LUFA/ManPages/ProgrammingApps.txt

   1 /** \file
   2  *
   3  *  This file contains special DoxyGen information for the generation of the main page and other special
   4  *  documentation pages. It is not a project source file.
   5  */
   6
   7 /** \page Page_ProgrammingApps Programming an Application into a USB AVR
   8  *
   9  *  Once you have built an application, you will need a way to program in the resulting ".HEX" file (and, if your
  10  *  application uses EEPROM variables with initial values, also a ".EEP" file) into your USB AVR. Normally, the
  11  *  reprogramming of an AVR device must be performed using a special piece of programming hardware, through one of the
  12  *  supported AVR programming protocols - ISP, HVSP, HVPP, JTAG or dW. This can be done through a custom programmer,
  13  *  a third party programmer, or an official Atmel AVR tool - for more information, see the Atmel.com website.
  14  *
  15  *  Alternatively, you can use the bootloader. From the Atmel factory, each USB AVR comes preloaded with the Atmel
  16  *  DFU (Device Firmware Update) class bootloader, a small piece of AVR firmware which allows the remainder of the
  17  *  AVR to be programmed through a non-standard interface such as the serial USART port, SPI, or (in this case) USB.
  18  *  Bootloaders have the advantage of not requiring any special hardware for programming, and cannot usually be erased
  19  *  or broken without an external programming device. They have disadvantages however; they cannot change the fuses of
  20  *  the AVR (special configuration settings that control the operation of the chip itself) and a small portion of the
  21  *  AVR's FLASH program memory must be reserved to contain the bootloader firmware, and thus cannot be used by the
  22  *  loaded application. Atmel's DFU bootloader is either 4KB (for the smaller USB AVRs) or 8KB (for the larger USB AVRs).
  23  *
  24  *  If you wish to use the DFU bootloader to program in your application, refer to your DFU programmer's documentation.
  25  *  Atmel provides a free utility called FLIP which is USB AVR compatible, and an open source (Linux compatible)
  26  *  alternative exists called "dfu-programmer".
  27  */