AVR Freaks

Thanks for the comment Max.  I gotta tell you if someone told me before I had this that it would benefit me, I would have said the same thing.  I'll just haul my notebook and atmel ice into the other room.  After using them, they are just so handy to program and take to the board to be programmed.  I never haul my notebook anymore!

Here is a video of the V3 programmer which has a 5 segment LED graph to show status and can do PDI/ISP.

Video shows 64K being flashed to an XMEGA-A3BU Xplained at 2MHz PDI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

Hi Bob,

Yep, I make them.  I've never used a contract assembler though I'd love to have a product that sells so many that I need to!  I probably make 10-20 pcb's a month for various projects and I gave reflow a while, but I find that with SMD and being without a pick-n-place I can solder them just as fast by hand for the quantity that I do.

Have a great day,

Alan

Here is a screenshot of the pc application:

I wrote it with C++Builder which I've been using for many years!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi PhillyNJ - I appreciate your thoughts and ideas:

#1 / #2 / #3 - you are right, a good video showing basic use of configuring it, programming it, and then it programming some boards quickly is on my to do list!

#4 - I sell them on eBay and here, a website wouldn't hurt, but I wonder how beneficial it is since most people who would use it would be here anyway.  It is a balance of the work to put the site together vs. benefit.

#5 - I think it might be too specialized for kick starter - but perhaps I am wrong.

#6 - I agree that a TFT could make it nicer, but the thought (design goal) was to keep it simple and effective.  Something I won't mind sending to a customer to have them upgrade something and hopefully they'll return it in a return envelope.  I'd rather provide good service and help to my customers than to make it cheaper.

Thanks for the positive comments tpappano!!!

I like the idea of a smartphone programmer application, but it would be quite a bit of work.  I use an older C++Builder IDE, but I think the company that sells this makes a much newer one that supports a multi targeted type project that allows you to compile for PC, mac, smartphone, etc.  I know even if that would work there would be things to work around.

I once thought about this and thought about the idea that you can erase a flash, program some bits, then program some other bits, and so on, and as long as your multiple program requests end up programming all the bits necessary, it will flash properly even though you didn't actually flash the program as is.  Now, someone could still monitor the SPI and put combine the bits back into a single program stream, but that would take some level of skill.  In the end I didn't implement it because it would take X times longer to program.  If someone wants the code bad enough, they could always sent it for someone to defeat the lock bits anyway.  Even monitoring the SPI would take some skill to dig through all the commands and extract the program, but it could be done.

If you really want secure, you've got to put a bootloader in that is sent an encrypted stream of program data that it decrypts and flashes.

The PC application / manual links above have been updated to 1.10d - this version ignores the 03 and 05 records in the Intel HEX format that it was choking on before!

Glad you got it installed!

Yep, you got me there in the manual!!!! :)   I've fixed it and re-uploaded a new setup!

Sounds great Ross; I appreciate you looking through it for typos or errors!

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

I have this new version of the Autoprogrammer PC Application I am evaluating.  It has been compiled with the latest version of the compiler that I use which has added some newer visual styling to it, but has also made it roughly 3-4 times larger in terms of program size and memory usage.  Being a programming purist, I like things fast and as small a footprint as possible, but there is something to be said for the latest compiler vs. one that is 12-15 years old.  Well, and it looks cooler.

For those of you who use this programming tool and want to try this version out, please give it a shot and let me know what you think.  It will operate the exact same way, but has some snazzy hovering over a control changes its background and a new look for edit boxes, etc.  It will install right over the setup version above.  If you don't like it, just rerun the setup version from above and it will put you back to the older one.

If you try it, let me know which one you prefer, this new one, or the old one!

You can't see the mouse arrow, but I'm hovering over Load in this picture.  You can compare this to the image in post #10 of this thread.

Thanks,

Alan

Hi GTO_04,

If you create a configuration where there is the possibility of more than one match, it enables the multiple match selection feature.  In your example, it will blink 3 times.  You can tap the button to change it to 1, tap again for 2, tap again for 3, and so on.  Holding the button will program the currently selected match.  The firmware will be assigned in the order of matches.  The first match is 1, second match is 2, and so on.  Does that make sense?

Thanks,

Alan

It starts with 3 to let you know how many there are, and if you hold the button right then, it will program #3.  A single tap will rollover to #1.

Generally you don't want to use the MMS feature with someone who isn't savvy.  Alternatively you could provide instructions.  Yes, disconnect/reconnect will return to the 3 blinks again.

There are ways to prevent a MMS - for example, you can differentiate the two versions by setting a different fuse (preferrably one that doesn't affect feature you are using).  Then you can match each version on the signature of the AVR and that particular fuse and have the autoprogrammer "decide" which firmware to upload based on that.  Take a look at the manual as it has a ton of examples on how to do this!

Thanks,

Alan

Yes exactly, I use an Atmel ICE for development/debugging too.  For when I build products, I have a single AVR autoprogrammer that does it all quickly and without fuss.