[En-Nut-Discussion] Compatibility Problem Between Rev. F, and Rev. G

[Harald Kipp]

Hello Georgios,

this is an important issue not only for your company.
So I'll take a bit more time to explain the situation.
We at egnite could think of many better designs, specially
the mechanical layout of the board and its connectors.

Since the release of the first Ethernut four years
ago there had been one major change only from 0.9 to 1.1,
moving the 10-pin analog port pins. All other changes are
reversible and we take greatest care to maintain this
compatibility.

There is no need to change any software even from Rev-F
to Rev-G. If you wish, egnite can deliver Rev-G fully
compatible to Rev-F. No need to change your hex file.

In fact there are no plans for new revisions, neither for
1.3 nor 2.1. There is a minor modification requirement for
2.1, adding a 10k/100n filter to the reset line. Right now
we add them manually on the back side of the board. No idea,
wether it will ever result in a new Rev-C.

But I don't want to hide one important fact. At least until
2006 we have to move to lead free production. Up to date
we didn't get any response from Realtek about availability
of lead free RTL8019AS. Worse, Realtek doesn't provide any
information about how long they are producing this old chip.
It may become obsolete suddenly and unexpectedly. Its the
number one risk.

Because not everyone wants to run a power hungry 100 MBit
Ethernet Controller, we have plans for Ethernut 1.4. But
not before mid 2005. And, as long as Realtek allows us, we
will continue Ethernut 1.3.

Atmel is quite reliable. The ATmega256 may replace the ATmega128,
but binary code should not require any changes. (That was true
when the ATmega128 replaced the ATmega103).

In addition we publish the CAD files. If egnite would not
be able to continue production for whatever reason, you
can take these to another manufacturer. But before becoming
bankrupt, we will try to keep our promises. :-)

A funny thing happened in January 2003, when a customer from
Japan insisted on 50 Ethernuts with ATmega103, which already had
been obsolete in those days. I tried to explain them, that the
ATmega128 can fully emulate the ATmega103. Without success.
Fortunately our local distributor got some left on stock and
it was no big deal to feed the stuffing machine with 50 different
chips. Of course, that was completely weird, because the old
ATmega103 costs 5 Euro more than the ATmega128.

Harald





At 14:24 20.10.2004 +0300, you wrote:
>Hello Harald,
>
>I would like to know if the rev. g will be the last for the 1.3 ethernut. 
>This is because I must have a standard platform to work and support for at 
>least five years. We are trying to produce a standard HEX file to upload 
>on then ethernut boards. Therefore we want to avoid, applying unecessary 
>changes (for our company) to this HEX every time, to make it compatible 
>with the new revisions of the 1.3 ethernut. I would also like to know if 
>you are going, in the near future, stop supporting (producing) the 1.3 
>ethernut. This is very important for us, because we have based a very 
>vital part of our project on the 1.3 ethernut board and its functinality.
>
>Thank you in advance,
>
>Georgios