I am curious whether there are some example of seriously designed product based on PIC-USB MCU other than the PK2/PK3 programmers?

 
By the way, I don't think the PK2 "loss of firmware issue" are totally fixed by V2.4x and later releases (Now, it seems the same ghost is kissing PK3). Walter may be smart to figure out how to reduce the occurancy frequency of this issue and have an internal check/fix when firmware or configuration bits are damaged by unknown reason. But it still happens. When corruption are detected, the software will automatically fix the configuration bit corrupted without user notice, but it does require user re-downloading the os from a PC. So far, nobody knows what's the root cause. If this happens to PIC18F2550, I am pretty confident it will happen to 18F4550 too. And it appears happening more frequently when new computer are used, and it almost happens 100% when the PK2 is being plugged into a PC. Maybe this has something related to ESD or transient voltage as another PIClist thread is discussing. 

The bad thing about those issue is: you cannot duplicate in the lab but it happens. I had a few of device tested for thousands of time on plug/unplug, none of them failed. The good thing is, after Walter's PK2 firmware improvement, it is very easy to fix, a few clicks will get the device back.

Won't it be good without those bugs/glitches?

We will do some enhancement on our next BB0703 HardWare release to have ESD protection on both ICSP connector and USB connector as standard feature. For the moment, we will offer ESD protection on both side as an option.

Funny N.
Au Group Electronics, http://www.AuElectronics.com
http://www.AuElectronics.com/products
http://augroups.blogspot.com/




________________________________
From: Xiaofan Chen <xiaofanc@gmail.com>
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. <piclist@mit.edu>
Sent: Thu, January 14, 2010 9:28:39 PM
Subject: Re: [PIC] MCHPFSUSB USB stack bug

On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Funny NYPD <funnynypd@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Always try to use FTDI or Silicon Labs single chip solution for USB designs
> if budget isn't so tight. (By the way, Microchip still doesn't figure out how to
> make a full-speed USB MCU without crystal, which has been the industry
> standard for so many years.)

I would not call that Industrial standard, only a handful of companies are
able to do that (Silabs, FTDI, etc), majority of the companies, even some
other MCU companies with better USB expertise (NXP, Atmel, ST, etc) will still
require you to use Crystal.

> Industry temp (-40-85C) version FX2lp almost cost doubled its
> commercial (0-70C) version.

That is one reason why people are having more interests in the offerings
from other MCU vendors. Yes EZ-USB may be easier in terms of USB
programming and have the clear advantage of longer time in the market.
But now more and more leading USB experts are looking at Microchip
MCU parts, for example, Jan Axelson.

If you look at the Microchip forum USB section, it is very active and people
are having success developing successful product with Microchip USB MCUs.
http://www.microchip.com/forums/tt.aspx?forumid=102



-- 
Xiaofan http://mcuee.blogspot.com
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http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist