----Original Message----
From: l...
[mailto:l...] On Behalf Of M. Manca
Sent: 11 May 2012 20:13 To: l...
Subject: Re: [lpc2000] Re: How much should it cost to
develop a secondary bootloader?
> I would know what hourly rates there are around
the
> world. Would you
> tell me what are in your area and what is your area?
> Mine are EUR 50/hour and area is north east of Italy (so
> should be
> EUR2000/week).
I am in a small company (4 engineers) in UK, we usually have to give a fixed
price for a job which we estimate using a rate of 80GBP/hour.
--
Tim Mitchell
How much should it cost to develop a secondary bootloader?
Started by ●May 10, 2012
Reply by ●May 14, 20122012-05-14
Reply by ●May 15, 20122012-05-15
The bootloader of the open source project R2C2 checks the SD card for a
file called 'firmware.bin' and flashes it if present, then renames to
'firmware.cur'. it also presents the SD card to USB host as a USBMSC device
if you hold a button down during reset, allowing you to provide a new
firmware.bin if whatever you previously flashed didn't work.
would be pretty easy to add checksumming and things to it if necessary, or
replace the USBMSC code with some simple tftp. I have local patches that
make it run in MSC mode if the chip is reset by watchdog timeout which is
very handy
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 6:51 AM, tc_lawabider wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm writing regarding a job I posted at oDesk (I would have posted here,
> but was unsure of the etiquette for job postings in this group).
>
> I'm working with an LPC2129 for a remote telematics project. I use a cell
> module with an encapsulated serial port that can cut in and out, but the
> module also has FTP commands (Telit GM862).
>
> The LPC2129 has a connected SD card running a FAT filesystem. I want to
> download a file - using FTP, or using TFTP/some other resumable solution
> using the encapsulated serial port (in case we change cell modules and our
> new hardware doesn't support FTP by AT command).
>
> I want to download a new compiled firmware to the SD card, remotely reboot
> the device, and reflash it with the updated software (this would require
> versioning and checksum validation). If the flash is corrupted, I want to
> reflash using a "known good" version loaded to the SD card at the factory,
> but otherwise a typical boot should run through the primary bootloader, and
> if all is good (i.e. no new firmware present), enter the typical runtime
> code.
>
> Essentially, I want a secondary bootloader to load code off an SD card. I
> took over this project and am not an embedded coder, but it seems we might
> be able to save (either through linking or some other way) the SPI driver
> and FAT code the previous developer wrote.
>
> How much should a project like this cost? Maybe it's the naive mechanical
> engineer in me, but it doesn't seem like this project is really
> groundbreaking and it shouldn't be that expensive. I have one quote for
> $5,000 in four weeks, which seems like a lot. I have a feeling that a lot
> of that money is paying someone to learn a technology with which they are
> not familiar.
>
> Any suggestions on where else I might find a developer? This is a part of
> a research project that might turn into a company - so we're on a
> shoestring budget, and won't be trading (potential, future) equity for this.
>
> Thank you for your suggestions. I really just need a gut check here.
>
>
file called 'firmware.bin' and flashes it if present, then renames to
'firmware.cur'. it also presents the SD card to USB host as a USBMSC device
if you hold a button down during reset, allowing you to provide a new
firmware.bin if whatever you previously flashed didn't work.
would be pretty easy to add checksumming and things to it if necessary, or
replace the USBMSC code with some simple tftp. I have local patches that
make it run in MSC mode if the chip is reset by watchdog timeout which is
very handy
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 6:51 AM, tc_lawabider wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm writing regarding a job I posted at oDesk (I would have posted here,
> but was unsure of the etiquette for job postings in this group).
>
> I'm working with an LPC2129 for a remote telematics project. I use a cell
> module with an encapsulated serial port that can cut in and out, but the
> module also has FTP commands (Telit GM862).
>
> The LPC2129 has a connected SD card running a FAT filesystem. I want to
> download a file - using FTP, or using TFTP/some other resumable solution
> using the encapsulated serial port (in case we change cell modules and our
> new hardware doesn't support FTP by AT command).
>
> I want to download a new compiled firmware to the SD card, remotely reboot
> the device, and reflash it with the updated software (this would require
> versioning and checksum validation). If the flash is corrupted, I want to
> reflash using a "known good" version loaded to the SD card at the factory,
> but otherwise a typical boot should run through the primary bootloader, and
> if all is good (i.e. no new firmware present), enter the typical runtime
> code.
>
> Essentially, I want a secondary bootloader to load code off an SD card. I
> took over this project and am not an embedded coder, but it seems we might
> be able to save (either through linking or some other way) the SPI driver
> and FAT code the previous developer wrote.
>
> How much should a project like this cost? Maybe it's the naive mechanical
> engineer in me, but it doesn't seem like this project is really
> groundbreaking and it shouldn't be that expensive. I have one quote for
> $5,000 in four weeks, which seems like a lot. I have a feeling that a lot
> of that money is paying someone to learn a technology with which they are
> not familiar.
>
> Any suggestions on where else I might find a developer? This is a part of
> a research project that might turn into a company - so we're on a
> shoestring budget, and won't be trading (potential, future) equity for this.
>
> Thank you for your suggestions. I really just need a gut check here.
>
>
Reply by ●May 15, 20122012-05-15
oh forgot link,
https://github.com/bitboxelectronics/R2C2_Firmware/tree/master/R2C2-USB_bootloader
On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Triffid Hunter wrote:
> The bootloader of the open source project R2C2 checks the SD card for a
> file called 'firmware.bin' and flashes it if present, then renames to
> 'firmware.cur'. it also presents the SD card to USB host as a USBMSC device
> if you hold a button down during reset, allowing you to provide a new
> firmware.bin if whatever you previously flashed didn't work.
>
> would be pretty easy to add checksumming and things to it if necessary, or
> replace the USBMSC code with some simple tftp. I have local patches that
> make it run in MSC mode if the chip is reset by watchdog timeout which is
> very handy
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 6:51 AM, tc_lawabider wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm writing regarding a job I posted at oDesk (I would have posted here,
>> but was unsure of the etiquette for job postings in this group).
>>
>> I'm working with an LPC2129 for a remote telematics project. I use a cell
>> module with an encapsulated serial port that can cut in and out, but the
>> module also has FTP commands (Telit GM862).
>>
>> The LPC2129 has a connected SD card running a FAT filesystem. I want to
>> download a file - using FTP, or using TFTP/some other resumable solution
>> using the encapsulated serial port (in case we change cell modules and our
>> new hardware doesn't support FTP by AT command).
>>
>> I want to download a new compiled firmware to the SD card, remotely
>> reboot the device, and reflash it with the updated software (this would
>> require versioning and checksum validation). If the flash is corrupted, I
>> want to reflash using a "known good" version loaded to the SD card at the
>> factory, but otherwise a typical boot should run through the primary
>> bootloader, and if all is good (i.e. no new firmware present), enter the
>> typical runtime code.
>>
>> Essentially, I want a secondary bootloader to load code off an SD card. I
>> took over this project and am not an embedded coder, but it seems we might
>> be able to save (either through linking or some other way) the SPI driver
>> and FAT code the previous developer wrote.
>>
>> How much should a project like this cost? Maybe it's the naive mechanical
>> engineer in me, but it doesn't seem like this project is really
>> groundbreaking and it shouldn't be that expensive. I have one quote for
>> $5,000 in four weeks, which seems like a lot. I have a feeling that a lot
>> of that money is paying someone to learn a technology with which they are
>> not familiar.
>>
>> Any suggestions on where else I might find a developer? This is a part of
>> a research project that might turn into a company - so we're on a
>> shoestring budget, and won't be trading (potential, future) equity for this.
>>
>> Thank you for your suggestions. I really just need a gut check here.
>>
>>
https://github.com/bitboxelectronics/R2C2_Firmware/tree/master/R2C2-USB_bootloader
On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Triffid Hunter wrote:
> The bootloader of the open source project R2C2 checks the SD card for a
> file called 'firmware.bin' and flashes it if present, then renames to
> 'firmware.cur'. it also presents the SD card to USB host as a USBMSC device
> if you hold a button down during reset, allowing you to provide a new
> firmware.bin if whatever you previously flashed didn't work.
>
> would be pretty easy to add checksumming and things to it if necessary, or
> replace the USBMSC code with some simple tftp. I have local patches that
> make it run in MSC mode if the chip is reset by watchdog timeout which is
> very handy
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 6:51 AM, tc_lawabider wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm writing regarding a job I posted at oDesk (I would have posted here,
>> but was unsure of the etiquette for job postings in this group).
>>
>> I'm working with an LPC2129 for a remote telematics project. I use a cell
>> module with an encapsulated serial port that can cut in and out, but the
>> module also has FTP commands (Telit GM862).
>>
>> The LPC2129 has a connected SD card running a FAT filesystem. I want to
>> download a file - using FTP, or using TFTP/some other resumable solution
>> using the encapsulated serial port (in case we change cell modules and our
>> new hardware doesn't support FTP by AT command).
>>
>> I want to download a new compiled firmware to the SD card, remotely
>> reboot the device, and reflash it with the updated software (this would
>> require versioning and checksum validation). If the flash is corrupted, I
>> want to reflash using a "known good" version loaded to the SD card at the
>> factory, but otherwise a typical boot should run through the primary
>> bootloader, and if all is good (i.e. no new firmware present), enter the
>> typical runtime code.
>>
>> Essentially, I want a secondary bootloader to load code off an SD card. I
>> took over this project and am not an embedded coder, but it seems we might
>> be able to save (either through linking or some other way) the SPI driver
>> and FAT code the previous developer wrote.
>>
>> How much should a project like this cost? Maybe it's the naive mechanical
>> engineer in me, but it doesn't seem like this project is really
>> groundbreaking and it shouldn't be that expensive. I have one quote for
>> $5,000 in four weeks, which seems like a lot. I have a feeling that a lot
>> of that money is paying someone to learn a technology with which they are
>> not familiar.
>>
>> Any suggestions on where else I might find a developer? This is a part of
>> a research project that might turn into a company - so we're on a
>> shoestring budget, and won't be trading (potential, future) equity for this.
>>
>> Thank you for your suggestions. I really just need a gut check here.
>>
>>
