XTW100 Mini Programmer Usage and Tests

Long time ago I got an XTW100 Mini Programmer and because it came without documentation I began by analyzing the hardware which resulted in tracing of its schematic. This is yet another cheap Chinese serial programmer for I2C and SPI memory chips based on STM32 microcontroller. Last time I managed to break its firmware by attempting to read it from the microcontroller. However, I got a new programmer and I’m ready to do some tests with it.

This time I will stay away from the programming port to avoid firmware damage. I will therefore focus solely on using it for the intended purpose: reading and writing memory ICs. I got myself two chips, the I2C EEPROM 24C02 and the SPI flash memory which will be used for tests. I talked about the software utility which you can use with this programmer in a previous post.

Basic Homelab running on low power NUC

 Generally speaking a Homelab is a personal, non-commercial environment where individuals can set up, experiment with, and manage their own IT infrastructure. This can include a variety of hardware and software components, such as servers, networking equipment, virtualization platforms, storage systems, and more. However most people only need to host a few services such as home automation, personal websites, media servers or backup and storage.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube where users are showcasing their homelab setup, some of which are pretty advanced setups with rack-mounted servers and professional-grade networking gear. In fact, most users will never need all these and when you start a homelab you begin with a list of services you want to host.

Install Home Assistant Container on Orange Pi Zero 3 (part three)

It's been a while since I began experimenting with Home Assistant (HASS) running on single board computers (SBCs). The main advantage of using an SBC for HASS is achieving good performance with low power consumption. However, most modern mini PCs offer better performance over a SBC while requiring only slightly more power. Additionally, mini PCs come preassembled with all necessary hardware, unlike SBCs, which require separate purchases for cases, power supplies, and storage. I plan to migrate my Home Assistant setup to an Intel NUC eventually.

Until then, I'll continue this series on setting up HASS on Orange Pi SBCs. The container method for HASS is similar across different hardware and operating systems, though Docker installation methods may vary.

Install Home Assistant Core on Orange Pi Zero 3 (part two)

Some time ago I decided to get Home Assistant (HASS) running on a single board computer (SBC) without knowing too much about this software. As I soon found, Home Assistant is complex software and there are multiple installation methods, more or less available depending on target hardware. In short, I got an Orange Pi Zero 3 SBC with 2 GB of RAM which I intend to use as a local home automation server.

Although the SBC has sufficient processing power for Home Assistant, I shouldn't expect too much from the limited SD card storage. I decided to give it a try anyway since I really like the small form factor of Orange Pi Zero 3 (it can directly replace the old Pi Zero with only 256 MB of RAM I am currently using for hosting a local MQTT broker). Although this guide is targeted at this specific SBC, it is very probable that you can install HASS on similar Linux platforms using the same commands.

Receive weather station data with Arduino

A while ago (to be more specific two years ago) I used software defined radio to capture and decode RF signal from the outdoor unit of a weather station. This allowed me to emulate the protocol with an Arduino and a cheap 433.92 MHz transmitter and send my own data to the indoor station. I can make my own units if the original outdoor unit fails. The outdoor unit uses on-off-keying (OOK) and sends pulse distance modulated bits, explained in detail in the linked post.

But what about receiving data from outdoor unit(s) with an Arduino? One can add an ESP8266 to capture temperature and humidity and publish data to MQTT, Home Assistant or other IoT servers. Capturing and analyzing pulse timings of a signal was a daunting task for me. However it turned out to be easier than I thought, using an interrupt routine. In this post, I'll explain all the steps required to make a pulse distance modulation (PDM) decoder.

How to use the EZP2023+ USB Programmer

Previously I analyzed the hardware of EZP2023+ USB Programmer to find it is a rather simple device, based on CH552G microcontroller which allows for SPI, I2C and MicroWire capabilities. If you didn't know this is a serial memory programmer, which can be used to read and write a variety of memory chips, including EEPROMs and BIOS ICs commonly found in computers and other electronic devices. After I traced the schematic, I realized EZP2023+ also comes with mixed voltage levels (meaning it powers the memory to program with 3.3 V while the data bus uses 5 V for I/O) and this is a big issue since it can destroy whatever you are trying to read or program. 

In this post I will share my experience with the programmer and discover some flaws of its programming software. You should get the programming utility on a CD which is in the product box. Since recent computers and notebooks no longer have an optical drive, this is already an issue. Getting past that, on the CD you will find the user manual and accompanying software, with driver. Let's see how you get everything ready to program memory chips.