eb006 reliability?

[john_m0ers]

Perhaps someone from matrix can explain why there seems to be so many problems with this programmer (v9).
It would be helpful to many I'm sure to point out what to do, and what not to do. More specifically how to get
round actually causing some chip to overheat and destroy itself. I have an earlier version of the eb006, and I don't remember
the multitude of problems there seem to be with version 9.
Any development system has to reasonably reliable, or its difficult to tell where or whats gone wrong.
Any thoughts would be welcome, as at the minute I'm wary about using version 9 for fear of un-wittingly damaging it. I've always
looked upon matrix products as a quality line with a great programming environment, and I always program the arduino boards I bought
using flowcode rather than its archaic language. I have e-block programmers for most platforms, the biggest challenge being the cpld board I
bought some years ago, not least because it requires a parallel port! Please try to put our minds at rest regarding the eb006 v9 as on the surface
it looks a good piece of kit. Sorry about the lengthy ramble..
Regards john

[Benj]

Hello,

The EB006 doesn't like to be run at 12V for long periods or it does start to get a bit warm. I would recommend 7.5V or 9V instead. This is mainly down to the LDO voltage regulator and the amount of current the ghost chip requires to function. Or you can simply power via USB. For our EB091 we replaced the LDO regulator with a switch mode regulator and that has got rid of most of the problems.

Another issue early on with the EB006 v9 is the firmware had a problem, we fixed the firmware issue by adding a bootloader and reflashing the boards but then the bootloader also had a minor issue. These issues have now been completely resolved. If you have an early board and access to a PICkit 3 then you can update the software by following this FAQ.

http://www.matrixtsl.com/faq/index.php? ... artlang=en

[john_m0ers]

Hi Ben,
many thanks for the re-assurance, and the instructions to re-flash the firmware. I appreciate the heads up on input voltage, although to date
I've only used them on a usb port.
I'm pleased this issue has been given some closure, as I'm sure you'll agree, it isn't much fun when you spend hours trying to resolve a problem and still
fail. I've had some good fun with e-blocks and flowcode, and I use flowcode to program arduinos instead of that awful language they use. The big shame
though I think are these other module suppliers who imply wrongly that their products will only run on arduino. There should be more openness about advertising these
modules, and which software options there are.

Rant over, but thanks again Ben,
regards john