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Last update $Date: 2008/01/05 22:57:06 $
Contents
1 Installing 2 Menu Commands 2.1 File 2.1.1 New Window 2.1.2 Open Device File 2.1.3 Open Program (FLASH) File 2.1.4 Open Data (EEPROM) File 2.1.5 Save Device File 2.1.6 Save Device File As 2.1.7 Save Program (FLASH) File 2.1.8 Save Data (EEPROM) File 2.1.9 Reload Files 2.1.10 Print 2.1.11 Close 2.1.12 Exit 2.2 Edit 2.2.1 Edit note 2.2.2 Edit security bits 2.2.3 Edit buffer enabled 2.3 Device 2.4 Command 2.4.1 Read All 2.4.2 Read Program (FLASH) 2.4.3 Read Data (EEPROM) 2.4.4 Read Security and Configuration Bits 2.4.5 Write All 2.4.6 Write Program (FLASH) 2.4.7 Write Data (EEPROM) 2.4.8 Write Security and Configuration Bits 2.4.9 Verify All 2.4.10 Verify Program (FLASH) 2.4.11 Verify Data (EEPROM) 2.4.12 Erase 2.4.13 GetInfo 2.4.14 Reset 2.4.15 Program 2.4.16 Program Options 2.5 Utility
2.5.1 Clear buffer 2.5.2 Fill buffer 2.5.3 Double bank 2.5.4 Byte swap 2.5.5 Set Serial Number 2.5.6 Serial Number Config 2.6 Setup 2.6.1 Interface Setup 2.6.2 Calibration 3 Hardware interfaces 3.1 SI Prog 3.1.1 The main board 3.1.2 ICBus eeprom adapter 3.1.3 Microwire eeprom adapter 3.1.4 SPI eeprom adapter 3.1.5 SDE2506 eeprom adapter 3.1.6 NVM eeprom adapter 3.1.7 AVR micro adapter 3.1.8 PIC micro adapter 3.1.9 Jumper setting summary 3.1.10 Serial cable 3.1.11 Electric schematic 3.1.12 Mounting plan 4 Scripts 4.1 Quick start 4.2 Command reference 5 FAQ Appendix A
1 Installing
Installing PonyProg depend on the system you have. With Windows95/98/ME or NT/2000/XP just run the Setup.exe and follow the instructions. With RedHat Linux 6.2/7.0 login as root and execute the command # tar xvfzP ponyprog-X.XXX.tar.gz # chmod +s /usr/local/bin/ponyprog2000 (optional) If you want to use parallel port interfaces without run PonyProg as root you need also a 2.4.x kernel and parport, parport_pc and ppdev kernel modules. insmod all three modules before to execute PonyProg. If you want to use serial port interfaces be sure you have the rights to read/write the /dev/ttySx devices and /var/lock directory. With RedHat you may want to add your user to uucp group. The first time you run the program remember to select the interface and port you use with the Setup. If the program report a message like "The interface don't respond" when started, it means that you not have configured the port properly, or the interface is not connected. You need also to run Calibration in most cases.
2 Menu commands
The following is an explanation of each menu command.
for program memory and the second part for data memory. This command save the content of current window buffer program memory to a file. A dialog box asks you the name of the file to save and the file format by selecting the extension.
2.1.10 Print
Open a dialog box where you can select the printer name and options. If you press OK the content of the current window will be printed.
2.1.11 Close
Close the current window, if there is only one opened window a dialog window asks you if you want to exit; you can choose Yes or No. If the current window buffer is modified a dialog window asks you if you want to save the content in a file before to close the window.
2.1.12 Exit
Close all the opened window and exit the program. If there is a modified window buffer a dialog window asks you if you want to save the content to a file before to close the window.
PIC 16F84
CP: if checked all memory is code protected PWRTE: if checked power-up timer is enabled WDTE: if checked watchdog timer is disabled FOSC1,FOSC0: oscillator selection bits FOSC1 FOSC0 Status not checked not checked RC resistor/capacitor oscillator not checked checked HS high speed crystal/resonator oscillator checked not checked XT crystal/resonator oscillator checked AT89S8252 checked LP low power oscillator
Microchp 24C65
The dialog ask you to insert the first block and the number of blocks to lock. When the device is locked you can't do a "write security" or a "write high endurance" anymore. To lock the device the number of blocks must be greater than 0.
2.3 Device
Select the type of current device. You have to select the device type before any commands (read, writing, open, save, ...). Selecting an "Auto XXX" type means that the device type is determined by the program during the read or write operation, this feature is useful when you need to query a device to know if it works and which device it is. There are some different device family: the IC Bus eeproms that are addressed with 8 bit word, the IC Bus eeproms that are addressed with 16 bit word, the Microwire eeproms with 8 bit organization, the Microwire eeproms with 16 bit organization, the SPI eeproms, the AVR microcontrollers, the PIC 16 microcontrollers, the IMBus eeproms and SDE2506 eeprom. You can select the device family in the tool bar with the combo-box, or directly the device type in the menu. The current device type is stored in the .INI file, so the next time you run the program it's recalled. To read and write IC Bus eeproms other than 24xx (i.e. the SDE2526, SDA2546, SDA2586, SDA3546, SDA3586) select the type "24XX Auto". The 24C01 can be readed but not writed, you can read it as a 2402 or 24XX Auto device. Note that you can often replace a 24C01 eeprom with a new 24C02 eeprom, because it's fully compatible to the 24C01. Several microwire eeproms support two types of word organization: 16 bit organization and 8 bit organization. The organization is selected with a pin connected to VCC or GND. SI-Prog adapter connect this pin for 16 bit organization, however some devices support only 8 bit organization.
progression. If you want to stop the current read just press the "Abort" button. Finally a dialog box showing the result of the operation appears. If the program report the message "Device not responding" means that you missed to connect the device to read, or the interface is not configured properly (see the Setup). Note that only the devices that support probing report this type of message, other device simply read all 0's of FF's (if the device is missed). The devices that support probing are the 24XX, the AVR and some PIC. In the case of AVR device selected, the program can report the message "Device locked" in case of the locked bits was programmed. Even some preproduction devices don't support auto probing. You can't read a locked device, to program it see Write. Since version 1.15c if you select an AVR device (AT90S2313 for example) and read it, the program try to probe the device first. If the device is missing, or the device is locked, or the device is a preproduction device a dialog box appears. It asks you if you want to abort operation, retry or ignore the error. In case of a preproduction device just select "Ignore".
This command is available only for splitted Program/Data devices. The buffer is splitted in two different part for these devices: the first part for program memory and the second part for data memory. This command read only the data memory from the device, and leave the program memory intact.
2.4.12 Erase
Erase all the content of a device to FF's (both program and data memory). Note that this command is implemented only for AVR and PIC devices.
2.4.13 GetInfo
Shows some informations about the device. Some of these informations are showed also in the status bar at the bottom of the main window. Size of the buffer, it's equal to the size of the device in bytes. In the case of AVR or PIC devices, it's equal to the sum of the program memory size plus the data memory size. CRC calculated on the content of the buffer. Bank roll over. It's a characteristic of some old IC Bus eeprom (24XX). In some case uou can't replace a "roll-over eeprom" with a "no roll-over eeprom". Security and High endurance block. The Microchip 24C65 has a feature to protect some block from writing, or enable some block to have 10 milions writing cycles. (see edit to change it).
2.4.14 Reset
Reset the device. It's useful with in-system applications.
2.4.15 Program
Execute a customizable sequence of commands. You can select the commands to execute with program options
Fill the current window buffer with a character. A dialog box asks you to select the addresses fo fill (from - to locations), and the value of the character to fill. You can insert the value either in decimal (i.e. 45), hexadecimal (i.e. 0x45) or octal (i.e. 045) base.
SI-Prog interface select "serial" check-box and choose "SI-Prog API" or "SI-Prog I/O" in the combo-box. Windows 95/98/ME and NT/2000/XP work either with "PonyProg API" and "PonyProg I/O", but the latter is faster. To use the "SI-Prog I/O" with Linux you need to run PonyProg as root. Then select the COM port you want to use, if some COM ports are disabled it means that they are used by other programs (usually by the mouse driver or modem), or not installed or access denied (may need root privileges). If you use added COM ports (PCI or PCMCIA cards) you must use "SI-Prog API". Note that USB2RS232 adapters often don't work or are very slow. To access COM ports from user mode in Linux you need the rights to write /dev/ttyS0,1,... devices and /var/lock directory and select SI-Prog API (this is the preferred way). AVR ISP Parallel port interface select "parallel" check-box and choose "Avr ISP API" or "Avr ISP I/O" in the combo-box. WindowsNT/2000/XP work only with "Avr ISP I/O". To use the "Avr ISP I/O" with Linux you need to run PonyProg as root. Then select the LPT port you want to use. Note that if you want to program the AT89Sxx device you need to select the "Invert Reset" check-box. To use this interface with Linux you need a 2.4.x or newer kernel and parport, parport_pc and ppdev kernel modules and you need the rights to write /dev/parport0,1,... devices. You can use this interface to read/write the AVR micros and SPI eeproms. Ludipipo/JDM interface select "JDM API" or "JDM I/O". Then select the COM port you use. All the considerations for "SI-Prog" interface above are valid for JDM too. You can use this interface to read/write the PIC16x84 and 24Cxx eeproms. If you want to use JDM interface to program 24Cxx devices you have to connect pin 7 of the 24Cxx to GND (schematics are wrong). Easy ICBus interface select the "parallel" check-box, then select the LPT port you want to use. All the considerations for "Avr ISP" above are valid for "EasyI2CBus" too. DT-006 interface This are the simplest interface for AVR programming (you can find the board on Dontronics site). However I strongly suggest to use the buffered and safer "Avr ISP" interface above, especially for ISP, since the buffer go in Hi-Z state after programming.
2.6.2 Calibration
Calibration tunes the serial bus speed for your computer. When you run Calibration be sure that PonyProg is the only program running in the PC, and the hard disk is idle (look at the HD led). If your PC is busy because it's performing other tasks the Calibration thinks your PC is slower than actual speed, and all I/Os are performed without proper delay. After the Calibration you can choose the speed for every serial bus modifying the following parameters in the ponyprog.ini (.PonyProgrc under Linux) file: I2CBusSpeed=NORMAL affect 24Cxx eeprom and other ICBus devices SPIBusSpeed=NORMAL affect AVR micro, AT89Sxx micro and 25xxx eeprom MicroWireBusSpeed=NORMAL affect 93Cxx eeprom PICBusSpeed=NORMAL affect PIC16x84 micro SDEBusSpeed=NORMAL affect SDE2506 eeprom Every parameter can be assigned the value ULTRASLOW, VERYSLOW, SLOW, NORMAL, FAST or TURBO. Avoid to use the TURBO value because it means "no delay", and probably it doesn't work on your PC, especially with the I/O driver. Just for example my PC (Pentium MMX 200MHz) run ICBus at about 80Khz with NORMAL, and 110 Khz with FAST. Note that a lot of ICBus devices don't work at speed above the 100KHz. A special note for AVR devices. The AVR need a valid system clock to be programmed via SPI and the max frequency of the SPI bus depends on this system clock. So if you changed the fuse (even accidentally) to use low clocks like 1MHz or 32.768KHz you must change the SPIBusSpeed=VERYSLOW or ULTRASLOW to access the AVR anymore. If you have to use such low clocks I suggest to program the flash and eeprom first, and at last program the security and fuse bits.
3 Hardware interfaces
PonyProg supports several hardware interfaces, however note that only with SI-Prog interface you are able to program all the devices. Next paragraphs show to you all the hardware interfaces in detail.
Part Code 93AA66 93LC66A 93LC66B 93C66A 93C66B 93AA66X 93LC66AX 93LC66BX 93C66AX 93C66BX 93AA76 93LC76 93C76 93AA86 93LC86 93C86
Org. 8/16bit 8bit 16bit 8bit 16bit 8/16bit 8bit 16bit 8bit 16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit
Socket 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6X 93Cx6X 93Cx6X 93Cx6X 93Cx6X 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6
Power (*) Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext Ext Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext Ext Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext
Menu Label MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 8 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 8 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9376 MicroWire 16 -> 9376 MicroWire 16 -> 9376 MicroWire 16 -> 9386 MicroWire 16 -> 9386 MicroWire 16 -> 9386
(*) If you experiment problems during the write operation, use the Ext power. Int power may not work on some PC, it depends on how much current is capable your PC COM port. If you don't use the LM2936Z-5 use the Ext power with ALL devices.
Atmel Microwire (3-wire) Serial eeprom Part Code AT93C46 AT93C46W AT93C46R AT93C46A AT93C46C AT93C56 AT93C56W AT93C66 AT93C66W AT93C86 Org. 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 16bit 16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit 8/16bit Socket 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6X 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 93Cx6 Power (*) Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Ext/Int Menu Label MicroWire 16 -> 9346 MicroWire 16 -> 9346 MicroWire 16 -> 9346 MicroWire 16 -> 9346 MicroWire 16 -> 9346 MicroWire 16 -> 9356 MicroWire 16 -> 9356 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9366 MicroWire 16 -> 9386
(*) If you experiment problems during the write operation, use the Ext power. Int power may not work on some PC, it depends on how much current is capable your PC COM port. If you don't use the LM2936Z-5 use the Ext power with ALL devices.
To use external power you need to connect a 9V battery to J9 and move JP2 to "ext" position.
BT1
It's sometime called "modem cable", however check that all pins are connected. Avoid to use "null modem cable"s.
4 Scripts
PonyProg SCRIPT is a tool to automate programming. A script is a text file with extension .e2s containing a sequence of commands to execute. Every line contain a command, lines starting with the character # are skipped (comments) as well as blank lines.
#------ START -------#Programming sequence SELECTDEVICE ATTINY12 CLEARBUFFER LOAD-PROG flash.hex LOAD-DATA eeprom.hex PAUSE "Connect and powerup the circuit, are you ready?" READ-CALIBRATION 0x3ff ERASE-ALL WRITE&VERIFY-ALL #Pay attention to NOT disable RSTDISBL #Fuse: "BODLEVEL ","BODEN ","SPIEN ","RSTDISBL # 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 WRITE-FUSE 0xED #Lock: {X,X,X,X,X,"Lock2 ","Lock1 ",X} # 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 WRITE-LOCK 0x06 #------- END --------","CKSEL3 ","CKSEL2 ","CKSEL1","CKSEL0 "
Save the file with extension .e2s (for example script.e2s) and then run: > ponyprog2000.exe script.e2s PonyProg will startup, select the ATtiny12 device, clear the buffer, load flash and eeprom files, read the osc.calibration to location 0x3ff in the buffer and then program the device with flash, eeprom, fuses and lock bits. When finished PonyProg exit. If you use the avr-gcc compiler you will find useful to call PonyProg directly from the make file. Insert the following lines in your makefile and then launch "make isp"
ISPEXE = c:/programmi/ponyprog2000/ponyprog2000.exe MCU = atmega128 TRG = myapp isp: $(TRG).hex $(TRG).eep echo -e "SELECTDEVICE $(MCU)\nLOAD-PROG $(TRG).hex\nLOAD-DATA $(TRG).eep\nWRITE&VERIFY-ALL" >isp.e2s $(ISPEXE) isp.e2s
WRITE&VERIFY-PROG [ ] optional argument < > required argument # Description: Any line starting with # character is considered as a comment and skipped. SELECTDEVICE <device> Description: Select the device model to read/write. Example: SELECTDEVICE ATMEGA128 LOAD-ALL [file][relocation_offset] LOAD-DATA [file][relocation_offset] LOAD-PROG [file][relocation_offset] Description: LOAD-ALL load the whole content of the selected device from the file specified, this command is useful to load PIC and EEPROM devices with HEX or BIN format, or is useful to load every devices with E2P files. LOAD-PROG load only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR) LOAD-DATA load only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR) If no file is specified then open a file dialog to choose the file to load. The relocation_offset is an optional argument useful if you want to load at memory addresses different from that specified in the file. In case of binary file you specify the address from which start to load the buffer. Example: LOAD-PROG prog_memory.hex LOAD-ALL memory.bin 0x100 (skip the first 256 bytes of the buffer) SAVE-ALL [file | '--'][file_type] SAVE-DATA [file | '--'][file_type] SAVE-PROG [file | '--'][file_type] Description: SAVE-ALL save the whole content of the selected device to the file specified. SAVE-PROG save only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR) SAVE-DATA save only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR) If no file is specified it saves to the current file name, in case of no current file name it opens the file dialog to choose a file name. If the -- string is specified it opens the file dialog to choose a new file name. If you specify the file_type it saves the buffer in the selected file format, useful to convert a file from one type to another. file_type can be: - e2p to select the default E2P file used by PonyProg - bin to select a raw binary format - csm to select a custom CSM file format used by some TV repairer - intel-hex to select standard INTEX-HEX text format - mot-srec to select standard MOTOROLA SREC text format Example: SAVE-DATA data_memory.hex intel-hex SAVE-ALL -- (save all the device and ask the file name) READ-ALL READ-DATA READ-PROG Description: READ-ALL read the whole content of the selected device to the current buffer READ-PROG read only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) READ-DATA read only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC)
Example: READ-ALL WRITE&VERIFY-ALL WRITE&VERIFY-DATA WRITE&VERIFY-PROG Description: WRITE&VERIFY-ALL write and then verify the whole content of the selected device reading from the buffer WRITE&VERIFY-PROG write and then verify only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) WRITE&VERIFY-DATA write and then verify only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) WRITE&VERIFY commands require PonyProg version 2.05 or more recent. Usually you will use the WRITE&VERIFY, not the WRITE and then the VERIFY command because the former verify only programmed locations instead the latter verify all the buffer (slower). Example: WRITE&VERIFY-PROG WRITE-ALL WRITE-DATA WRITE-PROG Description: WRITE-ALL write the whole content of the selected device reading from the buffer WRITE-PROG write only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) WRITE-DATA write only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) Example: WRITE-ALL VERIFY-ALL VERIFY-DATA VERIFY-PROG Description: VERIFY-ALL read and compare the whole content of the selected device against the buffer VERIFY-PROG verify only the program FLASH portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) VERIFY-DATA verify only the data EEPROM portion of the device (useful with the AVR or PIC) Example: VERIFY-ALL ERASE-ALL Description: ERASE-ALL erase the whole content of the selected device. Usually this operation bring all the locations of the selected device to FF. Example: ERASE-ALL EDIT-SECURITY Description: Open the fuse and lock bits dialog to edit them. READ-FUSE READ-LOCK Description: READ-FUSE read the fuse bits (device dependant) and open the fuse and lock bits dialog READ-LOCK read the lock bits (device dependant) and open the fuse and lock bits dialog Example: READ-FUSE
WRITE-FUSE [bits] WRITE-LOCK [bits] Description: WRITE-FUSE write the fuse bits (device dependant). WRITE-LOCK write the lock bits (device dependant). If the argument is specified it is the numeric value of the bits rapresentation, note that a 1 means programmed. If no argument is specified the current value is programmed. Pay Attention to program the FUSE bits with the AVR, you can specify a wrong bit combination that will prevent you to access the AVR device in the future. Refer to the datasheets for the meaning of every bit. Some AVR devices have more than one byte for the fuse bits. In such cases the argument is a multibyte numer and least significant byte is the standard fuse byte. For example: argument = 0x010203 Standard fuse = 0x03 High fuse = 0x02 Extended fuse = 0x01 Example: SELECTDEVICE AT90S1200 #Lock: {X,X,X,X,X,"Lock2 ","Lock1 ",X} #00000110 WRITE-LOCK 0x06 SELECTDEVICE ATTINY2313 #Fuse: "SPMEN " # "DWEN ","EESAVE ","SPIEN ","WDTON ","BODLEVEL2 ","BODLEVEL1 ","BODLEVEL0 ","RSTDISBL " # "CKDIV8 ","CKOUT ","SUT1 ","SUT0 ","CKSEL3 ","CKSEL2 ","CKSEL1 ","CKSEL0 " #0-00000100-00000010 WRITE-FUSE 0x00402 SERIALNUMBER [value][start][size][mem][format][autoinc] Description: Used to set a serial number in a location in the buffer before to write the device. This number can be specified every time or autoincremented from the previous one. Example: SERIALNUMBER 136 0x100 2 DATA LITTLEENDIAN NO Set the serial number of '2' bytes and value '136' at address '0x100' starting from 'DATA' memory. The format should be LITTLEENDIAN without autoincrement READ-CALIBRATION <address>[mem][osc_index] Description: Read the internal oscillator calibration value from the AVR and write it to a location in the buffer at the specified address (and memory type DATA or PROG). The osc_index argument specify which calibration value should be read since some AVR have several oscillator frequencies. The osc_index argument is available only from the 2.06c version Example: SELECTDEVICE ATMEGA128 READ-CALIBRATION 0x100 DATA 3 Read the oscillator calibration value for 8MHz frequency BYTESWAP Description: Swap the order of bytes within a word in the buffer (low byte <--> high byte) RESET Description: Reset the device CLEARBUFFER
Description: Clear the buffer (all bytes to FF) FILLBUFFER [val][from][to] Description: Fill the buffer from location 'from' to location 'to' with the 'val' value. If no argument is specified a dialog ask for these values. Example: FILLBUFFER 24 0x100 0x200 PAUSE [message] Description: Pause the program and show a message dialog asking confirmation to continue. CALL <command> Description: Call an external program and wait for it terminates. Example: CALL notepad.exe DELAY <msec> Description: Wait for the specified amount fo milliseconds. Example: DELAY 1000 Suspend the script and wait for 1 second
5 F.A.Q.
============= AVR questions ============= Q: I can't program ATmega, I always got "Write failed message". Q: I can't program AVR AT90Sxxx, I receive error -21 and the program fails. What is the problem? A: Increase the following parameters in the ponyprog.ini file (all times are in milliseconds) AVRByteWriteDelay=30 AVREraseDelay=100 'Delay to complete the write of a single word 'Delay to complete the erase of all the memory
In case of ATmega increase also the following parameter: ATMegaPageWriteDelay=50 'Delay to complete the write of a page of flash memory -------Q: I can't read or write AT90S1200 device. I receive the error message: "Device missing or unknown device -24" A: Select "Ignore" button, if the final message is "Write succesful" you have a sample that doesn't reply to the identify command. It seems that early devices don't reply to this command. -------Q: I need to program the AVR mounted on the target circuit (In system programming), but PonyProg fails to program because an external reset circuit hold the reset line low for a long time. A: Try to play with the following parameters in the INI file, it should solve the problem (all the times are in milliseconds) SPIResetPulse=100 SPIDelayAfterReset=50 =============== Other questions 'How long is the reset pulse generated by PonyProg 'How many milliseconds PonyProg waits after the reset pulse
=============== Q: What type of cable I should use to connect SI-Prog to the COM port? A: You must use "straight through" cable with all 9 pins connected. Don't use "null modem" cable. (look at 3.1.10) -------Q: With Windows2000/XP I can't access the LPT ports without being administrator, I need to run PonyProg logged in as normal user, what can I do? A: You cannot load the DLPORTIO.SYS driver w/o being an administrator. As Administrator, Start the Computer Management console -> Device Manager -> View: show hidden devices. Then Expand Non-Plug and Play Drivers and find the driver in the list. It may show up as DriverLINX Port I/O Driver. Then, for this driver -> properties -> driver startup. Set startup to boot. Reboot the system. --------Q: My PC doesn't have any LPT/COM port, can I use a USB2COM or USB2LPT adapter? A: Some USB adapters don't work at all while other adapters are very slow. So I suggest to avoid USB adapter and buy COM/LPT PCMCIA or PCI adapters that emulates 100% native LPT and COM ports. ---------Q: I have a Windows2000/XP PC with an extra LPT card, but PonyProg can't select the added port, can I force it? A: First you have to select the AvrISP-I/O interface instead of the API version. Then you have to edit ponyprog2000.ini file and disable port autodetection: AutoDetectPorts=NO then you have to discover the real address of the extra LPT port by looking at Computer Management console -> Device Manager -> LPT ports -> resources. For example if the extra LPT is LPT3 and the address is DF00 you need to enter the line LPTPorts=378,278,DF00 Note that this fix works only in some version (use 2.06g and newer).