Posted by Martin Welford & filed under .NET Micro Framework.

v4.0 beta Firmware ready for download

If you have a Tahoe-II or Meridian/P, we have some new firmware for you to try out!  You can download the new firmware and SDK on the downloads page.

Some of the interesting new features include:

  • HTTP support for server and client
  • Improved graphics support with thick pens and gradient fills
  • Performance improvements

A complete list of new features is available here.

To use this firmware, you will need the v4.0 beta SDK available from the Microsoft Connect site.  Note that this is beta software and does not install side-by-side with the v3.0 SDK.  We recommend using a different PC to you production v3.0 system!

We are testing firmware for Tahoe, and the ethernet enabled version of Tahoe and Meridian/P and will be releasing those in the near future.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under .NET Micro Framework.

v4.0 beta refresh

Microsoft have released another refresh to the v4.0 beta yesterday, and we are working on firmware support for it.

Please be aware that v4.0 include strict version checking, so if you have updated your SDK to the new version, you will not be able to deploy applications until we have released matching firmware.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under .NET Micro Framework, Ethernet, Tahoe-II.

.NET Micro Framework v4.0 is shipping

We have just released final v4.0 firmware for Tahoe-II and a new SDK to go along with it.  This is what you need to get v4.0 working with the latest Microsoft release.  Download it here.

Why should you look at 4.0?  Apart from some nice new features, there have been a lot of small changes in both the Microsoft code and our code, which adds up to a faster and more stable product.

This Microsoft blog post has  all the details on features and changes in 4.0, as well as download links for their new SDK.

We have Tahoe-II firmware available now, but expect to see support for our other boards (including the original Tahoe) in the next week.  Once that is done, we will be finishing up a Board Support Package (BSP) so you can work with the Porting Kit on Meridian and Tahoe.

UPDATE: v4.0 firmware for Tahoe, Tahoe with Ethernet add-on board, and Meridian/P is available now.

UPDATE: v4.0 firmware for Meridian/P with the Ethernet board is now available.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under .NET Micro Framework, MeridianCPU, Tahoe, Tahoe-II.

Supporting a new LCD

Supporting a different LCD on the Tahoe-II (and MeridianCPU) has just become a whole lot easier thanks to Jan Kucera and a new configuration tool he has released.

The .NET Micro Framework includes a dedicated space for configuration data, and we use this to store the LCD configuration (and a few other things).  This new tool allows you to setup the LCD parameters from a PC.  This means you don’t have to use the porting kit if all you need is a different display.

You can also:

  • Specify screen rotation
  • Choose to show or hide the logo (if you have the porting kit and BSP you will be able to change the logo)
  • Remove the green debug text that appears at startup.
  • Setup the debug transport (Serial, USB or Ethernet).  Useful for Meridian/P where there are no buttons programed for this task.
Universal Configuration Tool in Template view
Posted by Martin Welford & filed under .NET Micro Framework.

Microsoft’s Community Development Site is live!

Microsoft has just launched their shiny new community development site for the .NET Micro Framework. Read their blog post for all the details and go take a look at www.netmf.com!

Today we are launching our community development site.  This is the site specifically focused on supporting the collaborative development of the .NET Micro Framework.  This is in addition to our continued presence at Microsoft.com and MSDN.  As announced when we originally launched the open source version (4.0) we intend to continue development on a core implementation of the .NET Micro Framework here at Microsoft in conjunction with the larger NETMF community