Hi µTasker users

Time for a little information so you dont get the impression that we are all sleeping this year!!

First of all I hope that all is well at your end and that your projects are progressing accordingly.

I will take the opportunity just to remind any one who missed it before that the V1.3 version was released for all supported processor types in January 2007 and anyone wishing to upgrade to it or try it out (if you havent done so already) is welcome to contact me. I wont bore you with the details since I have probably said it all before - but you can check it out on the µTasker home page www.uTasker.com where there is also a side dedicated to the V1.3 release, including service packs.

There will be a new service pack available for all processors in the next few days (check http://www.utasker.com/software/softwareV1.3.html occasionally to keep an eye on them) which offers a couple of interesting added features, as well as solving a few little problems with the first version (only really affects the simulator and possibly not noticed by most users(?)) - the service pack included full details and also the changed code has version comments.

SMTP LOGIN Authentication.

It seems to be a strategy followed by a growing number of SMTP providers that mails can only be sent after logging in with the SMTP user account. This helps stop spammers relaying bulk mail.

This also means that embedded systems need to be able to login and this feature has now been added to the SMTP support. In addition the µTasker demo project has been improved to allow SMTP settings to be comfortably configured, including LOGIN option with user name and password. This is performed via web browser (what else?). There is a new document describing this which is already available for anyone with an interest - it can be found here: http://www.utasker.com/docs/uTasker/uTaskerSMTP.PDF

The support is in all packages in the next available SP.

Note that the NE64 online demo has this installed and it can be contacted here: http://84.253.57.46

TFTP

Although I have never really rated TFTP that much due to the fact that it is not very suited to use in the Internet (only really in local networks) and usually requires setting up a server to work with - not so easy for the average user with no network knowledge. However there is quite a strong demand for it, especially in particular boot loader applications. And I have succumbed to the demand by adding new protocol which enables TFTP server and client operation.

It is very easy to use for fetching files to be saved directly to the uFileSystem or for transferring then to a server. A speciality is an option to verify the file content (comparison) rather than actually store the file locally. This allows checks of content to be simply made before a file is really saved - useful in some boot loader projects... The support is in all packages of the next available SP, including a demo in the µTasker demo projects.

Bare-Minimum Boot Loader for the SAM7X

The comfortable software update support via Internet for the Coldfire M5223X is an integral part of the M5223X project in the present V1.3 version. It enables reliable and secure software updates without the need to reach for a BDM. I have been using in all my projects for some time and it really does make life easier - it is also a very powerful feature quite unique to the µTasker project.

So it is about time that it is also available for use by the SAM7X community. It is finally ready and I am using it in my SAM7X projects (thankfully - it also makes life much easier there) and is included in the next available SP for the SAM7X.

For anyone wanting immediate details, the users guide is already available here: http://www.utasker.com/docs/uTasker/BM-Booloader_for_SAM7X.PDF

If any of these new features is of interest just watch the SP page to see when they are available (hopefully within the next few days).

If you have missed any previous newsletters, they are all available on the web server: http://www.utasker.com/docs/Newsletters/newsletter.html

Should you have any questions or suggestions please send them to me. Good luck.

Best regards

Mark

Go back to top