Flash programmer for ATmega168A

Thread Starter

LightningWalrus

Joined Mar 15, 2016
26
Hello ! I'm going to buy this book http://amzn.com/1449355781 and start to learn programming ATmega 168A in C. In the books component list i found some alternatives for an ISP programmer which you need to programm your microchip. Here are some:



1.An Arduino and six wires makes a totally workable flash programmer.



- An original arduino is quite expensive but affordable. Will a fake arduino copy work as a Flash programmer ?





2.USBTinyISP



- I don't have a soldering iron and not planning to get one for a while.





3.USBasp, from BaiTe in China



-In the book it says that i need to flash the firmware into the AVR in the programmer. I don't really know what it means.





4.USBTiny, tiny version from ehajo.de



- Same as previous option





5.A homemade programming spider, which plugs into a breadboard around the AVR chip and connects up the programming, power, and reset pins the right way every time. If you’re at all handy with a soldering iron and perfboard, you should make one of these.



- Again, i don't have a soldering iron.







I don't know what option to choose. Seems like options 2 and 5 won't work for me att all since i don't have a soldering iron. Options 3 and 4 are not completely clear. Option 1 is the most expensive one but easyest, may be a fake arduino copy would work as a Flash programmer ? I don't know. I would be happy if someone could educate me at this stuff with ISP programmers.
 

Thread Starter

LightningWalrus

Joined Mar 15, 2016
26
Depends on your location.
In US of A I would just buy a copy of Uno for eight bucks and use that to program the chips.
Thanks for your answer ! I live in Finland and i can buy a copy of arduino from ebay or amazon. Any particular model would you recomend ?
 

Thread Starter

LightningWalrus

Joined Mar 15, 2016
26
I use usbasp, for simplicity and reliability.

However, if you are into arduino, and. Have a spare one, getting to run as a programmer Haas it's appeals I think.
I've never used arduino. And i'm not planing into using Arduino IDE and Atmega328P with bootloader.

I want to program Atmega128A in C by writing the code, compiling it and uploading it to the chip with a programmer.

Would USBasp transfer compiled C code (machine code) into microchips flash memory with no additional hardware and any problems i should be aware of ?

There was some reference to USBasp in the book which i'm looking at.



Is that for all USBasps or only ones that you make yourself ?
 

shteii01

Joined Feb 19, 2010
4,644
I've never used arduino. And i'm not planing into using Arduino IDE and Atmega328P with bootloader.

I want to program Atmega128A in C by writing the code, compiling it and uploading it to the chip with a programmer.

Would USBasp transfer compiled C code (machine code) into microchips flash memory with no additional hardware and any problems i should be aware of ?

There was some reference to USBasp in the book which i'm looking at.



Is that for all USBasps or only ones that you make yourself ?
Are asking about flashing the chip in the programmer? Yes, it is chicken and egg problem. I ran into the same thing when I was looking into building my own programmer. I pretty much found all the programming circuits you have found, but once you start reading though the instructions, you find that you need to somehow program the chip in the programmer that you are building...

In my case I started looking for chip that has a bootloader on the chip from the factory. I already had some experience with Intel 8051 uC chips from school, so I found a couple of 8051 chips that come with bootloader from factory (Microchip and Maxim). I chose Microchip chip. However, these are not AVR chips. If you use AVR chips, like I wrote earlier, just getting cheap copy of some Arduino board would serve you very well, you can use that board to program other AVR chips and you can use it for projects.
 

Thread Starter

LightningWalrus

Joined Mar 15, 2016
26
Thanks for advice ! Will this programmer transfer the machince code to the flash memory of the chip without using or needing to install the bootloader ?

Would it work like it is suggested in the book ?


 
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