A Short Tutorial to the M-Files

How To Use the Files Found at the 'Home of Moppe'

Last modified 17-May-2000

The General Appearance

There are certain lines that you can proceed on in deciding what the files found in the /modifications ftp directories contain.

First, there are directories for each manufacturer we have software or conversion information for. These directories have been divided into subdirectories that contain all information for a certain type of apparatus. To confuse you further, there are symbolic links between some directories when a radio has been marketed widely under several brand names.

We have started to build index files named '00Index' for each directory. These should tell you the story behind sometimes cryptic file names.

The Files

Different files have different designators.

• The firmware info files end with .inf
• The binary firmware files end with .bin
• The Motorola Hex firmware files end with .hex
• The text documents ending with .txt are usually the conversion documents. The ones with -eng or -english in the document name are in English, others are usually in Finnish.
• The graphics files in .gif format found in the apparatus directories are associated with the .txt modification files or they are self-contained modification sheets themselves. Other .gif or .jpg files in the /pic or /kuvat directories are pictures of the equipment. We are moving towards .png as the time goes by to support the only one really free graphics format.

Of course the files do originate from people with many different views about how this should be made, so beware: your mileage may vary. It is absolutely beyond our capabilities to keep the files 100 per cent in order.

Finding the Firmware

The OH5NXO firmware versions are named after the version number. There are, however, several ways this is made.

Mobira MC25PTL numbering is easy. The files are like 25ptl28.bin (version 2.8), 25ptl33.bin (version 3.3) and so on. Most equipment that have only one hardware/band configuration use this scheme (like Nokia HD40/Key KC450HT/Kyodo KG109T).

The MD50/MD59/ME59 follows the same way. There happens to be two different handsets (CU53 and CU59) that can be used with the radio and there is no way to make the difference in software polling so there are versions like md59cu53_14.bin and md59cu59_14.bin that both are firmware version 1.4 but intended to be used with different kinds of handsets.

The PLL divisions for Nokia R58 80/150/450 MHz versions differ so all firmware versions have three derivatives according to the band. For example firmware versions 1.0 for the different band versions are b58p8x10.bin (80 MHz), c58p8x10.bin (150 MHz) and d58p8x10.bin. The 'p8x' appearing in the name is a leftover from the old days when the two processor boards (P8N and P8E) had to have different firmware. In the future it will certainly be omitted.

Finding the most recent OH5NXO firmware is easy. Just follow the highest number in the file name. In some equipment, the older versions are stored in an /archive directory.

All other firmware has only the most recent version available (like Benefon Forte qso.bin or MC25TAKSI taksirpt.hex).

Programming the Firmware

The basic rule is to program the .bin files starting from the beginning of the memory chip. Use the binary programming settings in your programmer. When there are several EPROM chips on the processor board, install the ham firmware at the lowest address. All original cellular/PMR firmware chips shall be removed.

Of course there are exceptions.

Nokia HD40/Key KC450HT/Kyodo KG109T firmware has to be programmed to start in the middle of the chip (2000 H). Some EPROM burners do this by duplicating the binary code in the lowest address and at 2000 H but don't worry, this doesn't cause any problems.

The MC25TAKSI repeater firmware is in Motorola HEX format. Use appropriate settings in your EPROM programmer.

If you have survived this far, you might be interested to get back to the Home of Moppe

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