Re: [avr-chat] Bootloader - where do I start?

[Dave Hylands]

Hi Steve,

Whoops. Sending to list this time as well....

> I'm looking to put a bootloader in a Mega168 that will talk over rs232 or
> ftdi chip to avrstudio.  I see two competing app notes on the atmel site
> (avr230, avr231 [aes bootloader/des bootloader]), as well as a 3rd mentioned
> in the butterfly documentation (avr109 - self programming).  Which one of
> these should I start with?  Modifications I need to make from there -
> security is not of the highest concern, compatibility with avrstudio is.
> How have people implemented entering the bootloader?  I suspect the best
> option is to send a "special" string over the uart, and upon recognition,
> jump into the bootloader - has anyone done that? If course, errors in
> application code could lock out reporgramming, so perhaps the bootloader
> waits one second for commands on every reset before entering the app code?
> Anyone 'been there' before?

Personally, I'd start with this one:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AVRRobotControl/files/ARC%20Bootloader/
(you'll need to join the group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AVRRobotControl/ in order to see the files)

I've used this (with a few mods) on the ATMega32 and ATMega8. You can
find my modified version over here:
http://www.davehylands.com/Misc/AVR-Workshop/Boot-Loader/

I searched for Jason Kyle (the original author) and found this site as well:
http://www.chip45.com/index.pl?page=ATmegaBOOT&lang=en

--
Dave Hylands
Vancouver, BC, Canada
http://www.DaveHylands.com/