Re: [avrdude-dev] [avr910] Programing paged flash memory?

[Jan-Hinnerk Reichert]

On Wednesday 14 May 2003 15:31, Lou wrote:
> On 13 May 2003 at 21:43, Theodore A. Roth wrote:
> > I assume this is what you are talking about. For page programming, we
> > need to send the 'm' command at the end of each page.
>
> Maybe he could even mean a "multi-word" page programming, as the
> one described here
>   http://tlw.com/bryce/robot/avr/
>   (see patch.mword-write)
> That saves *a lot of time* for programming. I used a similar
> feature in a custom bootloader, sending a full page without a
> 'c'/'C' sequence for each word, and waiting for the answer back
> -- in my case I added a final 16 bit checksum.
> Thought I already mentioned that on this forum, but it passed
> unnoticed...

IMHO it is a good idea to support standard programmers first, this way many 
peple are able to use the programming software.

When it comes to defining new protocols or changing protocols you must give it 
some thought before releasing this protocol to the public.

- The new protocol won't work with other development software than yours
- You should not need to change your protocol too often (can/will the average 
user update firmware?)
- Are the improvements worth it?

IMHO changing the avr910-protocol is generally not a good idea, since it is 
dying anyway (because of the device codes).

A good alternative may be implementing the STK500 protocol and having a simple 
(e.g. avr910) bootloader for firmware updates. AFAIK STK500 already supports 
multiword writes.

 Jan-Hinnerk