MON08 Cyclone User Manual
61
P&E
Microcomputer
Systems, Inc.
MON08 CYCLONE
security.
6.3.4
ADDITIONAL DIALOG BUTTONS
The following buttons are also available:
Contact target with these settings
– This causes the software to attempt to
cause a power on reset of the target, and to attempt to pass security with the
settings in this dialog.
Simulation Only
– This button is only visible in In-Circuit Simulation. This
causes the In-Circuit Simulator not to use the target and, instead, to do
completely software-based simulation. The
/SIM08
command-line parameter
has the same function.
Halt
– This causes the software to terminate and return to the calling
environment.
6.3.5
68HC08 SECURITY MODE
Monitor mode is a special mode on the 68HC08 device which allows an
external host to control the 68HC08 microcontroller via an asynchronous serial
interface. This feature allows a host computer to query and modify the state of
the processor including to load, debug, and program code. Without any
protection mechanism, this same feature could be used to read out the internals
of the microcontrollers ROM.
The M68HC08 microcontrollers have a additional built-in mechanism to
protect a programmed device from being read and disassembled. The
mechanism allows a user who knows the security unlock code to enter monitor
mode and access the internal ROM/flash. This is often desirable to allow real-
time debugging of a programmed device. The ICD08SZ allows just such
functionality.
The security mechanism also allows a user who doesn’t knowthe security code
to enter monitor mode, but doesn’t give them access to the ROM. Upon failing
the security protocol, the ROM/Flash is removed from the memory map until
the next POWER-ON reset, in which case the host has to bypass security
again. The advantage of this is that even though any on-chip flash is not READ
accessible, it is erasable. Forgotten what you programmed into your device
The answer is simple: erase it.
A device is automatically protected in this manner. The 8 bytes from address
$FFF6 to $FFFD constitute the security unlock code which can be used to pass
the security check and get access to the ROM/Flash. Hence, if a user knows
what has been programmed into a device, they implicitly know the security
unlock code.
In order to facilitate passing the security check on a 68HC08 device, the