Hi, I am Minh Danh, a senior software + embedded engineer with 15+ years of experience across full-stack development, cloud/backend systems, mobile apps, microcontroller firmware, reverse engineering, and retro/legacy hardware integration.
I am best suited for projects where the problem crosses layers: firmware, hardware interfaces, protocols, desktop/mobile software, cloud services, debugging, and product rescue.
I built LPT100, a PIC32MZ emulator for the Iomega ZIP100 parallel port drive. It allows vintage PCs to access ZIP disk images stored on a USB flash drive, behaving like a real parallel ZIP drive.
Because almost no public protocol documentation exists for the Iomega ZIP100 parallel port drive, the project started with reverse-engineering the protocol from the Linux ppa driver and the DOS PALMZIP driver. I implemented the ZIP100 state machine and SCSI command handling, first testing it on MS-DOS, Windows 98, Windows XP and Linux inside DOSBox-X and QEMU before porting the emulator to real hardware.
The demo prototype runs on a PIC32MZ EF Starter Kit, using DMA to capture parallel port activity and emulate the ZIP100 interface in real time.
The article covers the protocol analysis, emulator implementation, hardware design, and debugging process. Source code is also included for the modified DOSBox-X/QEMU builds and the MPLAB project for the hardware version.
Remote: Yes, remote worldwide
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: Embedded C/C++, microcontroller firmware, IoT, hardware-to-cloud systems, full-stack web development, backend/cloud systems, mobile apps, reverse engineering, protocol analysis, legacy/retro hardware integration, debugging, product rescue, technical audits
Résumé/CV: Available on request
Email: minhdanh AT toughdev DOT com
Hi, I am Minh Danh, a senior software + embedded engineer with 15+ years of experience across full-stack development, cloud/backend systems, mobile apps, microcontroller firmware, reverse engineering, and retro/legacy hardware integration.
I am best suited for projects where the problem crosses layers: firmware, hardware interfaces, protocols, desktop/mobile software, cloud services, debugging, and product rescue.
Recent public work:
Hackaday coverage of my dsMP3 embedded radio with AM/FM/SW/LW, MP3 playback, and signal recording: https://hackaday.com/2025/05/04/all-band-radio-records-signa...
Hackaday coverage of my LPT Zip-drive emulator / reverse-engineering project: https://hackaday.com/2026/03/17/zip-drive-emulator-puts-big-...
360Eyes Pro / IPC365 wireless CCTV reverse engineering: https://www.toughdev.com/content/2019/09/reverse-engineering...