2 questions: 1: Could you duel boot DOS using GRUB or other loader? This would eliminate the floppy. Or use a USB or SD flash card to boot DOS? 2: Could you run the DOS under Linux with WINE? On 7/21/2010 11:58 AM, John Hansen wrote: > IIRC, win95 and XP handle serial ports differently. XP was based on the > hardware model of WinNT which did not allow direct addressing of the > hardware serial ports... you had to go through the operating system. As a > result, many of the old serial and parallel port PIC programmers that were > designed to work on earlier versions of Windows failed when ported to XP. > Again, IIRC, running these programs in "compatibility mode" didn't work > either. > > I remember, once upon a time, writing a program that allowed me to program > PICs using one of these old programmers under XP, but it did not work with > all machines (perhaps because of the voltage level issues). In any case, > you are trying to use software that already exists, so this wouldn't help > you in any case. > > I think you have a couple of options here. If you can figure out what this > old software is actually doing (could it be writing configuration values?) > you could acquire a modern PIC programmer and rewrite the chips using MPLAB > (or the like). > > Or you could save the old clunker as you have been doing. > > One other possibility would be to boot into DOS using a floppy or a CD on a > modern computer when you want to do this programming and boot into your > regular operating system off the hard drive at other times. > > John Hansen > Coastal ChipWorks > > On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 11:04 AM, Roger Weichertwrote: > > >> Hi guys, >> >> I have a factory programing adaptor used for updating some small boards I >> repair (Boumatic). It will allow altering settings in the eprom of >> PIC16F84's or reprograming the entire chip. It's old and runs on DOS. >> >> I recently installed XP on the old laptop that I normally use to run it, >> and >> now it wont work the adaptor properly. >> >> Perhaps one time in ten, it will read the old settings in the pic, but when >> I edit them and attempt to send them to the pic, it comes up with "Hardware >> Fault ... check connections, power etc". >> >> I didn't know whether it was my prog adaptor, cables, software or settings, >> so tried my desktop with XP. Same problem. >> >> After a lot of stuffing about I eventually resurrected a 15 year old >> machine >> out of the shed (running Win95) and it works fine. Phew!!! >> >> So the adaptor is ok, and the drive software ... it must be in the >> settings >> of the serial port I'm trying to use ... although I compared the settings >> for both and made sure they were the same. Or some subtle difference in the >> way XP handles the serial port compared to Win95 ??? >> >> Does anyone have any ideas what may be the problem. I'd like to revert to >> the laptop for my workshop jobs rather than have a dinasaur desktop taking >> up space. >> >> Regards, Roger >> >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ& list archive >> View/change your membership options at >> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist >> >> -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist