Can the BLF A6 driver be flashed with new firmware?

Can the BLF A6 A17DD FET+1 Driver be flashed with new firmware, specifically guppydrv?

I’ve never flashed firmware yet, I just got the hardware to do it but haven’t yet tried. I have no clue what firmwares are compatible with what drivers/MCUs…

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32681446248.html#autostay

Its the attiny13A the BLF has the smaller one without thermal control and a lighter UI


The one for X6 has the Attiny25 with thermal protection and more compley UI


So is attiny13A that you mention the same as attiny13? or different?

Would the attiny13A on the BLF driver be able to accept any attiny13 compatible firmware?

Sorry, I’m kind of dense with this stuff sometimes.

The changes aren’t much: http://www.atmel.com/Images/doc8157.pdf

The regulator itself is probably the main difference in terms of compatibility.

Do you have to remove the chip from the board to flash it?

You can leave the attiny chip on the board for flashing. Maybe remove the red wire if it’s in the way of the SOIC clip.

I think you can flash guppydrv, if it’s compatible with attiny 13A. If not, you will get an error during upload I think, so you will know before you build the light.

I used this driver to reflow an AT85 on it and flash it with Narsil, works well.

OK, so even if it winds up that the 13A on the BLF A6 driver won’t take a new firmware, I could flash my preferred firmware to a new MCU and reflow it to the board? I had not considered that, but it sounds like a good idea.

Edit: I think you need the BLF X6 driver for that and replace the AT25 if needed.
Some still seem to get some erratic behavior, but mine worked fine until I started tinkering with various resistors to reduce parasitic drain. Still works, except the battery check mode.

That is with an E switch and (outdated) Narsil FW on the AT85

I got quite a detailed how-to in my DQG 4 Mod thread, might be helpful to you:

DQG 4 Triple mod

Edit:
I forgot but just realised I used the BLF X6 for the second mod with AT85…

BLF X6 AT85 Narsil mod

Where do you get your low voltage ATtiny85 chips from? The low voltage ones seem to be about 3 times the price of the regular variety - $3 versus $1 - so I wouldn’t mind having a cheaper source for future reference :slight_smile:

One nice thing about the ATtiny13A - you get the full range of ATtiny operating voltages in one device…

What kind of firmware drivers can fit the ATTiny13A (BLF A6 driver) and which drivers fit the ATTiny85 (BLF X6 driver)?

So is it possible to flash, say Biscotti to the BLF A6 driver,
and let’s say Anduril onto a BLF X6 driver?

Or are other any other requirements (memory size specs for each chip type)?

After lurking and observing this forum for a while - taking the plunge to ask my first dumb question (sorry), and this thread is closest match to what I’d like to understand - can the BLF A6 (ATTINY13A based exactly as pictured at the top of this thread) be flashed with Anduril? Which Hex would be appropriate as its not clear to me yet (so thinking maybe it isn’t compatible).

Second question if it isnt possible to flash standard A6 with Anduril - would swapping the ATTINY13A with a ATTINY25V, make my A6 a X6 - and then could I drive the flashlight with Anduril? If so - which version of the hex should I use?

Thank you

Welcome. Anduril can fit in attiny85 and its for e-switch (push button) only.

Thank you - thats really encouraging. I’d prefer to flash with a precompiled hex - could you advise which of these hex files would be right for the A6 driver please?

I see the opensource public hex repository here:
anduril/hex_files at main · mkong1/anduril · GitHubmkong1 GitHub

I wasn’t familiar with that fork of Anduril 2 that you linked to.

The official Anduril / Anduril 2 firmware hex files are here:

http://toykeeper.net/torches/fsm/?C=M;O=D
http://toykeeper.net/torches/fsm/anduril2/?C=M;O=D

(the link you posted are “forked” (slightly revised by the user) of Anduril 2)

(I’m not an expert with hex files and flashing firmware, although I’ve managed to flash a BLF Q8 from NarsilM to Anduril; and updated BLF LT1 lantern from Anduril 1 to Anduril 2, and also have updated the Anduril versions of a few Emisar/Noctigon flashlights using pre-built hex files from ToyKeeper’s official hex files repository).

However, going back to your question, I don’t think you can flash the BLF A6 driver to Anduril, because the BLF A6 driver uses ATTiny13 chip, whereas Anduril will require ATTiny85 or ATTiny1634 chips.

(from my limited knowledge) The ATTiny13 driver can accept some other hex files, like Biscotti and Crescendo (I think).
You may check the meta description files in ToyKeeper’s hex file repository (be sure to check the descriptions for each firmware hex file to see which chips are supported)

https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeeper/flashlight-firmware/trunk/files/247/ToyKeeper

I’m not sure if the above contains the latest links (from my limited understanding, there is a “testing” (newer, but may not be fully stable) branch and a more “stable” but older branch)…