Homebrew PCBs

"awakephd" <a_wake@...> writes:
> Very cool, and very helpful. As I was digging around for suppliers
> for the FT232R chip, I also came across the Silicon Lab CP2103
> chip. One source described this chip as "superior to the FTDI chip"
> -- but I can't see that there is any significant difference?? Except
> that the CP2103 is only available in a 28-QFN package, which I'm
> guessing will be a lot harder for a home-brew novice like myself to
> solder to the board.

There have been complaints in the past about the quality of FTDI's
drivers, but I suspect they've been fixed by now, and Linux uses its
own drivers for them anyway.  I like the TSSOP package myself,
although I'm using FTDI's QFN on my latest project.

My key need is the ability to directly manipulate the device-side
lines (gpio, dtr, etc) from a Linux program.  I know FTDI can do that,
I don't know if SI can.