AVR-Chat

>  Now you know why Microchip is still the micro of choice, even if the
> Atmel processors are faster and superior technology - Atmel support is,
> er, sub-standard (IMO).  But I'm in the US, I think they are better
> supported in the EU, but I'm not sure.  Regardless, I soldier on,  but I
> don't use their debugging tools, I use "printf" and LED toggles.  Which
> works for most stuff, but can get dicey when dealing with networking and
> that ilk.  Atmel needs to spend less on glossy ads and more on FAE's and
> tech support IMO.

You know, back when I got into the AVR, the tools WORKED.
My ICE-200 was perfect, and even the ICE-50 was very good, UP TO the
point when they released it.
THAT rev was awful, and honestly, IMHO, it went downhill from there.

The Jtag ICE has been flaky, and I was really hoping that the MkII
would be an improvement.
No such luck.

Working with the 168 here, I'm going to be using the serial port in
the app, it would be a major pain to do diagnostics through it. What
I'm doing at the moment, is porting my M128 Xmodem loader over to the
168, because I don't need a 128 here, and the 168 is available in
automotive temperature grade.   The part that I'm having trouble with,
is the code that checks, and if needed sets the lock bits on entry to
the download, and again on exit (because I'm paranoid :)

Once I get the loader up and running, I have two apps to develop,
which I could reasonably debug through the serial port.

However, that's not really the point.

Even the lowly AVRISP has had it's share of unexplainable problems.  I
wasted an entire trip to a customer site, because studio flatly
refused to connect to my main, or backup AVRISP, even after installing
it on a borrowed laptop instead of the one I was using.  Serial ports
and cable were fine, and the whole rig had been tested the night
before.  When I travel like this, I test everything at home, then pack
up exactly that gear to take. I don't even sub "identical" serial
cables.

This pretty well sums it up for me.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew