[FRAM71] Pre-Production Batch

[Hans Brueggemann]

all,
i'm glad to announce that the pre-production batch of FRAM71 finally made it into the "wild". there's a bunch of early adopters out there now who expressed their wish to publicly pool their findings. so, here is the thread where all info should go about experiences / bugs / updates around FRAM71, and let me start it off by attaching the latest version of the manual.


best regards,
hans

2015-10-04: Firmware update V511 "NASHVILLE"
Release Note:
V511 finally fixes a spurious bug where configuration would not be properly reset when configuring more than 8 modules.
Highly recommended, this is the last update before the upcoming V600.
Applicable User's Manual: FRAM71_V511_HW104 "NASHVILLE"
My sincere thanks go to Bob Rosperi for his excellent presentation in Nashville, and to Dave Frederikson for his invaluable support.

2015-07-19: Understanding the HP-71B memory allocation routine

2015-07-19: FRAM71 Configuration Sheet
Configuration sheet from manual in *.doc format. (thx to Bob Prosperi for the suggestion)

2015-07-05: FlashPro_Cable document update
graphics added to clarify cable connections. (thx to Michael Lopez for the hint)

2015-06-11: How to setup FlashPro4/5 in case of warnings
This Post tells you how.

2015-05-16: Firmware update V510
Release Note:
V510 fixes a bug where the internal configuration latches wouldn't get properly reset when multiple chips where removed from the configuration area at the same time. in V510, all internal configuration latches get reset during the first DIN phase after either [ON], INIT:1, INIT:3, or a configuration request [++] by the DIAGNOSTIC module. the reset is indicated by a brief flash of the LED.
Applicable User's Manual: FRAM71_V501/2_HW104

2015-05-16: Firmware update V502
Release Note:
V502 removes a limitation of V501 where CHIP_0 has to be configured LCIM in order to make it visible to the HP-71B (this limitation exists with V501 only, V43x does not have this limitation).
Applicable User's Manual: FRAM71_HW104_SW502_b.PDF
Users should only upgrade to V502 if they need CHIP_0 to be configurable as part of a multi-chip module.
All V5xx firmwares now allow for on-the-fly change of F-base addresses (i.e., under program control, without power cycling the HP-71B)

2015-03-06: Firmware update V430
Release Note:
NEW: support bank-switching of multiple FRAM memory blocks into same HP-71B address space
NEW: Firmware support for upgrading FRAM71 to 1 MByte of FRAM
CHANGED: now, 15 out of 16 x 32kB F-Blocks available (up from 13 in V421)
CHANGED: automatic F-Block assignment removed to improve configuration flexibility
REMOVED: REDEYE-support, due to lack of public interest ;o)
(note that this is a major firmware upgrade. read the fine updated manual for details. highly recommended for all users who do not plan to use REDEYE support.)


2014-12-21: Firmware update V421
Release Note:
in V420, FRAM71's write-protect flags of soft-ROM-declared RAM modules have no effect. POKE from the POKELEX lexfile can change contents of those ROMs.
in V421, write-protect flags now block all write-attempts to soft-ROM areas. POKE from the POKELEX lexfile executes "silently", but does not alter contents.
(note that this is a minor fix which does not affect/enhance "standard" use cases. users who have no means to update their FRAM71 should contact me through e-mail for options.)