> Van: Gerhard Fiedler <lists@HOME.COM>
> Aan: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Onderwerp: Re: [SOT] Copy Protection; Reverse engineering vs Theft
> Datum: woensdag 5 mei 1999 18:51

Hello Gerhard,

> i think the processor type should be in the hex file and read by the
> programmer. of course it would be nice if the programmer could verify
that
> the right part is in the socket, but that's then a more rare error (and
> equal to using the wrong program, which it couldn't verify anyway).

Hmmm...  The controller-type as first line in the hex-file.  To be
"programmed" at an adress that is _equal_  on _all_ types of PIC's.  This
couple of bytes contains the Pic's identification (maybe coded) and is
_read-only_. The programmer tries to write this controller-type value into
the Pic's (read-only) memory, and will fail if that couple of memory-cells
do not contain the same value.

Ofcourse, the programmer could be queried to what kind of controller it has
got in it's socket, so that a warning could be displayed before the actual
programming took place ...

It would stop the killing of PIC's by supplying them with a wrong (read:
targetted to another type of PIC) Hex-code.

Now let's see if MC pick's up the idea :-)

Greetz,
  Rudy Wieser