Questions: FDTI vs. Serial Programming

Using Arduino Microcontrollers
2

jrdoner:

  1. If I use USBasp on an ATmel chip which already has a bootloader, I assume it will overwrite the bootloader; correct or not?

  2. Assuming that FDTI overwrites the bootloader, can I then at some future time reinstall the bootloader using the USBasp device?

  3. About how much EEPROM does the bootloader deduct from the program space?

  4. The Arduino environment shows USBasp support for programming. Does it already contain the drivers, or do I need to download them?

  1. Yes
  2. Yes
  3. Depends on the bootloader, anywhere from 0.5K (newer ones) to 2K (older ones)
  4. It just works.