Frank Sergeant's Pikme (PIC) Programming Page

Pikme Bootloader

The Pikme bootloader is "The World's Simplest PIC Bootloader".

• It requires only one-half of an I/O pin (that is, it can use an input-only pin), and even that pin can be used for other purposes in your application provided it doesn't wiggle when the PIC powers up.
• The serial code is bit-banged. It does not require a PIC with a hardware serial port. Equates in boot.asm make it easy to select which pin will be used. (It defaults to the RA5/Vpp/MCLR* pin which cannot be an output pin, thus conserving output pins for the application.)
• The serial interface is "inverted TTL serial", which means the PIC does not need an RS232 inverter (such as a MAX232).
• It is set up to work with the PIC16F819 but is easy to modify for other PIC chips that allow "in-application" programming of their flash memory. The bootloader itself calculates the value for the org statement and sets ZOrgShouldBe to that value, providing you set the equate ZFlashSize correctly for your PIC variant.
• Full source code is included. The code (both the PIC-side and the host PC-side) is heavily commented.
• Liberal MIT/BSD-style license
• The bootloader uses the first 32-word block (for jumping to the bootloader proper in high memory and for the interrupt vector) plus approximately 183 words of high memory.
• The host PC software is a Python program that runs anywhere that Python (and the Python serial module) run: at least Windows, Linux, Unix.
• It is easy to set up the application code so that its resulting hex file can be used with the bootloader or directly with a hardware programmer. The file skeleton.asm shows how.
• When the PIC powers up, the bootloader is in control. It checks the serial line to see if it is wiggling. If so, it prepares to download a new application and burn it into flash memory. If the serial line is not wiggling, it jumps directly to the application that has already been burned into flash. (The bootloader includes a dummy application, which simply jumps back to the start of the bootloader.)

It has two parts:

PIC chip side

As a one-time action, burn the bootloader (boot.hex) into the PIC chip with a hardware programmer.

Host PC side

Thereafter, download your application's hex file to the chip via the serial port with picbl.py, e.g. python picbl.py dummy1.hex 0 for the first serial port (COM1: under Windows or /dev/ttyS0 under Linux) or python picbl.py dummy1.hex 1 for the second serial port (COM2: under Windows or /dev/ttyS1 under Linux)

Download

Pikme PIC bootloader boot20060722.zip (25K) (Includes everything. Unzip it into its own directory or put it anywhere convenient.)

Feedback

I'll be glad to receive comments, suggestions, spelling/typo/grammar corrections, factual corrections, improvements, etc. Feel free to email me at frank@pygmy.utoh.org.