Funcard Programmer afternoon project

[gw1]

I agree you can make your own Phoenix programmer on veroboard etc. But I don't like the card power switch arrangement in that circuit - it's dangerous.

• When JP1 is in Phoenix (not SmartMouse) position there is a current path from R1 Out to card CLR pin while the card VCC is removed. There's nothing to limit current flow, so it's dangerous to the card and could potentially cause damage.
• There's another current path through R3 to the card I/O pin. That's not too bad because it's only a weak current, but it's still not good practice.
• There is also excessive current from MAX232 pin 12 into U2D input, when card VCC is removed. That puts stress on U2 which may cause it to become erratic after time.

I recommend people wanting to homebrew a phoenix stick to unswitched designs, like the .

The Jaycar Mk II kit does not attempt to switch card power, because of this problem. The Mk II is more robust than the original Phoenix because of its current limiting resistors on all card signals, which avoid excessive currents during insertion/removal which also can be destructive. The potential for damage is real, I've often seen interfaces with blown ICs because their circuits contain no overcurrent protection.

We discussed this kind of problem extensively in the thread about , which he adapted from Jaycar Mk II design in order to use an electronic switch instead of the 4PDT part supplied by Jaycar. The mixture of voltages opened a can of worms which required careful attention to placement of current limiting resistors.

Strictly speaking the card I/O and CLK and RST (and AUX1 and AUX2) signals need to not only be removed when VCC isn't present but they also need to be sequenced in the correct order. The ISO7816 spec goes into detail about this. That's what dedicated smartcard interface ICs like TDA8004 and its derivatives are all about. Many of them also provide the necessary level shifting needed to work properly with multivoltage cards. For simple homebrew gadgets you can get away with dirty tricks but virtually all commercial products using smartcards (except for DM500 interestingly) use dedicated interface ICs. The cost of not doing so becomes too high because they have too many failures and product returns.

[pieces]

I have no switches in mine s1 & s2 have links. Works a treat.

As the circuit note says normally closed so just use a link.

[gw1]

Parts list

1 x DB25 Male solder tag connector
1 x ISO7816 smartcard socket, preferably with Normally Open switch
1 x 1uF multilayer ceramic capacitor (0.1uF will also work)
3 x 82 ohm resistor (100 ohm will also work)
1 x LED and 1 x 68 ohm resistor (optional)
1 x veroboard or similar prototyping board 65x65mm approx

[mickcc]

Well its finished and looks like it`s working led blinking away..
having a problem reading in IC Prog 1.05c
Anyone know where i can get the Drivers for this Ametel Programmer
for Windows 98 and XP
Mick

[OSIRUS]

You only need the driver for IC-Prog if your using Windows XP

it is called IC-Prog NT/2000 driver

[gw1]

That's right. That's the only add-on driver for IC-Prog.

It's worth familiarising yourself with the . Under 'supported programmer types' you'll see 'Fun-card programmer'. The circuit diagram it gives for Fun-card shows wiring between PC printer port and the 40-pin AT90S8515 microcontroller IC used by Fun cards. My circuit diagram is functionally equivalent to that one, using corresponding ISO7816 pins instead of DIL40 IC pins.

[mickcc]

Amazing Guys got the little Amtel Programer going reads only what it has written thuo
the AT90S8515 card not a problem tried to read my goldie but it will not
is there a reason why it will not reads other cards ?

But hey it`s working now`s the time to learn programming in IC Prog

Thanks GW1 and Osirus

[gw1]

As we've discussed extensively elsewhere, Gold/Silver/Emerald cards all use PIC processors but Fun/ATmega cards use AVR processors. The different processors have different programming conventions.

To program a blank PIC-based card (eg gold or silver) you can use Jaycar Mk II kit in JDM mode. The Jaycar kit can't progam blank fun cards though.

To progam a blank AVR-based card (eg fun) you can use this project. It can't program blank gold or silver cards though.

Once you've programmed code into a card's processor and are ready to communicate with it using ISO7816 commands (eg with FMCard, LMEdit, NewCS or whatever), that's when you need Phoenix mode. Jaycar Mk II kit supports Phoenix mode. This project doesn't though.

[mickcc]

That GW1 most likely explains why the hex is double up when reading what i`ve written to the card still all part of the fun least the program is now ready for the jaycar or mastera which ever rolls up in the post first
mick

[amraks]

hey well its been a night of mucking around and I have built one of these card programmers.

Here is the card side of things.

Now I used a electrolytic capacitor 1uf voltage rating 50v, not sure if I have the polarity right but have tried 2 different configurations.

led will light up fine when you read all in IC-Prog 1.06C.
but it will not write to my cards which are open platform gold card(Goldwafer, PIC16F84A and 24C16 external EEPROM)

computer side of things is a travelmate 4050 laptop. XP service pack 3.
using IC-Prog 1.06C as mentioned above. when I read the card all it saying is "3FFF" then when I load "GhostFun v1.0.hex" it will prompt a error "Programming Failed at Code address 0000h".


I am unsure what I am doing wrong is it my home made device or is it the software or the card.

I have double checked everything on my device.
even took the liberty of scratching up the middle of traces to be sure there was no shorts then checked over with a multimeter.

Hope someone can help me, I'm new on this scene.

[OSIRUS]

but it will not write to my cards which are open platform gold card(Goldwafer, PIC16F84A and 24C16 external EEPROM)

computer side of things is a travelmate 4050 laptop. XP service pack 3.
using IC-Prog 1.06C as mentioned above. when I read the card all it saying is "3FFF" then when I load "GhostFun v1.0.hex" it will prompt a error "Programming Failed at Code address 0000h".

This Programmer is designed to program Fun Cards (Fun4 90S8515A + 24C256)



I don't think it will program the PIC & the Eeprom to a Gold Card

But it will possibly write the details to the Gold card after the PIC & Eeprom have been programmed to a gold card

you could get a Fun Card (I have a Fun card 4) & try to program it

or you need to get another Programmer .... like a Jaycar MkII or a Cas3+ Programmer

cheers

[amraks]

Thanks I will buy a fun card and Ill buy the card programmer I have seen mentioned to program the platform cards.

Least I have a fun card programmer built from scratch now. Thanks to the late Grant Walker god bless his soul, he was a true legend to this site.