STC1000 Hacking

[Grumpydev]

Is it possible to steam the sticker off rather than cut it? At least then you can check the version and put it back together and return it if necessary.

[JamesF]

I'm fairly sure it doesn't use a water-soluble adhesive.

James

[TempTest]

I've ordered one from the link you supplied... Will see what turns up! Thanks.

[Grumpydev]

I'm fairly sure it doesn't use a water-soluble adhesive.

James

I was more thinking of the heat than the water in the steam.

[JamesF]

Perhaps warming the label with a heat gun or hair drier might work then?

James

[Fil]

the stc1000 box sticker covering the case split is a nice strong foil and if careful can be lifted off the seam without cutting for that unopened untamperd look i managed it using a knife blade to lift a corner/edge that had not been pressed down to start the slow and careful peel off

I have a version 1.0 that i tried to solder the dupont pins too, i noticed before attempting that the last 2 holes were not only solder free But also lacked the ring of metal around the hole on the pcb??? it didnt register as a problem until the soldering of the connecting pin strip failed with the stc1000 refusing to flash.. so it remains a standard stc1000

I would be happy to swap this over for a ver1.1 to anyone with with the skills and gumption to attempt taking it further, pm me if interested.. perhaps the board can provide other contact points for these terminals?? currently the pin strip is in place just not connected fully ( No massive pools of oversolder..)

[TempTest]

I've had a look at the HT66F40 on my board. I've identified the ICSP pins on the MCU. It does not appear that they are routed out to pads, although it's hard to tell because the traces go behind the display which would need to be removed to have a closer look. I think it's unlikely and probably being used for a dual purpose. My feelings are that it'd be easier to tag onto the SMC package directly. However there is no nice header available which can be left on for future upgrades.

I'll take a look at firmware later but from an initial glance I don't think that would be *too* hard (famous last words!). Initial config and low level routines (depending on instruction set architecture differences) might need changing but application stuff should be no bother.

The worst problem is maintenance and having to continually port any changes across from the Microchip firmware. Given that and the time required I'm still rather hoping I can just get hold of V1 hardware. At least then any time spent on the project can be for continual improvement (also benefitting more people as an aside) rather than overcoming architectural hurdles.

I'll update if I put any further time in but the executive summary is: Just don't.

[TempTest]

My STC-1000 purchases from James' seller has arrived and is V1. Thank you!

Now to just return my (unopened) STC-1000 from Amazon and I'll be fine... Sure I've got two STC-1000 but one I can keep stock or keep for spare parts... Maybe even steal the resistor from it and certainly the second temperature probe!

Thanks again... No doubt back with more questions later!

[JamesF]

Excellent news

James

[Belter]

My latest STC had only three of the holes soldered. The other two were either not soldered completely or not at all. Much like Fil's above. I thought it was probably un-hackable but i managed to just get contact and hacked it.

So Fil yours is most likely hackable. This was a V1.

[Fil]

Cheers Belter.. but it wasnt the lack of solder that stood out but also the lack of the metal surrounding the hole to make the solder contact, literally just bare holes in the pcb... at the time i had been sampling so was gung-ho at the job, id got 3 boxes needing 2 and this was the 3rd attempt and inserting the pins, the first 2 working straight away.. iirc one of which also only had 1 or 2 holes plugged..

i think its a dead horse but if anyone wants to swap a un-hackable v1.1 and fancies a challange??
it is a functioning controller, just not modded .. if the contact points can be traced to other points on the board it should be doable by someone with the skills.
after all what i know about electonics could be tweeted in a single message..

[carlmarxman]

I also have one of those STC-1000's with the Holtek HT66F40. I whipped out the ol' multimeter to see if I could follow the hidden traces. I made some assumptions on the board, and I'm pretty sure there were right.

The chip is programmed using pins 1 (Serial Data), 2 (VSS), 7 (VCC), 8 (Reset) and 23 (Serial Clock). If you look at the board there are 5 open solder points each labeled, GND, RST, VCC, NTC2, NTC1. It appears that GND connects to pin 2, RST connects to pin 8, VCC connects to pin 7, NTC2 connects to pin 23, and NTC 1 connects to pin 1. Being that the chip uses both of the temp probe leads for programming, I would imagine you probably don't need/want a probe connected when programming like you do when programming the PIC16F1828 used in other models.

[AnthonyUK]

Even if you could be sure of the pins, would the flash image be compatible with the Holtek chip?

[Wonkydonkey]

I'm a bit late to this, I just got one delivered yesterday. I keep reading back and fourth, I can't follow this.

It looks really different layout and has WR-032, 2014/12/10 on the main board. although it does have those 5 holes for progaming
I can post a pic or 2 if anyone can help me suss it out

Thanks
Wonky

[weetabixface]

Pictures will be useful