Using G120 in production

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Hi GHI Engineer,

I am going to use the G120 as an HMI in my design. I have the following questions;

1.Will G120 be end of production soon? Is it suitable for a new design?
2.Please give the instruction on volume deployment. (The proper way to program G120 in large quantity).
3.Please provide a copy protection method.
4.Please suggest the user software update feature. (I want the user to be able to download the updated software from my website and flash into their system).
5.Is there any text I should read on this subject?

Best regards,

Loy

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  1. It will be available for years to come
  2. What is “large quantity”. IF you mean 10,000 or more, we will gladly program them for you before we ship. If you mean 100, then FEZ Config is all you need
  3. We want to add something to make it harder to copy but it is impossible to make anything hacker proof… it can only be made harder
  4. This is already available. In field update. You can search the forum for info and the documentation will be updated this coming week. This document needs a lot of updates https://www.ghielectronics.com/docs/147/in-field-update
  5. We just posted a G120 manual. It does not answer the questions above but you should take a look at it, especially the design consideration section.
1 Like
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Hi Gus,

Thank you for the fast response! It is really appreciated. The GHI support is good. Your answers are informative and useful. However, I still have some requests;

  1. Kindly provide the link for FEZ Config Deployment explanation.
  2. Kindly provide the link on the copy protection topic.
  3. I’ve found the G120 manual. Good job!

Thanks,
Loy

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FEZConfig is included with the GHI SDK. If you’ve already installed the SDK you’ll likely fund it in your start menu under GHI.

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@ Skewworks - I know where to find the FEZ Config and know how to use it What I don’t know is how to use it for the production deployment. :wink:

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here:
https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=16063
you can see how to use FEZ config to do that.
In the former tool it was possible to add you app.hex file to the Folder where the Firmware is located, and it was flashed along with the FW then.
Not sure if FEZConfig does this as well.
it might even have a Batch mode, not sure about that.
It gets a bit nasty if you have to Flash the bootloader as well:
Ground loader Pins, reset, release loader Pins within 3 secs, update bootloader, update FW and app.
For a volmume < 10 I would do it my self
for < 100 I would see if I can get some school Kids that want to earn some exta Money in their summer off time or similar.
For larger volumes I would consider creating an automated process or get the G120 pre programmed by GHI.
In fact it would be enough to have the correct bootloader, any Firmware and an smal app, that allows you to do the InfieldUpdate somehow. InfieldUpdate can update Firmware and your app, but not bootloader.

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@ Reinhard Ostermeier - It is exactly the information I long for. Thanks!

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With the changes in 4.3 there is no good way to add application protection. Creating a special, no debugging firmware maybe the only way but this is costly. Please contact us if this is something you are interested in.