Chris Walker

One more cool thing... The CC3100 driver even has the ability to upgrade the CC3100 chip to the latest firmware

We actually do this on the production line (for Netduino 3 Wi-Fi), and firmware upgrades can happen manually or automatically in-field as well.

Here is a quick snapshot from the reflashing procedure (from the Output window).

*** Version info before upgrade ***
ChipID: 0x4000000
fwVersion: 1.2.0.2
phyVersion: 1.0.3.23
nwpVersion: 2.2.0.1
romVersion: 13107

Creating service pack file.
Writing service pack at offset: 0
Writing service pack at offset: 1024
Writing service pack at offset: 2048
Writing service pack at offset: 3072
Writing service pack at offset: 4096
Writing service pack at offset: 5120
Writing service pack at offset: 6144
Writing service pack at offset: 7168
Writing service pack at offset: 8192
Writing service pack at offset: 9216
Closing service pack file.
Service pack successfully written.

*** Version info after upgrade ***
fwVersion: 1.3.0.1

If you want to verify the Wi-Fi firmware on your board is up to date, you can actually call into the upgrade function via reflection like this:

Type.GetType("Netduino.IP.LinkLayers.CC3100SocketNative, Netduino.IP.LinkLayers.CC3100").GetMethod("UpgradeFirmware", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Static).Invoke(null, new object[] { });

Since we can automatically upgrade CC3100 firmware in code (during radio initialization) there's no technical reason you need to do this manually...but I thought you guys would enjoy this deeper detail.

Chris

A quick update on Netduino.IP...

The Microchip ENC28J60 chip that we use on Netduino Plus 2 is tried-and-true. But it's also tried-in-true as in a "last decade's technology" kind of way.

We have found an awesome new SPI-based networking chip for the next generation of Netduino hardware. Please allow me to introduce the Asix AX88796C.
http://www.asix.com....ail&PItemID=104

This networking chip has PC-class features. It is high performance and low power (including power management features). It supports both 10mbps and 100mbps, auto-crossover, wake on LAN and more.

In a nutshell, it is one awesome networking chip.

So of course, we have built a Netduino.IP link layer driver for this chip. 100% managed code. And that driver code is now checked into the Netduino.IP repo at GitHub.

https://github.com/n...Layers.AX88796C

Chris

What was that shiny new Netduino hardware seen in the keynote?

It's not officially announced quite yet, but here's one link that you might find interesting...
http://www.netduino....3wifi/specs.htm

More to come Stay tuned!

Chris

Version: 4.3.2 (version 4.3.2.0)

Download link
Download Netduino v4.3.2 firmware now

Updates in this release
1. Streamlined "Netduino Application" template now supported
2. Bugfix: COM2 flow control now enabled
3. Bugfix: System.Net HTTP classes now check for null during Dispose

Pre-requisites for this firmware
1. Visual Studio 2012 or Visual Studio 2013. Or Visual Studio 2015 (beta).
2. .NET Micro Framework v4.3 QFE2 SDK or newer
3. NETMF plug-in for Visual Studio 2012, NETMF plug-in for Visual Studio 2013 or NETMF plug-in for Visual Studio 2015 (beta).
4. Netduino 4.3.1 SDK or newer

How to flash this firmware
1. Detach your Netduino from your computer to turn it off.
2. Press and hold your Netduino's pushbutton while plugging it in via USB; this will put it in bootloader mode.
3. Run the Netduino Update tool (see link above).
a. If your device does not appear, install the STDFU drivers + tools v3.0.3.
b. If your device appears as "STM Device in DFU Mode", click on "Options", select your board type from the Product selection box and close the Options window.
4. Select the checkbox next to your device and press "Upgrade"
5. Wait while the upgrade operation completes. After flashing, your Netduino will reboot and will be removed from the upgrade list.
6. After flashing, set your network settings using MFDeploy. In MFDeploy, select the Target > Configuration > Networking menu. Re-enter your IP address settings and MAC address.

How to find your current version of Netduino firmware
1. Go to the Start Menu > Programs > Microsoft .NET Micro Framework 4.3
2. Run MFDeploy.
3. Plug your Netduino into your PC using a Micro USB cable.
4. In the Device section at top, select USB instead of Serial. Your Netduino should appear in the drop-down; if not, select it.
5. Select the Target menu > Device Capabilities option.
6. In the output box, find the "SolutionReleaseInfo.solutionVersion" value. This is your firmware version.

Enjoy, and please let us know if you run into any troubles.

Chris

Download link
Download Netduino v4.3.2 firmware now

Nothing to announce today, kiwi65

We haven't forgotten about the request. While we don't make kind-of-cool-but-sort-of-mediocre products just for the sake of shipping something, we do have something cooking in the lab.

Chris

Hi asciiman,

I recommend using H-Bridges, rather than simpler transistors, when working with motors.

Choose the component which can handle your current requirements...and you should be on a good path.

Chris

Thanks for sharing this, Darrell!

Hi timothyp,

Just FYI... Netduino Update can flash raw HEX files. It's pretty easy to create a script to drop the files into NetduinoUpdate's firmware folder.

Then just run NetduinoUpdate.exe and flash

Chris

Hi bgreer5050,

What kind of metric/test are you looking for, regarding efficiency? Generally speaking, using extra RAM doesn't hurt your project--unless you need it for something else. It's going to be filled with "empty data" and consume power if you don't use the RAM.

BTW, if you're building something which needs to run for very long periods of time and handles lots of data, we generally recommend pre-allocating RAM using class-scoped variables. That way memory is only allocated from the remaining heap--and the GC is only activated--for things which need temporary memory allocation.

Chris

Some exciting news about the near future of NETMF today...

This morning, the NETMF team has posted early bits for NETMF v4.4, the next version of the .NET Micro Framework. [Thanks Colin and team for all your hard work!]

While the last release of NETMF (4.3) brought stability improvements and support for newer versions of Visual Studio, the next version will also bring a significant number of new features.

[Please note: the current bits are alpha/beta and contain mostly bugfixes...new features will come later in the release cycle. Compiled firmware and SDK for testing will also be posted later in the cycle.]

Here are a few of the things slated for NETMF 4.4 firmware on Netduino:
* Debugging and deployment speed and stability
* Shiny new Netduino.IP stack with IPv4 and IPv6 support and tiny memory footprint
* Official Visual Studio 2015 support
* IoT features: some early AllJoyn support is in the works!
* WinRT APIs -- more on this later

Core NETMF bits will be checked into the new NETMF repo at:
https://github.com/NETMF

Secret Labs will continue contributing features and bugfixes to the NETMF core (above). Additionally we will be publishing all Netduino community enhancements to NETMF and Netduino tools at the new Netduino GitHub repo:
https://github.com/netduino/

As we get closer to an official beta of NETMF 4.4, we will publish v4.4 beta firmware for all gen2 devices. [And if a few community members want to contribute some spare cycles working on a native-code-interop MAC layer for Netduino Plus 1's networking chip, we could probably squeeze NETMF 4.4 onto gen1 gear as well.]

Lots more NETMF and Netduino goodness to come this year...

Chris

Hi xmen,

We've actually looked at that, but it creates compatibility issues with Arduino shields (since those shields have their own pull-ups).

Also...pull-ups are calculated based on the # of devices on the bus along with other factors--so resistor defaults would have to be modified on the bus (in a calculate-able but not super-obvious way) to compensate.

Chris

Hi bgreer5050,

Give this a try...
https://msdn.microso...y/hh401250.aspx

Chris

Hi asciiman,
 

Can i plug  2Amper or more to  7.5~9volt VIN power?
Or what is the limit of Amper ?

The rating on your power supply is the maximum it will supply. So "2A" on a power supply means "this power supply will supply 0.0-2.0 amps of power". No problems there.

The board will only draw up to around a maximum 800mA under normal conditions. That's where its 5V power regulator tops-out rating-wise. So any power supply over 800mA (and really...any power supply over 500mA) is just giving you extra margin.

Chris

The first build of the Netduino.IP technical preview (with source) is now available for download:
Download: Netduino.IP Technical Preview (Build 1)

For this preview build, we're focused on testing out network configuration (using the new MFDeploy tool). If you have some spare cycles, please test out the IPv4 and IPv6 configuration options.

Next up...ARP (address resolution protocol) and link status events. Then DHCP. Then ICMP, UDP, TCP, etc. Lots to test

Thanks for your participation and feedback!

Chris

The Netduino.IP Technical Preview is a progressive preview: we'll be testing one feature at a time.

The first feature to test is network configuration. For this test, we have built special Netduino Plus 2 firmware which swaps out the lwIP networking stack for the Netduino.IP networking stack.

For this test, please:

• Grab a copy of the new MFDeploy with IPv6.
• Run the attached Netduino Update app to reflash your Netduino Plus 2 with Netduino.IP Preview firmware.
• Run the new MFDeploy tool and set IPv4, IPv6 and MAC address configuration options (in Target menu > Network Configuration). Make sure your changes are saved when you press "Update" and that the configuration options won't accept improperly-formatted entries.

Here is a quick glimpse at what the IPv6 configuration options look like; pretty straightforward stuff.
 mfdeploy_new_ipv6.gif   28.89KB   9 downloads

If you run into any troubles, please let me know. Once we know that everything is working well here (persisting both IPv4 and IPv6 settings), we'll move onto Build 2. Build 2 will add in ARP and network link status events. Then we'll move onto DHCP, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to help us test out Netduino.IP!

Chris

P.S. For those interested, we have posted the source code in our Netduino repository.
 
Here are a few highlights:

• Network configuration for Netduino Plus 2 BSP -- this demonstrates how to enable IPv6. Be sure to use the "extended" flag with the main network configuration.
• Netduino.IP stack option for standard NETMF compilation -- this is a thin layer which loads/saves network configuration settings; we'll have this pull in the managed code Netduino.IP assemblies by default a bit later in the preview program.