Check this list made by TomSn0w of all compatible ESCs with their

Thanks to the help of timecop (yes he can be nice as long as he is interested ) I managed to

flash my RCTimer 10A and 30A ESC. The procedure should be the exact same for the 18A

and 20A versions. I will have some of these ESC in a few days and will test. Only difference

can be the programming pads order, we will get into that.

Also note that the procedure is most likely the same for the Turnigy Plush if they have the

same chip and pads. Check it all with a multimeter before hand! More and more ESC have

their pinouts posted in this topic and I will update the initial post with them.

Another note. timecop and I also had some RCT 10A that went poof after the reflash. Problem

is discussed in the thread, don't really know if it has been fixed...

1- Required stuff:

- RCTimer or other Atmel chip compatible ESC stripped of it's shrink tube.

Check this list made by TomSn0w of all compatible ESCs with their specs and

appropriate firmware file. Thanks a lot for this!

- An AVR USB programmer. I am using USBASP from Protostack. It is the exact same kind

of programmer used when flashing a Turnigy 9X.

- A way to connect temporarily the programming pads of the ESC to the AVR programmer.

- The hex file for the firmware (.hex is the compiled firmware, you can compile your own if

you want to as well):

1- Go there: https://github.com/sim-/tgy

2- Hit the download button on the top right

3- Right click and save as the tgy.hex file from the bottom on the popup. There are newer

versions posted from time to time. I used the tgy.hex one, but newer ones could be better!

[EDIT: tgy.hex is good for the rctimer ESC and other very classic hw copies with no external

oscillator. Depending on your ESC you might want to ask in this thread if you are better off

using another compiled .hex. nfet and bfet stuff is getting too technical for me still ^^]

- AVRDUDE or AVRStudio or what ever software you want to use to actually flash the

firmware.

-ALTERNATE: Use the tool posted in this thread coded by catch15117, thanks a lot for

this! (not really up to date)

-ALTERNATE2: Another tool posted in this thread by LazyZero, thanks a lot!

2- Step by Step:

- Identify the pads:

This is what my RCTimer 10A ESC looks like, the 30A one is pretty much the same, just

bigger.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized

1023x764.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhR02IDNb7_MdEhfVjk3MkRHVzhKdjU1YzdBQkZZRlE

http://www.protostack.com/accessories/usbasp-avr-programmer

https://github.com/sim-/tgy

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1577773

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1526042

You can see the 6 programming pads on the bottom of the board in the flash of light

They are in this order, from left to right: RESET, VCC, GND, SCLK, MISO, MOSI

Looking at the RCTimer 30A ESC from the top you will see the same 6 pads, but the order is

reversed it is from left to right: MOSI, MISO, SCLK, GND, VCC, RESET

ALWAYS double check with a multimeter in continuity check mode that each pad goes to the

right "leg" of the Atmega8. You can look in the datasheet at the MLF top view on page 2 to

know what pin is what. Note the round mark for chip orientation. Thanks to timecop, here is

one all marked up!

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 758x639.

http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc2486.pdf

If you post a new ESC picture with pins marked, please attach it to your post

so that by looking at attachments in the thread I can find them faster and keep

it updated. Thanks everyone!

Turnigy/Hobbywing 6A:

Turnigy 12A plush (tested by JussiH and works on tgy.hex) Thanks JussiH for the picture.


1015x885.

Turnigy/Hobbywing 25A:


1600x1200.

Turnigy Red Brick 25A:


1600x973.

Thanks to pia32.

Mystery FM30A:

Thanks to flashervn for this one.

Mystery/HK blue series 12A:


1180x1089.

Thanks to tomk7 for this one!



1600x901.


1600x911.



Thanks to bas10an for those! Second HK Blue series 20A is thanks to larsm!

HK blue series 40A:


eRC 45A:


Thanks to SeismicWave for these ones!

Red Brick 25A, thanks to pia32 for the picture. Flashed with tgy.hex


1600x973.

HobbyKing F-20A:


Thanks to adlerbak!

HobbyKing F-30A:


1358x859.

Thanks to finkbuilt!

HobbyKing F-60A:


Thanks to SeismicWave

DYS 30A:


1279x850.

Thanks to Dolby for these pics!

RCTimer 40A:


1023x767.

Thanks to adlerbak

HobbyKing SS non programable 30A:


1600x957.

Thanks to capt

- Connecting to the AVR programmer:

Here is how I did mine:


1023x764.

Simple headers for the connections to the AVR programmer. I used single strain wires from

Radio Shack, but any kind of wires will do, just solder the metal part of a male header pin at

the end so you have something stiff. A nice solder blob on twisted wires could do as well, but

may make lining up very tricky, just find your way!

To hold the wires in place together I just used a big blob of hotglue. Also note that you WILL

WANT to make those wires much longer than I did, no big deal but more length would have

helped. Close up of my artistic work:


1024x765.

You can always solder the wires to the pads, but when you have 4+ ESC to do it is a pain!

This is how jonnyc67 did it:


1600x1200.

You can find more info on this setup with pogo pins in his post in this topic.

Simonk also has a similar method using long board to board headers. More info and info in

this post

- Getting the right software:

I got this link from timecop, never heard of that project but it is supposed to be the most up to

date one: https://github.com/sim-/tgy. So hit download on the top right, and right click save as

the tgy.hex file. This is the new firmware file. Thanks a lot to simonk for writing this! There

could be newer versions of the compiled firmware (.hex files). [EDIT: tgy.hex is good for the

rctimer ESC and other very classic hw copies with no external oscillator. Depending on your

ESC you might want to ask in this thread if you are better off using another compiled .hex.

nfet and bfet stuff is getting too technical for me still ^^]

I am using a command line software to program AVR stuff but I heard AVR Studio is a really

nice GUI. I am on Mac OS X but AVRDUDE is multi platform, so I will base this howto on

it.

Just looking it up on google I found this link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr/ which

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19667061&postcount=208

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19707542&postcount=242

https://github.com/sim-/tgy

http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr/

should install AVRDUDE. This link has a tutorial on how to run it in command line.

For OS X go here: http://www.ladyada.net/learn/avr/setup-mac.html Option 1 for install is

supposed to be easy and works.

Linux peeps, well you know what to do, go get the AVRDUDE sources and compile them

This is how I installed it on OS X btw.

- Flashing:

The meat of things! Open up your terminal/cmd line client and navigate to the folder where

you downloaded tgy.hex

Plug in your AVR Programmer into USB and now be VERY careful and press the stiff end of

your wires onto the pins and keep em pressed down. This is where you will need a steady

helping hand or some sort of plastic grips, vice, whatever, just find a way to keep those pins

lined up and contacting the pads. If you are lined up right you will hear the initial beeps and

then continuous beeping.

Now here are the AVRDUDE commands that need to be issued in the terminal while

everything is connected. Quick rundown on the arguments. "-p m8" says that my chip is an

Atmega8, "-c usbasp" is the programmer name, type "avrdude -c asdf" to have the list of the

compatible programmers.

Code:

avrdude -c usbasp -p m8 -U flash:w:tgy.hex

You should get this readout in the terminal, disregard the sck warning, no idea what that is lol

Code:

avrdude: warning: cannot set sck period. please check for usbasp firmware

update.

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9307

avrdude: NOTE: FLASH memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be

performed

To disable this feature, specify the -D option.

avrdude: current erase-rewrite cycle count is -50462977 (if being tracked)

avrdude: erasing chip


update.

avrdude: reading input file "tgy.hex"

avrdude: input file tgy.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: writing flash (1482 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 1.08s

avrdude: 1482 bytes of flash written

avrdude: verifying flash memory against tgy.hex:

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/avr/setup-win.html

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/avr/setup-mac.html

http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/avrdude/

avrdude: load data flash data from input file tgy.hex:

avrdude: input file tgy.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: input file tgy.hex contains 1482 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.72s

avrdude: verifying ...

avrdude: 1482 bytes of flash verified

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK

avrdude done. Thank you.

ESC will beep while it happens if the motors are still connected. ESC will be silent otherwise.

EDIT: Fuses don't need to be changed on the newer versions of the firmware, which is what

you should be using.

The following is left for reference only, not needed anymore.

Quote:

These are the arguments to revert to stock fuses -U lfuse:w:0x2e:m -U hfuse:w:0xcf:m

I am leaving the following for information, not needed anymore.

Then you need to set the fuses, high and low:

Code:

avrdude -c usbasp -p m8 -U lfuse:w:0x84:m

Output:

Code:


update.


Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s


avrdude: reading input file "0x84"

avrdude: writing lfuse (1 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: 1 bytes of lfuse written

avrdude: verifying lfuse memory against 0x84:

avrdude: load data lfuse data from input file 0x84:

avrdude: input file 0x84 contains 1 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip lfuse data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s


avrdude: 1 bytes of lfuse verified



High Fuse:

Code:

avrdude -c usbasp -p m8 -U hfuse:w:0xd9:m

Output:

Code:


update.


Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s


avrdude: reading input file "0xd9"

avrdude: writing hfuse (1 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: 1 bytes of hfuse written

avrdude: verifying hfuse memory against 0xd9:

avrdude: load data hfuse data from input file 0xd9:

avrdude: input file 0xd9 contains 1 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip hfuse data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s


avrdude: 1 bytes of hfuse verified



Lift the pins up, you are done!

3- Quick Recap:

- Identify the right pins

- Make a connector to the AVR Programmer

- Install AVRDUDE and use this command for reflashing:

Code:

avrdude -c usbasp -p m8 -U flash:w:tgy.hex

Just did a quick test fly on my tri after the flash, and so far am loving it. Much more precise

response it seems and the noise is 100% times softer.

Documents

Check this list made by TomSn0w of all compatible ESCs with their