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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

SDNet

Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
25 Jun 2017 22:02


My apologies for the delay in a public release of the SDNet driver and associated building instructions. This driver allows to hook up a wired Ethernet controller to current Vampire boards.
 
  Prerequisites are a Vampire card (V500 or V600), along with the Gold2.5 release. In terms of additional hardware, a suitable Micro SD breakout, a 3.3V ENC28J60 module and some easy soldering are required.
 
  Please be careful with the breakout. Many MicroSD models use a thick PCB that will quite likely destroy the SD slot. In my experience, the plug from cables sold as "TF to micro SD card Extension cable" on fleabay worked well. Reminder: The soldering is easy. Take the time saved on soldering to grind the edges of the breakout connector into a smooth feel.
 
  More information, pin-outs, driver, test tool and associated sources (GPL) can be found in the following archive: EXTERNAL LINK 
  Disclaimer: This is a DIY hardware project for experienced personnel only. The information is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.


Gregthe Canuck

Posts 274
25 Jun 2017 22:55



Congratulations on your first release of another cool project! :)



Grzegorz Wójcik (pisklak
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 87
26 Jun 2017 08:38


Yap - Congratulations !
Now.... me imagine hordes of young "Vampired ones" with evil smile and soldering iron in hands !


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
26 Jun 2017 11:19


Looks good may test this on my A600 is there any guidance on the breakout board


Keith Dumoulin

Posts 13
26 Jun 2017 11:34


Good Luck

 
 


Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
26 Jun 2017 16:25


Peter Heginbotham wrote:

  Looks good may test this on my A600 is there any guidance on the breakout board
 

TBH, I'm a bit reluctant recommending specific breakouts. I've built my prototype from parts I had around for a while. As it is often the case with parts purchased from random EBay sellers that the respective mechanical specs change over time, I won't be able to name a product in good conscience. Usually, adapter/extension cables for in-car satnav systems happen to be a likely choice. Hearsay brought the Cubietruck uSD JTAG breakout board to my attention. But: I didn't verify it's suitability. YMMV.
 
Why am I so cautious?
 
See below for some examples of uSD sockets who made the unfortunate acquaintance with ill fitting breakouts.


 


Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
26 Jun 2017 16:26


.


Roy Gillotti

Posts 517
27 Jun 2017 20:37


Henryk Richter wrote:

  Hearsay brought the Cubietruck uSD JTAG breakout board to my attention. But: I didn't verify it's suitability.
   

Just a warning it's been 2 weeks and I haven't heard a word if they shipped my uSD breakout board from the cubietruck page. I emailed them yesterday, but haven't heard back.


Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
05 Mar 2018 07:30


For anyone interested, an update to the SDNet package is available here: EXTERNAL LINK 
I've made some timing adjustments and changed the default SPI clock divider to 2, so that it works more reliably with x12 and x13 cores.

For x11 cores, I'd recommend to set SPISPEED to 1, as outlined in the README.


Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
02 Jun 2018 21:33


I've compiled another update for sdnet. EXTERNAL LINK 
The main change is an updated test tool for modules connected to the V500 expansion connector (v2expethtest).

The archive contains full sources and two pre-build binaries: sdnet.device for the SD-Slot and v2expeth.device for the V500 expansion connector.

Known issues: Still doesn't work with Shapeshifter. I'm currently rewriting the whole driver codebase to allow concurrent networking stacks (among other improvements). No ETA for a release as of yet.


Pedro Cotter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 308
03 Jun 2018 13:34


Thank you Mr. Richter!!!
:-)


Mo Retro

Posts 241
07 Sep 2018 16:52


I'm still on Gold 2.9 and I tried V2ExpEth 1.92 on my V500+.
Although Miami seems to make an online connection, I couldn't get any internet traffic with Netsurf or iBrowse 2.4.

Switching back to V2ExpEth 1.2 and everything worked again.

What could be the problem?
Are the SANA 2 config settings same for both versions?



Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
08 Sep 2018 09:03


Mo Retro wrote:

I'm still on Gold 2.9 and I tried V2ExpEth 1.92 on my V500+.
  Although Miami seems to make an online connection, I couldn't get any internet traffic with Netsurf or iBrowse 2.4.
  Switching back to V2ExpEth 1.2 and everything worked again.

I blame Miami (easy to say, isn't it?). I've got a workaround ready that will make the new driver work with Miami, too. Fix will be in version 1.95 and later.


Mo Retro

Posts 241
08 Sep 2018 14:39


Henryk Richter wrote:

Mo Retro wrote:

  I'm still on Gold 2.9 and I tried V2ExpEth 1.92 on my V500+.
  Although Miami seems to make an online connection, I couldn't get any internet traffic with Netsurf or iBrowse 2.4.
  Switching back to V2ExpEth 1.2 and everything worked again.
 

  I blame Miami (easy to say, isn't it?). I've got a workaround ready that will make the new driver work with Miami, too. Fix will be in version 1.95 and later.

Thanks for the quick reply Henryk :)

Looking forward for version 1.95
I assume that the same problem also count for SDNet?



Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
08 Sep 2018 19:56


The promised SDNet 1.95 can be found at EXTERNAL LINK 
Full source and documentation included. Please ignore the other driver that is present in the archive. That one is not Vampire related.

Changes:
- Miami workaround
- interrupt support for v2expeth.device

Consult README.sdnet how to activate the optional interrupt driven RX on Vampire500V2+. An example for envarc:sana2/v2expeth.config is given there. The interrupt driven operation mode is about 20% faster in benchmarks and also reduces overall CPU usage.


Mo Retro

Posts 241
08 Sep 2018 21:59


Henryk Richter wrote:

The promised SDNet 1.95 can be found at EXTERNAL LINK 
  Full source and documentation included. Please ignore the other driver that is present in the archive. That one is not Vampire related.
 
  Changes:
  - Miami workaround
  - interrupt support for v2expeth.device
 
  Consult README.sdnet how to activate the optional interrupt driven RX on Vampire500V2+. An example for envarc:sana2/v2expeth.config is given there. The interrupt driven operation mode is about 20% faster in benchmarks and also reduces overall CPU usage.

Thanks Henryk, I'll try it as soon as possible.

posts 16