The Atmel ATmega16 & ATtiny2313 devices used in the ZVG have lock bits,
so I doubt that you can just read the part.
Mike
On 4/16/2012 4:59 PM, Jeremy Abel wrote:
> Hello all!
>
> So, I've got my vector monitor (or at least the post office does; I
> have to go pick it up), and I've been investigating ways to control
> it. So far, the ZVG seems like the best / only option. However, they
> seem to be hard to come by, and a bit out of my price range, not to
> mention the fact that they just aren't being made anymore. Making it
> even more complicated, I don't even have a PC with a parallel port
> (only a macbook). Instead, I've come up with several other options,
> which I will talk about below.
>
> Using the schematic that's available online, I've managed to re-enter
> the whole thing into EagleCAD, and have begun to design my own board
> for it, using only through-hole parts (because I don't have the
> patience / skill to solder SMDs). So far, only the power supply area
> is done, because I don't want to put too much effort into it before
> getting some more information about the whole thing. I'm doing this
> only because it would cost me $100 to print the board, and then $50 in
> parts, which is about $100 less than I'd end up paying for an original
> ZVG. There is one snag though: basically, I need the firmware that
> goes on the two Atmel chips. Without that, I might as well not even
> bother. So, I've come up with some solutions to that problem. Here's
> what I've been thinking:
>
> *Option 1: *I somehow manage to get ahold of Zonn (no luck with that
> so far), and somehow convince him to open-source the firmware
> (something he talked about here
> <http://www.ukvac.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=328991&PID=752487&SID=5dbcd2zb-da95-5c822ae9-cezbbae5-3z84c2e1&title=zektor-zvg-limited-run-hurry#752487>,
> about a year ago). With access to the actual code, I could pretty
> easily convert it to communicate over USB. With Zonn's permission, I
> would then open source the entire thing, and thus you all would have a
> lovely new open-source USB-enabled ZVG. This, I think, is the best
> option, as I don't need anyone to dump the firmware for me, I don't
> need to logic probe the thing and figure out what's being sent over
> the parallel port, and I don't need to program an interpreter to
> convert the thing into USB.
>
> *Option 2*: Someone with a ZVG solders up headers to J5 and J6, and
> uses an AVR programmer to read off the firmware and sends it to me as
> a hex file. I can then use this to program my own atmel chips, and
> proceed. However, this will make it difficult for me to get around the
> parallel port problem without a large amount of logic-probing and then
> adding another microcontroller to convert the signals being sent to
> the parallel port into signals I can send over USB. In order to keep
> Zonn's IP safe, I'd keep the whole thing to myself. Still, this feels
> shady.
>
> *Option 3: *I buy a ZVG from someone, dump the firmware myself, then
> sell it back to someone else. This feels just as shady, maybe more,
> than option 2.
>
> What do you all think about all of this? I'd love to get the ball
> rolling on this, preferably on option 1 if anyone knows how to get
> ahold of Zonn.
>
> Thanks,
> ~Jeremy
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Received on Mon Apr 16 18:40:43 2012
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