MAKE: Blog: Hacking a Digg button with a removable interface cable

Hacking a Digg button with a removable interface cable

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Here's a neat hack for folks who have the Digg button (beginner electronics kit that mimics the Digg site, I worked on the kit)... Bobber writes -

The Digg Button from adafruit industries www.adafruit.com is a very simple DIY electronics kit suitable for beginners. It consists of a microprocessor, a 3-digit display, a button and some available i/o pins.
As it comes from adafruit, it's a counter that displays the number of times it's button has been pressed. The open i/o lines can be connected with jumpers (small pieces of wire) to produce a couple of different behaviors.

But, with a simple parallel interface connecting it to a computer, it can be a sturdy platform for experimenting with microprocessor programming.

The site, www.ladyada.net, which has all the instructions and support forums for adafruit products, has instructions for some simple software hacks based on ponyprog 2000, a program for communicating with the microprocessor. The site also describes how to make a simple parallel port connector to connect the Digg Button to your computer. The description is very straight forward, but it requires soldering the connector to the Digg Button. This is not conducive to hacking your button then displaying your warez.

SO, since I like showing off what I do, I designed a simple clip-on connector that allows me to easily connect and disconnect my Digg Button for hacking. I also created a modded version of the Button firmware, which I'm calling diggX, that can be uploaded using this cable and can itself be hacked using ponyprog 2000.

Hacking a Digg button with a removable interface cable - Link.

Related:
Digg kit - Link.

Related:

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