Electronic – Do I need to install Bootloader on the new AtMega32? Can I do it with USBasp

atmegaavrdudebootloaderispusbasp

I had a Sparkfun Redboard for some time and I liked playing with it, blinking LEDs and writing to an LCD and such. Now I want to design my own similar development board for similar set of applications. I am comfortable with everything except the bootloader. Following are my questions, most of my questions may be very basic but this will be my first electronics project so kindly bear with me.

  1. If I will purchase new Atmega32 from local store will it come with a bootloader?
  2. If no, Is it compulsory to install a bootloader on it?
  3. If not compulsory then why people sometimes install a bootloader? I read somewhere that a bootloader is installed for field programming but I am not sure what that means.
  4. What hardware will I need to install a bootloader? I can see USBasp can be used for programming but can I use it for installing a bootloader also? This is what I'm planning to purchase.
  5. If USBasp can load a bootloader as well as program a microcontroller, why do people sometimes use Atmel ISP MKII or Atmel AVR ISP which are so costly? I don't need to purchase these right?
  6. If I need to install a bootloader where can I find one for my Atmega32? Is these any standard basic bootloader?

Best Answer

If I will purchase new Atmega32 from local store will it come with Bootloader?

No

If no, Is it compulsory to install Bootloader on it?

No

If not compulsory then why people sometimes install Bootloader? I read somewhere that Bootloader is installed for field programming but I am not sure what that means.

Example: Arduino bootloader: When the bootloader starts it wait a while to receive serial communication with program code from the Arduino IDE. If no sericode is received via the serial interface it starts to load the code from a preset position in the flash memory.

What hardware will I need to Install Bootloader? I can see USBasp can be used for programming but can I use it for installing Bootloader also? This is what I'm planning to purchase.

USBasp supports the Atmega32

If USBasp can load Bootloader as well as program a microcontroller why people sometimes use Atmel ISP MKII or Atmel AVR ISP which are so costly? I dont need to purchase these right???

I don't know why people buy them. And a USBasp is enought for your task.

If I need to install Bootloader where can I find one for my Atmega32? Is these any standard basic Bootloader?

Please use a search engine and use "Atmega32 bootloader" as search words and from there you can select one that suits your needs.

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