they are the same, HC and LS are just cmos vs TTL technology's

http://www.interfacebus.com/voltage_threshold.html

you can have you 4A.

well if you had read this thread there is no way to get 4 amps out of a channel, it peaks max at 3 for under 100us with thermal management which is going to be next to impossible on a flat pack smd

No surprise about the 2A issue...that's just pure marketing. Without a big heatsink and/or a fan the L298 is limited by heat, not current. In a recent test on an L298-based motor driver product, we found that it goes into thermal shutdown at 1.24A on a single channel (other channel is off) or about 0.8A when both channels are on.

although it may just be enough to fit the op's requirement

on a side note I hate that people have to go hunt down information on their site, this time it was in the comments, when I got my pic32 I ended up searching though 14 pages of forums to find out I needed to download a modified program uploader to get the durn thing to work

well its got a serial doo hicky attached on it, not that its really that hard to control a hbridge and the op already has it and paid for it ...

otherwise I would use the L289 in the though hole package and screw a heat sink to it, but that adds weight and maybe balance problems for a remote rover platform

I dunno, it may not be that big of an issue after startup to even go that far, its just getting that inital kick that seems to be the issue

well that driver "can" handle 4 amps both channels combined at absolute max rating, but for 1 that makes it 2A absolute max, 1.5 to be safe so there ya go

A lovely case of marketing from both parties  :

this factory is famous in electronic hobbyist circle of China.

Ah yes! I have heard good things about the famous electronic hobbyist factory in china

 

on a personal note, I prefer innovation to clones, but I am a conscience buyer

oh Im so getting one of those just to dead bug it with some wirewrap

eh maybe by then we can print IC's on a deskjet

but if i had to guess i'd say that there is also a much higher demand for 168er (e.g.) as SMDs than as DILs.

ayep, that is why you can get smd packages at pretty much any time, but were waiting nearly 3 months for a limited batch run of dip versions which will sell out fast and not be produced again for another X months

supply and demand

hobby demand is a drop in the bucket compared to commercial demand

the arduino system has different cores for different avr's, I am currently using a attiny 84, with arduino software

http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1281994270/4

please understand I am not being a total dick (ok I am a bit) but seriously you need to understand basic concepts before rewriting a core

I have been a arduino user for just under a year, and a microcontroller user for just under 2, I barley understand the core stuff

now thats not to say I am GOD! and anyone should be beneath me given the same amount of time, but I have been "programming" since a little before your age, in the 1980's, and I have education in the general subject

personally if your not able to google open source source code that is even pre-compiled for you in a hex file on the main darn page, nor look up beginner tutorials on this beginner oriented website, then you just might be stepping out of your comfort zone for what you have planned

if you wish to design a board, you can! please do so! the electronics of the arduino are basic and a good starting point to learn whatever electronics CAD package you wish, make a custom board be happy with it, and hope others will to, crap man its a decent idea until you step out of your zone

and finally get an idea and stick with it, its amazing to see the amount of idea's you have had over the last couple of months while I was working on a single thing

yes we all have ideas that pop up during another idea, write it down save it for next or else you end up with a bench full of half completed non functional "crap"

As a participant of ludemdare, which is a 48 hour, from scratch, game dev competition, just seeing an idea from start to your goals is unworthy of any other experience, no matter the obstacles or grief...

even if you crap out the worst thing in your life its "finished" its done on a retarded schedule and its yours, I gain 5 years of project experience every time I do one

make a goal in your level of knowledge, set a time table, and beat it with every project, even if its not perfect just get it done (and fiddle with it later)

by the time your my age you will be sitting pretty phat in life, I guarantee it


your not dumb, your just unfocused, and that is worse IMO (cause your wasting your talent), but its an easy thing to fix, just work at it  

look at the port manipulation tutorial for a basic idea

your dealing directly with registers and bitwise math, its not the hardest thing in the universe, but its confusing at first

of course you still need to learn blink without delay so ...

as far as editing them they are standard c and h files open with a editor

as far as what is in them how they work etc that depends on your understanding of how avr's are actually programed and your knowledge of avrgcc

grab datasheets and start learning how to program avr's without the arduino candy coat in front

still would not have anything to do with the bootloader... you would need to mod the core files, which doesnt care how your programming the chip, even if its with a wire and a car battery

and not to be mean, but dont you have 1000 other ideas you haven't finished yet? learn the basics first and accomplish something before you re-invent the wheel

The problem is that I will need to modify the bootloader to use it properly.

why would rearranging headers have anything to do with the bootloader?