Bladox Cable/Program Utilities for Mac OS X
===========================================

This package contains everything you need to get started with the Bladox Turbo
SIM platform on Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. We've included the following packages:

    * turbo-cable-utils: AT-based program loading utilities
    * turbo-prog-utils: Full set of utilities for the Turbo Programmer 2
    * turbo-devel: Full development headers and (compiled) C library
    * binutils: ELF to TRB converter (avr-objdump), and selected ELF utilities

This package does not contain a compiler or linker. To compile new parallel SIM
applications from the original source code, you'll need to download `avr-gcc`
for Mac OS X (i.e. a GCC cross-compiler targeting AVR) as a separate package.
For more information, take a look at `README.compiler`.


Getting started
---------------

    (0) Extract the archive, then check for a symbolic link named `bin`
        (at the top-level of the archive directory). If you're on a system
        that supports 64-bit executables, you can proceed without changing
        anything. If your system only supports 32-bit executables, then you'll
        need to adjust this link. If you're using bash and have extracted
        the archive in your home directory, issue the following commands:


            $ cd ~/bladox-macosx-1.5.24/
            $ rm -f bin && ln -s utilities/i386 bin


    (1) Mount the disk image named `drivers/FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_2_17.dmg`
        that was provided with this archive. This is the FTDI USB-serial adapter
        driver. The Turbo Programmer 2 (a.k.a. developer board) contains an FTDI
        USB-serial chip; this driver will allow Mac OS X to talk to it directly.
        Double-click the installer and follow the instructions.


    (2) Add the Bladox utilities to your PATH. If you're using bash and have
        placed the utilities in your home directory, you can issue the following
        command:

            $ export PATH="~/bladox-macosx-1.5.24/bin:$PATH"


    (3) Plug the Turbo programmer 2 in to your computer, using the included USB
        cable. You should see a green LED light up on the programmer. To make
        sure it'd been detected properly, run:

            $ sudo dmesg

        You should see a final two lines of output similar to the following:

            AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed
            FTDIUSBSerialDriver: 0 4036001 start - ok

        Ignore the first line; the final line indicates a successful start.
        If you don't see this message, check your USB connection and/or cable.
        If you're using VMware, check to make sure that the device isn't
        connected to a guest operating system.


    (4) Next, look in /dev for a new device node. The new device special file
        is provided by the FTDI driver from [1], and should take the following
        form:

            /dev/cu.usbserial-00002006

        This will be your new serial port device, which we'll provide to the
        Bladox cable/program utilities later. If your device is named
        differently (but still starts with cu.usbserial) please type the name
        you found instead.


    (5) Find a .trb file that you'd like to upload to a Turbo SIM device.
        Place the Turbo SIM (i.e. parallel SIM) beneath an ordinary (regular,
        working) SIM card, taking care to line up the eight gold-colored pins.

        The word 'BLADOX' (on the parallel SIM) should be facing upward; the
        circle-and-X logo should be facing downward. The regular carrier SIM
        should be on top of the parallel SIM, and the SIMLOC connector should be
        beneath both.

        Using your hand or an appropriate clip, align the sandwiched pair of
        SIMs with the SIMLOC connector on the Turbo Programmer 2, again taking
        care to line up the edges and pins. Press down hard.
        
        (N.B. Please don't attempt to slide the parallel SIM / regular SIM
        sandwich in to the SIMLOC connector's hinged tray. It won't fit; it's
        only tall enough to hold a single regular SIM. You'll have to hold the
        assembly in place manually. A silicone shielded spoon rest (designed to
        clip on to the side of a sautee pan) seems to work particularly well at
        holding everything together).


    (6) With the whole assembly (Turbo Programmer 2, regular SIM, and parallel
        Turbo SIM) securely held together, run the following command:

            $ cemu -d/dev/cu.usbserial-00002006 --rm-apps

        You should see output similar to the following (the numbers will vary):

            SIM mode initialized, sim.trb
            SIM_ATR: 3B 9F 95 80 1F C7 80 31 E0 73 FE 21 1B 64 07 53 63 02
            OK. No Error

        If you see the 'NO SIM' message, please realign the parallel SIM,
        ordinary SIM, and SIMLOC connector. It can be difficult to get this
        right, and will certainly take a few tries.


    (7) If all went well in [6], locate your .trb file (we'll call it
        hello.trb for example purposes), and issue the following command:

            $ cemu -d/dev/cu.usbserial-00002006 --app hello.trb

        You should see a message similar to the one you saw in [6], followed
        by a progress indicator (showing bytes written and the total .trb size).


    (8) Once you see the 'OK. No Error' message, you're done! Place the regular
        SIM and parallel SIM in to an inexpensive phone, in the sandwich
        configuration. Phones will have a larger SIM slot/tray, so that both
        will fit comfortably. Do not force anything in, it should fit easily.


    (9) Navigate to the phone's 'SIM Services' menu (location will vary, based
        upon phone model and brand). Have fun!


Extras
------

    (a) The Bladox development kit -- including header files, binary objects,
        and linker scripts -- is provided in the 'turbo-devel' package. These
        are useful for compiling new .trb files (avr-gcc sold separately).


    (b) There are two kernels provided in `kernels/`, both of which contain
        support for runtime flash programming (read: writing to flash memory,
        also known as PROGMEM). If you have older hardware and wish to make use
        of this feature, you'll need to re-flash the hardware using the `btldr`
        utility.

        If you're not debugging, you'll likely want to use the kernel named
        `kernel-TSIM-1.5.24.bin`. Try something like:

            $ btldr -s -t -d/dev/cu.usbserial-00002006

        If you encounter difficulty, try adding the `-l` option. This will
        instruct `btldr` to use an older (but simpler and less error-prone)
        protocol.


    (c) Source code is available for all included tools, minus the firmware
        that ships as part of the turbo-devel. Look here:

            https://scri.pt/get/bladox-source-1.5.24.tar.bz2


Credits
-------

    David Brown
    [email protected]

    Pavel, David, and the rest of the team at Bladox
    [email protected]