Serial Wombat
a general-purpose digital interface
device for hobbyists, engineers and students
Did you know...
Downloads
Firmware
When new versions of the firmware are released you can download them yourself to give your Wombat new fun capabilities and get the latest bug fixes. Here's how to do it:
Versions prior to 2.0:
- Download the firmware version you wish to install from this website
- Power off your Wombat
- Tie pin 6 (Boot) low (to 0 volts) with a resistor
- Power on your Wombat, and open your terminal software at 9600 baud or slower
- Press 'U' a few times. A BOOT> prompt should appear.
- Press 'D' to download a new application. After a few seconds the Wombat will respond SEND:
- Transfer the file you downloaded from the website using Xmodem protocol (not Xmodem CRC). In Hyperterminal, this can be done by selecting Transfer...Send File from the menu, Browsing for the downloaded firmware, then clicking send.
- You should see the file being transferred.
- Press 'J' after the file transfer completes.
- Wait a few seconds and power down your Wombat
- Tie pin 6 (Boot) high (5 volts) with a resistor
- Power up your Wombat. Press 'U' and you should get the BOOT> prompt again.
- Press 'J'
- Wait a few seconds, and press 'U'
- Issue the command "!1234567" . It should be echoed back after all 8 characters have been typed.If the characters are echoed one at a time, then you're still in boot mode. Return to step 10, and try again.
- Copy the following, and use the Edit...Paste_To_Host option in Hyperterminal: UUUUUUUC0151011UUUUUUUUC1001000UUUUUUUUC2000000UUUUUUUUC3000000UUUUUUUU
- Power down your Wombat. Then power it back up.
- Type 'U' a few times. No BOOT> prompt should appear.
- Issue the command "!1234567" . It should be echoed back after all 8 characters have been typed.If the characters are echoed one at a time, or if no characters are echoed, return to step 1 and start again.
- If desired, you can restore the optional shipping
functionality which causes pin 20 to blink 'Hello World'
in morse on an LED (low side driver), and blink pin 21
(low side driver) when a character is received over the
serial port. Paste this string into Hyperterminal:
- Power your Wombat down and back up.
Note that these firmware downloads must be loaded into a chip which has been pre-programmed with the Serial Wombat BOOTloader. They will not work if programmed into a blank chip purchased from a source other than Wombat Interface Products or one of its distributors.
Versions 2.0 and up:
Versions prior to 2.0:
- Download the firmware version you wish to install from this website. You'll want the .enc file (firmware), and .bin file (add on pin modes).
- Power off your Wombat
- Tie pin 6 (Boot) low (to 0 volts) with a resistor
- Power on your Wombat, and open your terminal software at 57600 baud or slower
- Press 'U' a few times. A BOOT> prompt or E_BOOTX> prompt should appear. The X in the second pin may also be P or E.
- Press 'D' to download a new application. After a few seconds the Wombat will respond SEND:
- Transfer the .enc file you downloaded from the website using Xmodem protocol (not Xmodem CRC). In Hyperterminal, this can be done by selecting Transfer...Send File from the menu, Browsing for the downloaded firmware, then clicking send.
- You should see the file being transferred.
- Press 'J' after the file transfer completes.
- Wait a few seconds and power down your Wombat
- Tie pin 6 (Boot) high (5 volts) with a resistor
- Power up your Wombat. Press 'U' and you should get the BOOT> or E_BOOTX> prompt again.
- Press 'J'
- Wait a few seconds, and press 'U'
- Issue the command "!1234567" . It should be echoed back after all 8 characters have been typed.If the characters are echoed one at a time, then you're still in boot mode. Return to step 10, and try again.
- Issue the command "JUUUUUUU". It should be echoed back. This will tell the Wombat that it should jump directly to the application if the boot pin is not low.
- Power down your Wombat. Then power it back up.
- Type 'U' a few times. No BOOT> prompt should appear.
- Issue the command "!1234567" . It should be echoed back after all 8 characters have been typed.If the characters are echoed one at a time, or if no characters are echoed, return to step 1 and start again.
- If desired, download the additional pin mode add on package ( the .bin file). If not, skip to the final direction
- Copy the following string into hyperterminal:
UUUUUUUUUC0196192UUUUUUUUC1000061UUUUUUUUC2192085UUUUUUUUC3085085 - The Wombat should start sending Xmodem start characters.
- Transfer the .bin addon file you downloaded from the website using Xmodem protocol (not Xmodem CRC). In Hyperterminal, this can be done by selecting Transfer...Send File from the menu, Browsing for the downloaded firmware, then clicking send.
- You should see the file being transferred.
- The add on pin modes are now ready to use.
- If desired, you can restore the optional shipping
functionality which causes pin 20 to blink 'Hello World'
in morse on an LED (low side driver), and blink pin 21
(low side driver) when a character is received over the
serial port. Paste this string into Hyperterminal:
- Power your Wombat down and back up.
Note that these firmware downloads must be loaded into a chip which has been pre-programmed with the Serial Wombat BOOTloader. They will not work if programmed into a blank chip purchased from a source other than Wombat Interface Products or one of its distributors.
Firmware Version 2.2.0
wombat4620v2_2_0.enc This file is the base firmware.
wombat4620v2_2_0_addon.bin This file adds the LCD 111, and LCD 107 pin modes, which were previously part of the main firmware package. The source is available here: wombat4620v2_0_0_addon.zip. The bin file has been renamed to match this version.
Made available February 2, 2008
This version adds the Datalogger and Min-Max pin modes, as well as fixing many bugs I've found through automated testing.
Firmware Version 2.1.0
wombat4620v2_1_0.enc This file is the base firmware.
wombat4620v2_0_0_addon.bin This file adds the LCD 111, and LCD 107 pin modes, which were previously part of the main firmware package. The source is available here: wombat4620v2_0_0_addon.zip
Made available June 17, 2007
This version adds the CTS flow control pin option in the SetSystemParameters command. This version also uses the 2.0.0 add on pack; it's not a typo;
Firmware Version 2.0.0
wombat4620v2_0_0.enc This file is the base firmware.
wombat4620v2_0_0_addon.bin This file adds the LCD 111, and LCD 107 pin modes, which were previously part of the main firmware package. The source is available here: wombat4620v2_0_0_addon.zip
Made available May 17, 2007
This version of firmware improves efficiency in many places and supports the new Pin Mode Software development kit. It also moves a couple of pin modes out of the main firmware, and into the User Flash area (where modes created by the sdk go).
Everything you used to do should still work, so you should be able to drop this in in place of 1.2.0.
This version includes many changes:
- Support for the Pin Mode Software Development kit. Write your own pin modes in C, and download them to the Wombat.
- Every pin is now processed, including the power pins, RX and TX Pins, Reset Pin, , and a "Pin 0" which doesn't exist. This allows assignments of pin modes which act as intermediate steps (such as the 2D lookup table mode) to use pins which don't have I/O capability.
- a new pin mode for a generic HD44780 driver, which should help drive any HD44780 LCD screen. (Documentation is coming).
- a new pin mode which can decode button presses on Sony compatible remote controls (when an external receiver circuit is used).
- a new pin mode which acts as a SPI master, allowing access to any SPI chip through the Wombat's hardware SPI support.
Firmware Version 1.2.0
Released January 13, 2007.
This version introduces two new pin modes:
2D lookup table, and Hardware Pulse
Measurement.
An additional command to display the current firmware revision has been added.
A bug which sometimes caused incorrect analog output levels on pin 4 was fixed.
A bug which limited the length of an execution frame was fixed. See Frame Counter Reset value under the Set System Parameter command.
Firmware version 1.1.1
This version of software has the same feature set as 1.1.0, June 3, 2006.
An archive of the Serial Wombat site as it existed just prior to the 1.2.0 release can be downloaded here in order to provide backwards documentation for this version.
It includes a fix to prevent a condition where EEPROM could be erased if the power supply was not stable by the time the EEPROM checksum is calculated by the BOOTloader. When this condition occured, the BOOT would incorrectly determine that EEPROM had been corrupted, and clear it to a known state.
Firmware version 1.1.0
This is the first publicly released upgrade version of software, released on May 15, 2006.