fine cedono.

Siamo nel 2020. Già da tempo ho maturato l'idea di sostituire le molle a gas con qualcosa più moderno, dato che le stesse case produttrici non li usano più dal 2008-2009! Faccio un breve giro in mobilificio per curiosare cosa montano, salvo scoprire che non sembrano più fare pensili così grossi con anta unica.

Non importa, insisto e scopro il catalogo della Blum. Hanno meccanismi per aperture di tutti i tipi e tutti i pesi, incluse le mie vele da 8.5 kg! Studio il catalogo, capisco i pezzi che servono ed arrivo a queste cifre:

• due coppie di pistoncini Stabilus Lift-O-Mat, 50€/coppia, totale 100€
• meccanismo completo Blum (molla, bracci, ancoraggio anta), totale 204€

Il meccanismo Blum Aventos HS consente inoltre di fermare l'anta a mezz'aria (una volta regolato), cosa non possibile con il meccanismo originale.

Non avendo intenzione di cambiare cucina a breve, ho scelto di spendere il doppio e liberarmi del patema di ottimizzare le aperture delle vele per ridurre i cicli. E divertirmi con un po' di sano bricolage da raccontare agli amici. Senza contare che i pistoni a gas sono sempre più merce rara.

Ho fatto il lavoro in autonomia e senza smontare il pensile dal muro. L'anta ovviamente deve essere rimossa (in due persone!), va fatto qualche foro con attenzione, ma soprattutto ci si può liberare dei pistoncini a gas!!

Le foto mostrano l'interno del pensile prima e dopo l'intervento. Ci tengo a precisare che sono semplicemente un cliente soddisfatto e non ho avuto contatti con la casa austriaca. I pezzi Blum li ho comprati online, in Sicilia. Lascio a voi individuare la casa produttrice della cucina.

Prima, il "peccato originale" della casa.

Dopo, meccanismo Blum.

Cortesemente lasciate un commento se questo post vi è tornato utile, perché in rete non ho trovato praticamente nessun riferimento ad interventi come questo: ho avuto solo io il problema, o nessuno ha condiviso?