Newbie HEX error every time

bilinkl · Post by **bilinkl** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:34 pm

Hi All,

I'm new to SF but experienced with PBPro. Purchased in December 2012 but haven't had a chance until now to use it. V 2.2.1.4

I am trying to compile the simplest program (Write) from the Samples area using the default 18F452 and it appears successful until I go to load it in my programmer.

As I double click or Open the hex file for loading I'm greeted with a small box stating: "Error in HEX file - FUSE." Line: 33 :03000100220E0EBE
other Samples do the same.

Using the same hardware I have no problem compiling. loading or programming the same 452 with similar PBPro code so it has to be a SF issue or something I'm missing...

What am I doing wrong? I will attach the hex file if needed.

Cheers,
Bill

Jerry Messina · Post by **Jerry Messina** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 3:30 pm

Hi Bill,

Are you actually specifying "device = 18F452" in your .bas file?

If you're not, the default device has changed... SF now compiles for an 18F4520 by default.

bilinkl · Post by **bilinkl** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:14 pm

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the reply. I upgraded after my last post to the latest version BTW but no difference.

Yes, the Write.bas is about at basic as it gets (no pun intended) and I have not edited it in any way, it specifies device = 18F452.

I can't see any info on including attachments otherwise I'd put up the bas and hex files for everyone to see.

Any other thoughts on this?

Cheers,
Bill

Jerry Messina · Post by **Jerry Messina** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:44 pm

Here's what I get compiling that sample as is. The hex file looks ok to me (unless I'm missing something)

actual HEX file contents...

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:020000040030CA
:03000100220E0EBE
:02000500018177
:060008000FC00FE00F40E5
:00000001FF

fuse data (parsed)

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Line  33 : [XLin] New high address offset : $0030 (New base start address : $00300000)
Line  34 : [Data] Address : $00300001 Data : 22,0E,0E
Line  35 : [Data] Address : $00300005 Data : 01,81
Line  36 : [Data] Address : $00300008 Data : 0F,C0,0F,E0,0F,40
Line  37 : [EndF] *** EOF Record ***

This is how MPLAB is decoding them them...

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   Address    Value   Field                        Category                                                  Setting                          

   300001      22   OSC     Oscillator Selection bits                             HS oscillator                                               
                    OSCS    Oscillator System Clock Switch Enable bit             Oscillator system clock switch option is disabled (main oscillator is source)
   300002      0E   PWRT    Power-up Timer Enable bit                             PWRT enabled                                                
                    BOR     Brown-out Reset Enable bit                            Brown-out Reset enabled                                     
                    BORV    Brown-out Reset Voltage bits                          VBOR set to 2.0V                                            
   300003      0E   WDT     Watchdog Timer Enable bit                             WDT disabled (control is placed on the SWDTEN bit)          
                    WDTPS   Watchdog Timer Postscale Select bits                  1:128                                                       
   300005      01   CCP2MUX CCP2 Mux bit                                          CCP2 input/output is multiplexed with RC1                   
   300006      81   STVR    Stack Full/Underflow Reset Enable bit                 Stack Full/Underflow will cause RESET                       
                    LVP     Low Voltage ICSP Enable bit                           Low Voltage ICSP disabled                                   
   300008      0F   CP0     Code Protection bit                                   Block 0 (000200-001FFFh) not code protected                 
                    CP1     Code Protection bit                                   Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) not code protected                 
                    CP2     Code Protection bit                                   Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) not code protected                 
                    CP3     Code Protection bit                                   Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) not code protected                 
   300009      C0   CPB     Boot Block Code Protection bit                        Boot Block (000000-0001FFh) not code protected              
                    CPD     Data EEPROM Code Protection bit                       Data EEPROM not code protected                              
   30000A      0F   WRT0    Write Protection bit                                  Block 0 (000200-001FFFh) not write protected                
                    WRT1    Write Protection bit                                  Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) not write protected                
                    WRT2    Write Protection bit                                  Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) not write protected                
                    WRT3    Write Protection bit                                  Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) not write protected                
   30000B      E0   WRTC    Configuration Register Write Protection bit           Configuration registers (300000-3000FFh) not write protected
                    WRTB    Boot Block Write Protection bit                       Boot Block (000000-0001FFh) not write protected             
                    WRTD    Data EEPROM Write Protection bit                      Data EEPROM not write protected                             
   30000C      0F   EBTR0   Table Read Protection bit                             Block 0 (000200-001FFFh) not protected from Table Reads executed in other blocks
                    EBTR1   Table Read Protection bit                             Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) not protected from Table Reads executed in other blocks
                    EBTR2   Table Read Protection bit                             Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) not protected from Table Reads executed in other blocks
                    EBTR3   Table Read Protection bit                             Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) not protected from Table Reads executed in other blocks
   30000D      40   EBTRB   Boot Block Table Read Protection bit                  Boot Block (000000-0001FFh) not protected from Table Reads executed in other blocks

Not sure what it's complaining about. What programmer are you using?

bilinkl · Post by **bilinkl** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 6:01 pm

Hi again Jerry,

The only programmer I have is MicroPro, a USB kit I built a few years back which works faultlessly on everything I've done in the past with my other compiler.

As mentioned before when I write something with the other compiler for the 18F452 (or anything else) it does the job every time.

The hex code you listed shows the same code as my error on the second line so I guess the SF compiler is doing the right thing - so we can assume it is my USB programmer at fault?

Apart from getting another programmer - not quick or easy where I am - what else can I try?

Before I go is there a way to add attachments to a post rather than embed in the text?

Thanks and regards,
Bill

Jerry Messina · Post by **Jerry Messina** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 6:53 pm

>>...so we can assume it is my USB programmer at fault?
It might be.

I haven't used PBPro in a loooong time, but I just pulled up a hex file compiled with it and the fuse data section is a bit different... it's filling in unused config bytes with 'FF' so the hex data starts at 300000 and is contiguous.

>>Apart from getting another programmer - not quick or easy where I am - what else can I try?
Maybe you just need to manipulate the config data, which is a PITA but can be done a number of ways.

To see if that's the case, open the hex file in a text editor and replace

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:020000040030CA
:03000100220E0EBE
:02000500018177
:060008000FC00FE00F40E5

with this

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:020000040030CA
:0E000000FF220E0EFF0181FF0FC00FE00F4028

See if the programmer likes it. If so, there's a few options.

>>Before I go is there a way to add attachments to a post rather than embed in the text?
Not in the forum. As long as things aren't too long, I just usually plop them into a "CODE" block

bilinkl · Post by **bilinkl** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:42 am

Hi Jerry,

You are the man! Success, thank you.

Okay what are my options now - no doubt that end code will change for each device or fuse configuration...

Kind regards,
Bill

Jerry Messina · Post by **Jerry Messina** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:25 pm

> no doubt that end code will change for each device or fuse configuration...

Yup. You want a solution that will take this into account so you don't have to manually edit the hex files.

The easiest way to deal with this is to get a copy of the hexmate utility, which is a command-line program for manipulating hex files. Hexmate.exe is a utility written by HiTech, and it should be part of the XC8 compiler, which you can download for free from microchip.com. Install it and grab a copy of hexmate.exe. (you can also get a copy of just hexmate at http://www.schmalzhaus.com/Tools/Hexmat ... tions.html)

After you compile the program in SF, open a command prompt and run the following:

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C:\>hexmate.exe write.hex -Owrite.hex -fill=ff@0x300000-0x300008

That should insert FF's into the first few unused CONFIG bytes. The -O option tells it to modify the original .hex file.

Here's the result

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Line  33 : [XLin] New high address offset : $0030 (New base start address : $00300000)
Line  34 : [Data] Address : $00300000 Data : FF,22,0E,0E,FF,01,81,FF,0F,C0,0F,E0,0F,40
Line  35 : [EndF] *** EOF Record ***

You may have to adjust the commandline path, etc so it can find the utility. You could make a .bat file to do this and assign it as a "programmer" in the SF IDE... that way if you do 'Compile and Program' it'll automatically fix the hex file for you. To do this, save the line below to 'hexmate.bat', create a new programmer in the SF IDE and set the Programmer Filename to 'hexmate.bat' and the parameters to '$hex-filename$'

hexmate.bat

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hexmate.exe %1 -O%1 -fill=ff@0x300000-0x300008

EDIT: I just stumbled across this thread which may be another solution http://www.microchip.com/forums/m538465.aspx

bilinkl · Post by **bilinkl** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:42 am

Hi Jerry,

That last link is the solution, although a little extra handling to convert the compiled hex to the correct format - but it works!

My programmer is indeed the K128 and I will continue to monitor the site for any updates. I can't thank you enough for your research and help in making this work. I'll do my best to return the compliment to the SF community.

My best regards to you,
Bill