I want to buy AVR Programmer/Debugger - help - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 09:54:38 pm
content: Hi. I want to buy Prog/Debug unit such as Dragon avr. Please suggest one upto 60$. Thanks

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 10:29:32 pm
content: The Dragon is $50, so what is your real problem?

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 10:39:19 pm
content: Where to buy it with worldwide cheap shipping?

author: aluck
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:06:08 pm
content: Don't bother with that Dragon thing - it's useless and obsolete. Also it's inconvenient in many ways.Get some decent AVRISP MK II chinese clone. It's more expensive, but worth every buck spent. Since I got it - my Dragon is on the back shelf.

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:06:53 pm
content: What is the difference?

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:11:14 pm
content: also I cant understand the difference between them and usbtinyisp?

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:19:19 pm
content: Quote from: aluck on February 28, 2012, 11:06:08 pmThe AVRISP Mk. II doesn't do debugging, I agree that it (at least the genuine one) is a better choice for just programming than the Dragon, since it's more reliable and it has a case and cable. So far the AVR Dragon is the only < $60 way to debug more than a few old ATmegas (supported by old JTAGICE Mk. I clones) as far as I know, however. Would you care to elaborate about the useless, obsolete and inconvenient nature of the Dragon? I can see the lack of case and included cables to be inconvenient, but apart from that it seems quite decent for its price. It's of course not a professional tool like the much more expensive JTAGICE Mk. II.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:25:02 pm
content: Quote from: igorbog on February 28, 2012, 11:11:14 pmThe usbtinyisp is very slow to program micros (not so bad on 2KB attiny but awful on a 64KB atmega)And my usbtinyisp has bricked a few micros, not sure why but it seems to corrupt the fuse bits on occasion.

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:30:24 pm
content: I need to program and debug atmega32. I'm a beginner but I want to buy once and good thing. I want to be able to know during running the status of registers and the data inside the chip.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:32:12 pm
content: Quote from: igorbog on February 28, 2012, 10:39:19 pmPick any distributor you like, maybe one near you to reduce shipping costs.I mean really, did you spend any of our own time at all looking for a seller, or do you think we are your servants?

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:32:51 pm
content: if avr so problematic., maybe pic is really better (as Dave said) with PicKit3

author: igorbog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:33:55 pm
content: Quote from: BoredAtWork on February 28, 2012, 11:32:12 pmYes of course, But with so large amount of clones it is difficult to understand what to buy

author: TerminalJack505
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2012, 11:45:00 pm
content: If you're really serious then you should get the JTAGICE3. It's only $200 so it's a little less painful the the mkII which was $300.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 12:13:42 am
content: Quote from: igorbog on February 28, 2012, 11:33:55 pmHow many Dragon clones did you come across? How many of those clones were sold by real distributors as opposed to random eBay sellers?Quote from: TerminalJack505 on February 28, 2012, 11:45:00 pmDoes the JTAGICE Mk. III have AVR Studio 4 support yet? What about avrdude/avarice? I'm not sure if I'd want to bet on AVR Studio 5 doings its job, although it's been a while since I've looked at it.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 04:39:29 am
content: In general, Atmel doesn't seem to document their debug protocols or publish the source for their debugging products (Microchip is better at both), so the things that have "lots of clones" DO NOT support debugging.I think a Dragon is your only real choice in that price range...

author: electrode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 08:08:43 am
content: Quote from: Psi on February 28, 2012, 11:25:02 pmWasn't thateitherthe USBTinyISP or the software you were using? I seem to recall you making a thread about how you weren't sure which thing was to blame. Did you narrow it down to the programmer?I haven't experienced any problems with the 'tinyISP, but I use AVRDude.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 10:34:46 am
content: Yeah, i'm not 100% sure. The software i was using was "burn-o-mat" which is just a GUI frontend for AVRdude.I don't get the issue using AVRdude and the typical printer port programmer so i'm not sure what else to blame exceptthemy usbtinyisp.The USBtinyISP uses an attiny2313 doing USB in software with finely optimized ASM code.It wouldn't surprise me if the timing is being pushed a little far and the occasion error crops in.And it's entirely possible that a timing issue only occurs with some micros and not others.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 02:11:37 pm
content: Quote from: alm on February 29, 2012, 12:13:42 amStudio 6 is in beta already; I doubt ICE3 will ever be supported in 4.

author: olsenn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 02:32:36 pm
content: I own an AVR Dragon (purchased directly from Atmel) and it works great. I'll aggree to the previous poster that the lack of a case is unfortunate (I don't really give a crap about a cable), but the Dragon is FAR BETTER than the standard ISCP programmer (MK2 I think it's called)... it does full debugging, JTAG, HV programming, as well as ISCP, and supports most devices. The more expensive models like the ICE and ONE are about equivalent on a feature standpoint (perhaps slightly superior) but are more robust, which is what you're paying extra for (has a case, input protection etc).If you already have an AVR with a bootloader (Arduino etc) or a PIC +programmer, then you can actually program a AVR ISCP programmer firmware into it and you'll effectively have an MK2 whenever you need it. I'd still pick up a Dragon though if you plan on doing anything major with these micros

author: aluck
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 29, 2012, 03:42:14 pm
content: Quote from: alm on February 28, 2012, 11:19:19 pmSorry, I meant JTAG ICE MK II clone.Works flawlessly.