Memos From the Cube

It’s been a while since I last posted, which is a shame – but I’ve been honestly flat out working for quite a while now. That’s not to say I’ve been neglecting LUFA; in fact, the next release should be done very soon. It’s a rather big bug-fixing release, with changes made to most of the library demos and components to add minor feature enhancements, but mostly to fix known issues. It’s actually been a rather embarassing code review, with it turning up more errors than I’d care to admit.

When released, it will be highly recommended that all users upgrade, as the new functionality and fixes are definetely worth the small amount of time it will take to upgrade code to the latest API changes. While this has been true for the last few releases, I really feel that things are starting to get into a real mature stage. It’s going to be a nice feeling to release the next bunch of code in the open and know that all the major known issues are fixed, and that the demos work across all tested platforms. If you’ve discovered bugs in the current release, please notify me as soon as possible, so that I can attend to them before the next stable codebase is posted.

I’m ecstatic about the level of posts on the LUFA support group over the last few days, with lots of people either posting new questions about the library, or posting answers. I like seeing a level of discussion about the library – it shows to me that others are using it (always a good ego-boost) but also shows that the goal of the group (easing the need for me to repeat myself over and over helping out every user via private email) is being reached.

Actually, the support group (community?) has been helpful in finding what appears to be a silicon bug in the AT90USB1287 – and possibly the other USB AVRs. We’ve been noticing problems when the HWB line is toggled repeatedly while the HWBE fuse it set, leading to the device resetting – or even jumping to the bootloader on powerup with the HWB line pulled high externally. I’ve fired off a support request to Atmel so they can verify, but if you have encountered similar issues, let us know on the group so we can show Atmel that the problem is widespread.

One thing I’ve been astonished about in the last month or so (other than the fact that Dr Phill is still on the air, and – judging by my sister’s obsession with talk shows – apparently still watched) is the number of people asking me to provide paid support for LUFA. I knew that releasing the library as open source would be a good career move as it serves as a portfolio piece to show to potential employers, but I never factored in the support aspect. I provide free support to the library in the discussion group and via email, but I’ve had people willing to part with good money for me to attend to an issue right now, rather than whenever I get around to investigating support requests.

I’ve also received a large number of contract job offers centering around LUFA; after all, no one understands it better than myself. It’s actually to the point where I have a queue running of jobs to attend to as time permits. It’s a great feeling to be in demand for a learned skill, but I do harbour some guilt from not being able to work on each project immediately. If and when cloning is perfected, perhaps I will be able to create an army of myself to go out and rid the world of embeded USB problems.

All in all, I’m excited by what the future will hold, and much more optimistic about finding steady employment once I complete my double degree. With any luck the economy will have re-stabalised in the next few years, and I’ll be able to emerge with a diploma under one arm, a library of knowedge in my head, and a stream of job offers behind me.

I’ve submitted a support request to Acer about my new Aspire One – the fan’s gone noisy due to what sounds like a bad bearing. So far the CSA has asked me to remove the battery, wait 15 minutes, replace and restart (a standard tactic for fixing some software faults) which has been entirely unhelpful as I expected for resolving a hardware issue. Since the unit is less than two weeks old, I’ve no doubt that it will be repaired under warranty eventually, but I want it fixed sooner rather than later, so it won’t disturb other students when I go back to University.