We need an ISP for programming 100 or so Mega 2560 cpus. We will have an USB interface for prototyping but burning this many devices with USB is not fun.
Something with an simple interface to pc. And easy to clone too.
Arduino ISP is probably good but we'd have to box it and make a product of it.
So can you recommendend something, Web site or Farnell code would be good.
Try this one if you want to make your own.
http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/
http://khazama.com/project/programmer/
These probably would not cost too much. But is it the best option to use one AVR cpu to program the other.
I shall post this to Microcontrollers forum too. It seems to be more on topic.
It is very difficult to see which is the correct forum here. Perhaps it is good when nothing is really off topic or fully on topic. But I dont like it.
We need an ISP for programming 100 or so Mega 2560 cpus. We will have an USB interface for prototyping but burning this many devices with USB is not fun.
Something with an simple interface to pc. And easy to clone too.
Arduino ISP is probably good but we'd have to box it and make a real product of it. I need a programmer and not a kit.
So can you recommendend something, Web site or Farnell code would be good.
By the way, I first posted this on Other Hardware Development forum. In my opinion it is difficult too see for what each Arduino forum is. I mean their names are confusing
Your best bet would be to pick an ISP programmer listed in the Tools/Programmer menu item of Arduino 1.0
AVRISP MKII seems to be very popular.
LMI:
I shall post this to Microcontrollers forum too. It seems to be more on topic.
Please don't. A moderator can easily move the topic. You need only ask.
Oh wait. You already did. In that case... PLEASE DO NOT CROSS-POST.
Edit: Topics merged.
"But is it the best option to use one AVR cpu to program the other. "
Yes. Most of the AVR ISPs do just that.
See the video here
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,68183.0.html
Another option is to bit-bang the bootloader in using the FTDI chip:
http://www.geocities.jp/arduino_diecimila/bootloader/index_en.html
Works under IDE -0022, don't know about 1.0.
avrispmkII is THE standard. It is very fast and can be slowed down if necessary. It also allows to measure the target's voltage. On the downside it requires that the target is powered externally. Still this is my favorite programmer.
I found something like this on Digikey web site. Their part number is ATAVRISP2-ND, is that it?
Looks right - but that will be more difficult to clone.
you are probably right about cloning. We will start with avrispmkII and make an AVR ISP if we need more and when everything else is working.
One thing: Do avrispmkII or AVR ISP support batch files. It is too slow to use IDE to program many chips.
And anyway, my thanks for everybody who answered.