
                  Sending Bug Reports to the Author
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If you find a problem with either picp or gpicp, please email me a bug report
at j_post <AT> pacbell <DOT> net. Your bug report should include a description of
the problem, which particular PIC chip is involved, and which programmer you're
using (Picstart Plus, Warp-13 or JuPic).

Please generate a picpcomm.log file (use -c as the first command line argument
to picp, or click the checkbox at the right end of the topmost menu in gpicp),
then zip or gzip the log file and add it as an attachment to your email. Try to
keep the log file size to the minimum that captures the problem.

You should be aware that it is possible to put a PIC chip in a state in which
it will not behave as you might expect. For example, if you set code protection
in the configuration bits, then try to read the program, all you'll get back is
zeros. If you have difficulties in programming a chip, try doing a flash erase
(for flash devices), and then programming the chip.

If you believe that it would be helpful to send me a hex file or source code
files in order to duplicate the problem, please zip or gzip them and add as an
email attachment. As with the log file, try to minimize file sizes as much as
possible and still provide all relevant information.

If for some reason you think it's necessary to send me a really large email
(over 20KB), please first send me a short email describing what it is you want
to send, and wait for my reply before sending the larger email.

Many thanks to all those who've sent in bug reports.

A Note on Email Difficulties:
-----------------------------
Because my email address is in documentation for a variety of projects I have
all over the internet, spammers try to send me a *lot* of junk. I receive less
than one percent of such garbage due to the nature of my anti-spam software.
Emails that are rejected by the anti-spam software are removed from my ISP's
server without being downloaded to my computer. The only information I ever see
regarding rejected emails is some header information that is logged.

Some of the things that will get emails tagged as spam are (in no particular
order):
  1) No reverse IP. Normally, only spammers and others with something to hide
     will try to hide their return IP address.
  2) No Subject. Make the Subject have *something* to do with picp or gpicp.
  3) Certain key words in the Subject. Trust me, there is *no* variation of
     the word "viagra" that won't be caught by my anti-spam software.
  4) Do not use "iso-8859" or any such to create fancy font subject lines.
     Such subject lines are automatically tagged as spam.
  5) Do not put my user name (j_post) in the Subject. Spammers are fond of
     doing this. OTOH, please do put 'picp' in the Subject.
There are many other rules that could get your email tagged as spam, but I
think you get the idea.

Some ISPs are permanently banned from my inbox because they are, basically,
spammer havens. If you use one of these "sevices" as an ISP, I strongly suggest
you change to a different ISP. Some of the banned ISPs are:
  1) cable.rogers.com (number one abusive spammer of all time)
  2) comcast.net (rapidly gaining on cable.rogers.com)
  3) hkcable.com
  4) metrocast.net
  5) blazemail.com
  6) netvision.net
The above are only a few of dozens of ISPs who have earned the dubious priviledge
of being permanently banned.

If your email gets falsely rejected as spam, but your Subject line makes it clear
that you are a picp/gpicp user and not a spammer, I'll know that from the header
logs. I'll then set up an explicit accept rule for your email address, and ask
you to resend your email. (Any spammers who use this as a way to get around my
anti-spam software will be visited by thousands of alien cockroaches who will
paralyze them from the neck down and then proceed to eat them alive. It takes
them several days to finish the job. :-)

In addition to spammers, I have *no* tolerance for Windoze users who allow their
broken OS to get infected and send out viral email to the rest of the world. My
anti-spam software also detects viral emails and removes them from the server
without downloading the email. If you fall into this group, you can do one of two
things:
  1) Clean your system regularly with anti-virus software (not recommended).
  2) Dump the broken, toy operating system your're using and replace it with a
     well-designed, robust OS such as Linux (highly recommended).


Jeff Post
April 2005

