Microchip's customer relations.. excellent response

[Spehro Pefhany]

1. David L. Jones has a regular video blog, in one issue of which he reviews
    (and has some criticisms of  Pickit 3)

    http://www.eevblog.com/2009/10/21/eevblog-39-pickit-3-programmerdebugger-review/

2. He gets response from Microchip (Dave's words)

 > At it turns out, not surprisingly the video made it's way all around
 > the Microchip offices, even to the desk of their CEO.
 > As with any multi billion dollar corporation, I expected either
 > deathly silence or a nasty letter from their lawyers.
 >
 > But it turns out Microchip really do care about their products and
 > customers, and really do listen, so they seriously took it as
 > constructive criticism.
 >
 > So not only was my blog well received at Microchip, I got a lengthy
 > call from none other than the Microchip CEO Steve Sanghi, thanking me
 > for the blog and raising the issues. He pointed out a few factual
 > errors which was fair enough, but admitted they could have done the
 > PICkit 3 better and most importantly are working to fix the issues and
 > give customers what they expect.
 >

3. Microchip posts this funny video response on youtube.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YUvlrVlNao


That, folks, is how it is done!



Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the reward"
speff@...             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com



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[arocholl]

Does this mean if we ever wanted to have the EEPROM problem fixed in the
nanoWatt series we had to create a funny youtube video to show the issue?

2009/10/30 Spehro Pefhany <speff@...>

> 1. David L. Jones has a regular video blog, in one issue of which he
> reviews
>    (and has some criticisms of  Pickit 3)
>
>
> http://www.eevblog.com/2009/10/21/eevblog-39-pickit-3-programmerdebugger-review/
>
> 2. He gets response from Microchip (Dave's words)
>
>  > At it turns out, not surprisingly the video made it's way all around
>  > the Microchip offices, even to the desk of their CEO.
>  > As with any multi billion dollar corporation, I expected either
>  > deathly silence or a nasty letter from their lawyers.
>  >
>  > But it turns out Microchip really do care about their products and
>  > customers, and really do listen, so they seriously took it as
>  > constructive criticism.
>  >
>  > So not only was my blog well received at Microchip, I got a lengthy
>  > call from none other than the Microchip CEO Steve Sanghi, thanking me
>  > for the blog and raising the issues. He pointed out a few factual
>  > errors which was fair enough, but admitted they could have done the
>  > PICkit 3 better and most importantly are working to fix the issues and
>  > give customers what they expect.
>  >
>
> 3. Microchip posts this funny video response on youtube.
>
>    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YUvlrVlNao
>
>
> That, folks, is how it is done!
>
>
>
> Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the
> reward"
> speff@...             Info for manufacturers:
> http://www.trexon.com
> Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:
> http://www.speff.com
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>

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Ariel Rocholl
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[Spehro Pefhany]

At 06:58 AM 10/30/2009, you wrote:
>Does this mean if we ever wanted to have the EEPROM problem fixed in the
>nanoWatt series we had to create a funny youtube video to show the issue?

Create a blog with a large number of followers and you'll have some of the
power of a magazine editor to influence things. Maybe more freedom if you
don't have advertisers and their corrupting revenue. ;-)

Best regards,

Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the reward"
speff@...             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com



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[James Hillman]

I'm using the MSSP module on a 18F2221 as an I2C slave. The datasheet
mentions that SMBus specific inputs can be enabled
when the SMBus Select bit (SSPSTAT,CKE) is set, but it doesn't say how this
affects the input voltage levels.

Does anyone know what the levels change to?

According to version 2.0 of the SMBus spec http://smbus.org/specs/ , input
high is minimum 2.1V and input low is maximum 0.8V, but they might not
necessarily be the values the PIC uses.

Thanks in advance,

James







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[M.L.-2]

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 9:33 AM, James Hillman
<james@...> wrote:

> I'm using the MSSP module on a 18F2221 as an I2C slave. The datasheet
> mentions that SMBus specific inputs can be enabled
> when the SMBus Select bit (SSPSTAT,CKE) is set, but it doesn't say how this
> affects the input voltage levels.
>
> Does anyone know what the levels change to?
>
> According to version 2.0 of the SMBus spec http://smbus.org/specs/ , input
> high is minimum 2.1V and input low is maximum 0.8V, but they might not
> necessarily be the values the PIC uses.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> James
>

Being a digital input on the PIC, it shouldn't make a difference
whether it is a generic input pin or an I2C input. Therefore, you
would just look at the electrical characteristics charts at the end of
the datasheet to find the min/max voltage thresholds for a digital
input pin.

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[Alan B. Pearce-2]

>Being a digital input on the PIC, it shouldn't make a difference
>whether it is a generic input pin or an I2C input. Therefore, you
>would just look at the electrical characteristics charts at the end of
>the datasheet to find the min/max voltage thresholds for a digital
>input pin.

But I believe the SMBus levels assume the use of 3V3 logic, so have lower
threshold levels than 'normal' 5V I2C levels (and this would be borne out by
the OPs quoted levels). I believe this is why the extra function is added.
It may not appear on 3V3 only PICs, I haven't checked.

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[James Hillman]

>> I'm using the MSSP module on a 18F2221 as an I2C slave. The datasheet
>> mentions that SMBus specific inputs can be enabled
>> when the SMBus Select bit (SSPSTAT,CKE) is set, but it doesn't say how
>> this
>> affects the input voltage levels.
>>
>> Does anyone know what the levels change to?
>>
>> According to version 2.0 of the SMBus spec http://smbus.org/specs/ ,
>> input
>> high is minimum 2.1V and input low is maximum 0.8V, but they might not
>> necessarily be the values the PIC uses.

> Being a digital input on the PIC, it shouldn't make a difference
> whether it is a generic input pin or an I2C input. Therefore, you
> would just look at the electrical characteristics charts at the end of
> the datasheet to find the min/max voltage thresholds for a digital
> input pin.

Yes, that was my first thought, but then I read that it was possible to
configure the MSSP module in I2C mode for SMBus.

I'm sure there is a difference between I2C and SMBus. The datasheet shows
that the MSSP module normal I2C input is Schmidt trigger, which has a high
threshold of 0.8Vdd, which on a 5V pic is 4V. What it doesn't say is what
the high threshold changes to when the SMBus select bit is set.

What I need to do is run a master (18f2620) at 3V3, but the slave device at
5V with just ground, SCL and SDA connected. A high threshold of 4V on the
slave won't work (because the pullups only pull up to 3V3 on the master), so
I'm hoping that setting the SMBus select bit will allow the slave device
running at 5V to see a logic high at 3V3.

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[M.L.-2]

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Alan B. Pearce
<Alan.B.Pearce@...> wrote:

>>Being a digital input on the PIC, it shouldn't make a difference
>>whether it is a generic input pin or an I2C input. Therefore, you
>>would just look at the electrical characteristics charts at the end of
>>the datasheet to find the min/max voltage thresholds for a digital
>>input pin.
>
> But I believe the SMBus levels assume the use of 3V3 logic, so have lower
> threshold levels than 'normal' 5V I2C levels (and this would be borne out by
> the OPs quoted levels). I believe this is why the extra function is added.
> It may not appear on 3V3 only PICs, I haven't checked.
>

Page 347 of the datasheet says that, with SMBus enabled, the
thresholds are 0.8/2.1v.

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[James Hillman]

>>>Being a digital input on the PIC, it shouldn't make a difference
>>>whether it is a generic input pin or an I2C input. Therefore, you
>>>would just look at the electrical characteristics charts at the end of
>>>the datasheet to find the min/max voltage thresholds for a digital
>>>input pin.
>>
>> But I believe the SMBus levels assume the use of 3V3 logic, so have lower
>> threshold levels than 'normal' 5V I2C levels (and this would be borne out
>> by
>> the OPs quoted levels). I believe this is why the extra function is
>> added.
>> It may not appear on 3V3 only PICs, I haven't checked.
>>
>
> Page 347 of the datasheet says that, with SMBus enabled, the
> thresholds are 0.8/2.1v.
>
> --
> Martin K.

Ah, thanks Martin. I hadn't realised Microchip had just updated the 18f2321
datsheet - that info wasn't in the previous one I only saved recently.

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[Barry Gershenfeld-2]

> Ah, thanks Martin. I hadn't realised Microchip had just updated the 18f2321
> datsheet - that info wasn't in the previous one I only saved recently.
>
>
There's a "What's new" feature in "My Microchip" that tells you when they
release new literature.  I guess then the challenge is remembering to
look...
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[Alan Smith-10]

OK...that was good.  Way good.

--- On Fri, 10/30/09, Spehro Pefhany <speff@...> wrote:

> From: Spehro Pefhany <speff@...>
> Subject: [PIC] Microchip's customer relations.. excellent response
> To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." <piclist@...>
> Date: Friday, October 30, 2009, 5:37 AM
> 1. David L. Jones has a regular video
> blog, in one issue of which he reviews
>     (and has some criticisms of  Pickit 3)
>
>     http://www.eevblog.com/2009/10/21/eevblog-39-pickit-3-programmerdebugger-review/
>
> 2. He gets response from Microchip (Dave's words)
>
>  > At it turns out, not surprisingly the video made it's
> way all around
>  > the Microchip offices, even to the desk of their
> CEO.
>  > As with any multi billion dollar corporation, I
> expected either
>  > deathly silence or a nasty letter from their
> lawyers.
>  >
>  > But it turns out Microchip really do care about their
> products and
>  > customers, and really do listen, so they seriously
> took it as
>  > constructive criticism.
>  >
>  > So not only was my blog well received at Microchip, I
> got a lengthy
>  > call from none other than the Microchip CEO Steve
> Sanghi, thanking me
>  > for the blog and raising the issues. He pointed out a
> few factual
>  > errors which was fair enough, but admitted they could
> have done the
>  > PICkit 3 better and most importantly are working to
> fix the issues and
>  > give customers what they expect.
>  >
>
> 3. Microchip posts this funny video response on youtube.
>
>     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YUvlrVlNao
>
>
> That, folks, is how it is done!
>
>
>
> Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."     
>       "The Journey is the reward"
> speff@... 
>            Info for
> manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
> Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for
> designers:  http://www.speff.com
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>

     

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[Paul Hutchinson]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@... On Behalf Of Barry Gershenfeld
> Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 3:32 PM
>
> There's a "What's new" feature in "My Microchip" that tells you when they
> release new literature.  I guess then the challenge is remembering to
> look...

They've got RSS feeds for the updates, add them to a feed reader (e.g.
Google Reader) and you won't have to visit the site to find out what's new.

<http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2568
¶m=en028158>

Paul Hutch

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[Olin Lathrop]

>>
http://www.eevblog.com/2009/10/21/eevblog-39-pickit-3-programmerdebugger-review

Self-aggrandizing sensationlalist blogger:  0
Mircochip:                                 10


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