As with every development board, Nano Every is a board that one should use to develop a project, before building it on a PCB. On Arduino pages, there are schematics, all kinds of data, Arduino IDE support, etc. But I didn't find all I need to know.
On the dev board, there are ATmega4809 which is an MCU, and in IDE, there is a bootloader. Which is fine. But there is an Atsamd11d14a, which is used for ATmega4809 to communicate to the PC. Is there a firmware for it? If there is, how to program it? Are there any other things one should know? There is a 6-pad header beneath it, not without a reason.
The 4809 doesn't actually have a bootloader. The SAMD11 acts as a device programmer, instead.
You CAN put a bootloader on the 4809, in which case you can use a generic and dumb USB/Serial converter instead of the SAMD11. This is supported by MCUDude's MegaCoreX code and my Optiboot_x
If I get you correctly, I could use some CH340 and program 4809?
In terms of a bootloader, steps are the same as on 328p? If so, there will be some test-bed around the corner.
Let's make it simpler. If I use the project from above, I could only make it work with Arduino IDE by UPDI programmer. Or, I must add ICSP and program bootloader first, then use it via some Serial programmer.
?
If it stays like this, I can use 32u4 as MCUDude suggested?
Or https://www.microchip.com/en-us/development-tool/DM320115 - while somewhat more expensive, it's a 4809 itself, and has a somewhat newer implementation ("Curiosity Nano" vs "Xplained Nano.") And it has (they both have) debugging!
I think I would use an STM32F103 or Espressif ESP32 as the Nano Every sounds a bit anemic for development efforts unless one just had a deep attraction to the specific ATmega4809.
I have never found just one dev-board to rule the rest.
// start soapbox
I love Arduino, but a hobby should not break the bank. Pricing and product capability should have some relationship. By today's standards, 48K flash is pitiful unless it has a SD controller and micro-SD slot onboard.
// end soapbox
No, but I don't expect everything to be priced like a Chinese Clone, either - especially if it's a prototype for something I expect to build myself from cheap chips. That was one of the advantages of the original Arduinos, even at the original 2007ish $35 price point - the knowledge that it was simple enough to build more yourself, from (then) $4 atmega168 chips (unlike, say, a BASIC Stamp. The original Basic Stamp, in 1993, was $139 for a board, a "programming cable", development software, and documentation (not much Internet, back then...)
And I remember when "Evaluation Boards" from vendors were $300+, and had fewer features (though they WERE "bigger."
There aren't many hobbies you can "support" for $20 a hit... (and I do have enough disposable income that I'm trying to break myself of the "it needs to be cheaper" habit. And I'm saving all that gas money by staying home during the pandemic...)
They do not ship to Serbia. But they DO SHIP to MikroElektronika, which is pretty much close to my place. LOL.
Absolutely agree. My point is that every dev board's purpose is to DEVELOP something, not to use it as it is. It is always nice to try something different, though. My work-horse is ESP8266. Some 90% of my projects.
I then got hold of a MikroBUS Arduino MEGA shield like this one:
And added just enough wiring from the DIL 4809 to drive the signals on it. I've got a bunch of little home made modules with FLASH, EEROM, RTC, RS485, RFM69 radio etc, made by mounting the cheap modules you get from ebay or Ali straight onto a bit of protoboard and plugging them in whenever I need one. Saves a lot of messing about with jumper wires too!
I should also add that the 4809 runs at 3V3 so I don't need to mess with level converters either.
