device programmer recommendations?

[Ethan Dicks]

On 7/26/05, Michael Sokolov <msokolov at ivan.harhan.org> wrote:
> Bruce Lane <kyrrin at bluefeathertech.com> wrote:
> 
> > I almost forgot to mention... All the Data I/O programmers I mentioned
> > in my last note have a distinct advantage over many others: They will
> > work with nothing more than a 'dumb' ASCII terminal attached to their
> > serial port for control.
> 
> But how would you then get the image to be programmed into the box?  Does
> it support something like XMODEM/YMODEM/ZMODEM/Kermit on the terminal
> port, or is an ASCII terminal not really sufficient, i.e., maybe they
> can only use a terminal to control mass duplication, but initialing image
> loading still requires a Losedows box?

I haven't worked with ASCII download to the 29A or 29B, but with other
1980s-era device programmers, what I've seen is an interactive menu
scheme, then at some point, you type a letter to begin entering some
sort of known ASCII file format (Intel Hex for EPROMs, compiled PALASM
files for this one bipolar PAL blaster I have...), then escape from
the comm program, then send a file from the host to the blaster as if
a human were typing it,
then re-enter the line and enter the command to end editing, and you
are ready to blast.

Of course, one _could_ just type in the data, one letter at a time,
but the risk of data entry error is high.

On modern systems, I'd probably use either Kermit (ASCII, not
Kermit-protocol transfer) or minicom (also has raw ASCII file transfer
functionality) to send files to such a device.

I'd love to know what a 29B wants in terms of logic device programming
input, and what external tools I'd need to go from either a PLD file
or a JEDEC file.  If the 29B takes unaltered JEDEC files, that'd be
great.

-ethan