On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:37:33 -0500 "Graham Davies" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Vincent Trouilliez wrote: > > Vince, just opened his mail box... received 3 brand new Mega32 ... > > If you're using the ATmega32, which is supported by the original JTAG ICE > (Mk I), you should consider the AVR ICE-Cube. It has no ribbon cable at all > and so doesn't suffer from any of the problems that have been recently > discussed. It comes with a six foot serial cable and there is no box of any > kind to find a place for on the bench, just the business end of the > ICE-Cube, which is the size of, well, an ice cube, and sits above the target > JTAG connector. You do, of course, need a serial port on your computer or a > USB-to-serial adapter. Now, if you had a Dragon *and* an ICE-Cube, well > then you'd be able to ... > > Disclosure - for those that don't know, I make and sell the AVR ICE-Cube, so > I'm tooting my own horn here, but you've seen others speak well of the > ICE-Cube here too. > > Graham. He he, don't worry Graham ;-) I am thinking of your ICE cube ;-) It's just the Dragon fits my needs better right now: it's versatile (JTAG AND ISP, and also PP and HV, so I can recover my chips if I get my fuses wrong), and it has a USB interface, and it's cheap. And since I happen to using a mega32, I can even start playing with JTAG debugging, to get the hang of it. THEN, a bit later, once I have wedtted my feet with JATAG debugging, and I (most likely) have to move away from a mega32 to mega64 as my project grows, then at this point yes, I will be looking at an "unrestricted" JTAG debugger. There two little things that would keep me away from the ICE-cube: - Since it's meant precisely to be moved around the bench and handled by... well by hand constantly, I fear the fragile/exposed SMT components on the tiny boards, will sooner or later get hit/damaged. Also, I fear ESD shocks because with my big fat fingers will get all over the components, which can't be good. - it's got a serial interface, so I would have to add the cost of either an unreliable (as far as I understand, there never 100% garantee that these things work under all circumstances) RS-USB adapter, or buy an extra PCI card just to get an extra serial port, and they aren't cheap from what I saw, unlike what I expected. - high cost to import and ship it from overseas So I am also considering the USBProg project: http://www.embedded-projects.net/index.php?page_id=165 Advantages: available from Europe so no import charges nor overseas shipping, and it's got a native USB interface. Down-side: the JTAG debugger firmware is currently under development as I understand it, so it may not be ready/available by the time I am in the market for one. So I have two options, each with their pros and cons as usual ! ;-) So if you could consider my poijts about the ICE-cube, I would be glad to lean your way and support you ;-) So a native USB interface, along with a way to protect the PCB, probably with a coat of that coloured epoxy resin. It would make repairs next to impossible, but sending it back to you for repairs is not economically viable anyway, so I would have to buy an other one if ever it develops a problem anyway. You could keep the serial ICE-cube as it is, and offer the USB version as an option. I dunno, charge 10 USB more for the USB version. Same for the resin protection, offer it as an option for I don't know, 5 bucks ? Food for thoughts he ?! ;-) Regards, -- Vince _______________________________________________ AVR-chat mailing list [email protected] http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/avr-chat
