[avrdude-dev] Re: [AVR-Chat] AVRDUDE 5.0 BETA Release

[Brian Dean]

Hi Mike,

On Mon, May 16, 2005 at 07:54:14AM -0500, Mike Perks wrote:

> 1. I tried building my own version from source and found the makefile
> schema impenetrable. I understand why some of the complexity is there

The Windows binary of AVRDUDE is normally provided through the WinAVR
distribution.  However, this being a beta release of AVRDUDE, it may
be a little while before you can expect a pre-built binary for
Windows.  When this is available, we'll put it up on our download area.

> 2. Just like version 4.4, there is no Windows binary available. In
> the end I went to Klaus Leidinger's site to download a Windows
> version of 4.4.

See above.

> 3. Klaus and others have made a number of improvements to their
> version that I didn't see in 4.4 and I use his version instead as it
> supports 115,200 baud download. I would to see the code reconverged
> if possible, or at minimum have their changes added to the 5.0
> release.

Which programmers are you referring to?  The STK500 and Atmel AVRISP
use 115,200 by default so, of course, AVRDUDE supports this.  Also, if
you have a custom bootloader that emulates the STK500 protocol but
requires a different baud rate, the baud rate can be overridden using
the -b option, or by specifying the 'baudrate' parameter in the
programmer configuration section of the config file.  In general, the
-b <baudrate> command line option or the 'baudrate' keyword in the
programmer config file will override the default baud rate for any
serial programmer.

> 4. Because I don't use AVRDude on a daily basis, I always end up
> reaching for the manual to remember the names for the chip I'm using
> and other parameters. I know there is some command line prompting
> but even so its rare that I can get AVRDude to run like I want first
> time. I'm aware of the GUI version and have tried that as well.

AVRDUDE is a cross-platform application, supported on FreeBSD, Linux,
Mac OS X, and Windows.  Implementing it as a GUI application on
Windows-only is not at all within the goals of the AVRDUDE project.
The typical method of not having to remember a command line is to
simply encode the command as a rule in your Makefile.  I.e.:

     flash: ${TARGET}.hex
             avrdude -p ${CPU} -V -U flash:w:${TARGET}.hex

Then, to download your program to your device, you just say:

    make flash

> I think what's missing is the simplicity of AVRProg auto-discovery
> with the flexibility of AVRDude.

We've discussed adding auto-discovery on the avrdude dev list.  We're
not opposed to it, but it just hasn't been a priority.  We're happy to
accept patches if you choose to implement such a feature.

> 5. It's not clear to me why I (or anyone else) would need to upgrade to
> 5.0 if we didn't need the two functions listed below.

You should know that JTAGICE support and STK500 V2 support have been
highly requested features of AVRDUDE.  We are fortunate enough to have
an active user base who submit patches and feature enhancements.  The
STK500V2 support was contributed by one of our users and was greatly
appreciated, especially considering that the newest version of AVR
Studio wants to upgrade the firmware on the STK500 to V2 and without
that support, would make AVRDUDE no longer able to support that
person's STK500.  That seems like a pretty good reason to upgrade.

> In fact what does it mean that you have JTAGICE support and which
> ones did you test it with?

Sorry - I thought it was clear that I stated we now support Atmel's
currently shipping JTAGICE unit, the JTAGICE MkII.

> 6. The AVRDude website is not helpful as it doesn't even mention the 5.0
> beta. I would to see some effort applied to the website to make it
> better. I didn't create sr #103514
> (http://savannah.nongnu.org/support/?func=detailitem&item_id=103514) but
> it pretty much sums up my feelings as well. If the website is in poor
> shape and I can't even find a Windows version of 4.4, what does this say
> about the authors.

The Windows version of AVRDUDE is built and provided as part of the
WinAVR distribution.  However, you are free to build AVRDUDE from
source, in which case you need to enable the PDF doc build by
specifying the --enable-docs=yes configure script option.  Note that
in all cases, avrdude ships with a complete 'man' page which describes
all avrdude features and command-line switches.  But alas, Windows
doesn't support 'man' pages.

> Few people are going to bother testing AVRDude 5.0 if there is no
> Windows version and no documentation on exactly what it does.

Understand that this is a beta release.  Please be patient - it might
be a week or two before we can provide an AVRDUDE-only installer,
outside of the WinAVR release.  But the normal way to get AVRDUDE for
Windows is to simply install the WinAVR package which provides not
only AVRDUDE, but also GCC and the rest of the AVR development
environment.

Also, understand that AVRDUDE is cross platform.  We also support
FreeBSD Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X.  It also runs on Sun Solaris and
other Unix platforms.  Windows is but one host that we support.  While
supporting Windows is important to us, making AVRDUDE Window-specific
is not within the goals of the project.  Windows already has AVR
Studio for AVR development.  I originally wrote AVRDUDE (then AVRPROG)
to support FreeBSD Unix where there was no AVR programming support.
AVR Studio was not even an option on Unix.  The other platform support
came later, Windows being one of them.  When originally Eric suggested
a Windows port, I changed the name to AVRDUDE to avoid conflict with
Atmel's AVRProg.exe programmer.  That's how AVRDUDE has evolved.

Thanks for the comments, Mike.  I hope this helps to clarify some of
your questions.

-Brian
-- 
Brian Dean
BDMICRO - ATmega128 Based MAVRIC Controllers
http://www.bdmicro.com/