AVR-Chat

--- In AVR-Chat@yahoogroups.com, "Graham Davies" <YahooGroups@e...> 
wrote:

> I'm just starting out with the AVR. I bought an STK500, STK501 and 
> two ATmega64s from DigiKey. ... Is there really no compiler in AVR 
> Studio? Is there really no means of debugging a program on the 
> hardware without another adapter?

Well, this thread went off on a tangent, didn't it.

From the one on-topic response, I've learned that it was my error to 
think that AVR Studio incuded a compiler and that with about $200 
worth of Atmel hardware I would be ready to debug programs.

I don't plan to knowingly use stolen software or anything else other 
than for evaluation purposes. I agree with the comments about the 
need to try the real thing before you buy. I find the exaggerated 
claims for many products as morally wrong as temporarily stealing the 
software to verify them and usually find out they are unjustified. I 
recently got suckered by Microsoft Money Small Business, which 
doesn't even support accrual accounting. By the way, I use the Lite 
version of Eagle and keep my design sizes down. I have PERL scripts 
to combine design fragments on a board at the gerber level.

My plan is to try out GCC as a compiler. For a debug interface, I 
have ordered an Olimex AVR-JTAG from SparkFun. This appears to be a 
clone of the Atmel JTAGICE with some features like level shifters 
missing. It seems that you program it with the exact same firmware 
that goes into the JTAGICE, so it should work the same at a fraction 
of the cost. If anyone has experience with this it would be good to 
know otherwise I will report back.

Graham.