arduino

[rverm]

can the arduino  bootloader program be ported over to other atmel chips. would I half to change anything in the header file or cpp file to do that?

[psycho0815]

They changed mcu a couple of times, so assuming they didn't start from scratch everytime, it has do be portable. That said i assume you'd have do change quite a lot in the headerfiles at least.
Also a bootloader does take up space in the programmemory, so it wouldn't make much sense to put it into a attiny for example.

[westfw]

Yes.  If you look at the optiboot source repository ( http://code.google.com/p/optiboot/ ), you'll see that it has been ported to a number of other CPUs, including the mega88, mega1284, mega644, mega32, mega1280, and some others.  It can't be ported to ALL AVRs, because not all of them support bootloading.

You'll have to figure some of it out in more depth than if you stick to the established chips.

Now, you might have asked the wrong question.  All the Arduino bootloader does is load programs to the AVR chip over the serial port.  If you mean to ask something more like "Can I use the Arduino "language", functions, and/or environment to program chips other than those that are on the official Arduino boards", the answer is also "yes", but that's a much different issue.

[rverm]

yes that would be the question. could I program other avr chips with the arduino environment.
I would like to get some advice on how to get better at programming . my programming tecknics have always been just good enough to get the job done. mostly by solving one small problem at a time .then combine them. but I see others can write better more effective programs. there style of doing things is very different from mine.

[Zbig]

I'd recommend you quite the opposite approach: step up from the Arduino and switch to proper development environment: Atmel Studio 6.1 and JTAGICE3 (for on-chip debugging).

[npnlamp]

What chips do you want to program? There is a function in Arduino IDE to write a program without a bootloader. File >  Upload Using Programmer, or CTRL+SHIFT+U. Doing it this way, you need to connect programmer via ISP port to AVR, and select it in Tools>Programmer

[westfw]

The official Arduino environment supports ATmega8, ATmega168, ATmega328P, ATmega1280, and ATmega2560.
Minor tweaks get you a number of other basically-compatible processors (ATmega88, ATmega328, ATmega32, some others.)  See http://www.avr-developers.com/

More significant tweaks get you ATmega644 ("Sanguino") and ATmega1284.

Also assorted ATtiny cpus  http://code.google.com/p/arduino-tiny/

"Wiring" is arduino-like and includes some other AVRs: http://wiring.org.co/

"Energia" supports a similar environment for MSP430.

Note that the Arduino IDE is currently in transition from a version where adding new CPUs is "relatively difficult" to a version (1.5.x) where it is "relatively easier."


"Supports" is somewhat ambiguous; many published arduino projects use MCU capabilities beyond those that are part of the Arduino environment itself, using capabilities that are specific to a particular board/chip.  Those will require additional work to get running on other CPUs; it may not even be possible.

[rverm]

 ive have been programming pic chips up until now. but I wanted to learn how to use other chips like atmel/arduino uno boards and a due boards. the primary interest is the sam3 arm processor. since its such a powerful chip. im glad they put it in the arduino environment.
 learning how to connect to other chips threw a ide program is another thing I want to do.. at work the are a lot of different arm processors on the main boards. to name a few(ncr ,st ,analog devices ,ti and a slew of microcontrollers. I want to be able to connect to them and at least see if any of the registers data is changing. just to see if there working. for example there is one chip that is a problem. its the analog device quad core mcu. there is a obvious difference between a working chip and the dead one. it has a
otp rom area I think its getting corrupted or damaged and it wont boot up. there is just no way to get into the chip at the moment. analog devices wants to much money  for there ide program. but it would be nice if there was a general purpose ide program to read the registers while the mcu's are running.
its has been pretty easy so far going programming arduino's. I glad they have a lot of example programs to get code from. I have downloaded the atmel 6 studio eveiriment but haven't got the arduino to work in it yet.

[westfw]

there style of doing things is very different from mine.

Perhaps they start by using the correct words, capitalization, and punctuation...
That last post was about the most incomprehensible jumble of bad English I've seen in a long time.

[rverm]

sorry everyone corrects my writing. its not my strong point.  what I want to say and what comes out on paper is always different.

[Stonent]

sorry everyone corrects my writing. its not my strong point.  what I want to say and what comes out on paper is always different.

Punctuation is key in programming, your program has to compile before you can test it and see if the logic of it is correct. Just get in the habit of capitalizing with use of periods and be mindful of it. If you can keep it in your mind it will help you with endless hours of debugging for something as simple as a misplaced or missing character.

And also it is kind of hard to read for us.

That being said here's a video on using some other AVR chips with the Arduino IDE.