Hi everyone, today I salvaged a circuit board which had a Atmega8L-8PU. Looks like a control board used to drive motors or something like that. I am going to burn the bootloader onto it using an arduino.

Potentional Newbie question alert : before burning the bootloader on and using the micro controller for my projects I would like to know what is already on it. From the look of the circuit board (quality of it) I don't think the micro controller would have any read protection on (just a guess). There are four pins next to the controller, what could that be used for? I hope that you guys could direct me to some info on how to do it, would be possible to interface it using an arduino uno board?

I did some PIC controller programming using assembly language - so I know it a bit but not as much C.

Thanks so much

 

The processor has lock bits which can restrict reading the chip. If this is a commercial board then I would put money on that protection being active - they wouldn't want others pinching their firmware. This won't stop you re-using the chip. Erasing the chip will also erase the lock bits.

The four pins may be for in-circuit programming.

 

The processor has lock bits which can restrict reading the chip. If this is a commercial board then I would put money on that protection being active - they wouldn't want others pinching their firmware. This won't stop you re-using the chip. Erasing the chip will also erase the lock bits.

The four pins may be for in-circuit programming.

How can I make sure that it is in fact locked? I just want to check it out for the fun of it. I haven't got a programmer (any recommendation on a good programmer to get?) and I was going to use the arduino to burn the bootloader and to upload my code.
Which gets me to my next question - how would it be possible to select the clock source and to configure other bits if I am using the arduino IDE.
Thanks so much for the help

 

How can I make sure that it is in fact locked? I just want to check it out for the fun of it. I haven't got a programmer (any recommendation on a good programmer to get?) and I was going to use the arduino to burn the bootloader and to upload my code.
Which gets me to my next question - how would it be possible to select the clock source and to configure other bits if I am using the arduino IDE.
Thanks so much for the help

Just try to read it. You can re-program it with your own firmware. Use whatever programmer works for you and is affordable. I have always gone with Microchip's products, not pirated copies. Maybe cost a little more, but there is limited support/replacement.

 

The USBasp programmer is about the cheapest. This is one (Of many) example on Ebay
I don't think any of the Arduino boards use an ATMEGA8L.

Les.