I'm totally new to arduino, but am fairly experienced at both embedded programming and electronic design. I've worked with more than a few SOC boards, and recently acquired some NANO Atmega238 boards to see if I might use them in future projects. I've already installed the IDE and compiled, downloaded, and ran BLINK for verification. But I must say I was surprised to find so little raw technical information here on the official website. I've yet to find a large clear image of my board's pinout, and none I found offered any clue to the 6 pins on the edge opposite the USB port. I was glad to see a language and library reference, and plenty of example programs (I guess I have to get used to saying "sketches"). But considering Arduino boards have been around for a long time now, I thought it would be easier to find more technical references, board schematics, explanations of where to find header files for all the board constants, or some insight into the IDE (compiler? make files? etc.). I'm sure I'm very "old school" in my approach to boards like this. But I sure would like to take the leisurely path of exploring and learning about the board itself. I HAVE downloaded the Atmel data sheet (PDF, 660 pages) which should keep me busy a while. 
But it still would be nice to know where all the PC board, schematics, electrical specs, IDE details, and all the other marbles are hidden. Thanks in advance for any links or pointers!
The 2x3 set of pins? ISP header for programming with an ISP programmer.
If you search from "arduino nano pinout" on google, you get some fantastic diagrams - much better than the official ones.
You can find schematics for the official boards linked from the product info page for that product on the official arduino website. Note that cheap boards from ebay are often clones that may have minor differences to the board design (many of them, for example, use a different serial adapter chip)
The official documentation on how the IDE works is fairly sparse; they teach you how to use it, but I haven't found anywhere that goes into details about the build process.
DrAzzy:
The 2x3 set of pins? ISP header for programming with an ISP programmer.If you search from "arduino nano pinout" on google, you get some fantastic diagrams - much better than the official ones.
You can find schematics for the official boards linked from the product info page for that product on the official arduino website. Note that cheap boards from ebay are often clones that may have minor differences to the board design (many of them, for example, use a different serial adapter chip)
The official documentation on how the IDE works is fairly sparse; they teach you how to use it, but I haven't found anywhere that goes into details about the build process.
Thanks! Truth be told, I was afraid to mention 3rd party boards here, thinking the discussion would be banned. But yeah, I found them on AliExpress for probably even less than ebay if you're willing to wait for the long delivery. And of course I had to install a different USB driver to satisfy the CH340 chip.
But on the pin-out, so far the diagrams I've found on google were so small, any enlargement did not help readability. There were just not enough pixels in the image.
The lack of IDE docs is a disappointment. I'm glad to see plenty of ordinary CPP and .H files as I explore the installation. But it would be nice if there was a master BOARD_CONSTANTS.H kind of file somewhere. It almost seems like they've created a beginners programming environment here. Of course that is great in the sense that it allows newcomers a much easier path than trying to set up and maintain something like a full eclipse environment. But for me, I'd prefer the latter.
Well thanks again. I'm sure in time I'll learn all I need, and hopefully others will share too.
PeterPan321:
board schematics
It's at the Schematic link on the Documentation tab of the Nano product page:
https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-nano
PeterPan321:
explanations of where to find header files for all the board constants, or some insight into the IDE (compiler? make files? etc.).
The documentation found on arduino.cc tends to be intentionally simple and minimal. Sticking to only the topics that a user actually needs to know. Although this may be frustrating for an advanced user, the theory is that too much unnecessary information can be very intimidating to the target Arduino user: A beginner with little prior experience with electronics or programming.
Documentation of topics that only a developer really needs to know about tend to be found on the GitHub wiki:
PeterPan321:
But on the pin-out, so far the diagrams I've found on google were so small, any enlargement did not help readability. There were just not enough pixels in the image.
This is probably the most popular one:
However, you need to be careful with that sort of thing. As reported here:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=147582.0
There are minor errors on that diagram and we've been unable to get it fixed. It's always safest to go straight to the source code, though that's not quite so readable at a glance.
PeterPan321:
It almost seems like they've created a beginners programming environment here.
That's exactly what it is.
PeterPan321:
Of course that is great in the sense that it allows newcomers a much easier path than trying to set up and maintain something like a full eclipse environment. But for me, I'd prefer the latter.
Nothing is stopping you from doing so. There is an Arduino Eclipse plugin named Sloeber.
pert:
It's at the Schematic link on the Documentation tab of the Nano product page:
https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-nano
The documentation found on arduino.cc tends to be intentionally simple and minimal. Sticking to only the topics that a user actually needs to know. Although this may be frustrating for an advanced user, the theory is that too much unnecessary information can be very intimidating to the target Arduino user: A beginner with little prior experience with electronics or programming.Documentation of topics that only a developer really needs to know about tend to be found on the GitHub wiki:
Home · arduino/Arduino Wiki · GitHub
This is probably the most popular one:
pighixxx.com - pighixxx Resources and Information.
However, you need to be careful with that sort of thing. As reported here:
Arduino NANO Pinout Diagram - Project Guidance - Arduino Forum
There are minor errors on that diagram and we've been unable to get it fixed. It's always safest to go straight to the source code, though that's not quite so readable at a glance.
That's exactly what it is.
Nothing is stopping you from doing so. There is an Arduino Eclipse plugin named Sloeber.
pert:
It's at the Schematic link on the Documentation tab of the Nano product page:
https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-nano
The documentation found on arduino.cc tends to be intentionally simple and minimal. Sticking to only the topics that a user actually needs to know. Although this may be frustrating for an advanced user, the theory is that too much unnecessary information can be very intimidating to the target Arduino user: A beginner with little prior experience with electronics or programming.Documentation of topics that only a developer really needs to know about tend to be found on the GitHub wiki:
Home · arduino/Arduino Wiki · GitHub
This is probably the most popular one:
pighixxx.com - pighixxx Resources and Information.
However, you need to be careful with that sort of thing. As reported here:
Arduino NANO Pinout Diagram - Project Guidance - Arduino Forum
There are minor errors on that diagram and we've been unable to get it fixed. It's always safest to go straight to the source code, though that's not quite so readable at a glance.
That's exactly what it is.
Nothing is stopping you from doing so. There is an Arduino Eclipse plugin named Sloeber.
Thanks so much Pert! This is a lot of good news! And good advise checking that pinout for accuracy. At least I have something readable to start with!
Oh I think its great anytime someone creates an environment and a path for an easy start for newcomers! I'm sure many get discouraged easily, and I'm definitely not the least bit opposed. As long as the full documentation exists somewhere for those willing to dig.
Yeah I do like eclipse. I've cursed it many times, but its hard to beat the convenience of being able to hover over a func, struct, or class name and have all the properties and members magically pop up for easy reference. I don't know if this Sloeber is that comprehensive an environment, but it certainly sounds worth checking into.
For now, just having all the basic electrical info, along with the huge manual on the SOC itself should keep me busy for a good while! Thanks again!