How do you flash a hex onto pro mini (not micro)

[Pacifist]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-ATMEAG328-5V-16Mhz-Replace-ATmega168-For-Arduino-Pro-Mini-Compatible-Nano-/191117208428?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c7f792b6c

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Pro-Mini-atmega328-5V-16M-Replace-ATmega128-Arduino-Compatible-Nano-/200957063666?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec9f971f2

They don't have USB ports, how would I flash hex? I want to use it as a controller and have a different female usb port elsewhere on a pcb

[adventurepoop]

Couldn't you just use the offboard usb to flash it?? it should work the same way as normal but your usb isnt directly on the board.

[HalfCent]

Those are based on the Atmega 328, not the 32U4 like the pro micro is. They don't have hardware USB on the microchip, and would take extra work to function as a keyboard controller. Most existing firmwares are based around the Atmel 32UX series chips.

[adventurepoop]

Those are based on the Atmega 328, not the 32U4 like the pro micro is. They don't have hardware USB on the microchip, and would take extra work to function as a keyboard controller. Most existing firmwares are based around the Atmel 32UX series chips.

In the ebay description it says support for offboard usb, so it must have some support, right??

[jdcarpe]

Wow, sounds like a headache to me. Why try and reinvent the wheel to save $10? The Teensy 2.0 works great, has a choice of available firmwares, and is super easy to flash.

[JonPB]

Looks like it is meant to be programmed by another board. See, e.g., http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard.

Probably meant to be used in situations where the microcontroller isn't meant to be reprogrammed often or by the end user, but where saving a few bucks on components can make the difference between a competitive process and cost overruns.

Cheers,
Jon

[Pacifist]

Wow, sounds like a headache to me. Why try and reinvent the wheel to save $10? The Teensy 2.0 works great, has a choice of available firmwares, and is super easy to flash.

I feel really bad when I use a $20 teensy to do simplier tasks than it can do

[HalfCent]

Those are based on the Atmega 328, not the 32U4 like the pro micro is. They don't have hardware USB on the microchip, and would take extra work to function as a keyboard controller. Most existing firmwares are based around the Atmel 32UX series chips.

In the ebay description it says support for offboard usb, so it must have some support, right??

It has an FTDI chip, which is a USB to Serial converter. You can't act as an HID device with these, only as a serial port. These are functionally equivalent to an Arduino Uno. You can program the chip over usb, but you won't be able to use it as a keyboard.

[dorkvader]

Wow, sounds like a headache to me. Why try and reinvent the wheel to save $10? The Teensy 2.0 works great, has a choice of available firmwares, and is super easy to flash.

I feel really bad when I use a $20 teensy to do simplier tasks than it can do

It's only $3-$5 less than the pro micro. Just get that and save money it has the 32u4 that everything runs on.

[adventurepoop]

Wow, sounds like a headache to me. Why try and reinvent the wheel to save $10? The Teensy 2.0 works great, has a choice of available firmwares, and is super easy to flash.

I feel really bad when I use a $20 teensy to do simplier tasks than it can do

same problem here, ive made a mech for like 10-15$ for everything but caps and controller and i feel stupid spending 20$ on a teensy for it

[hasu]

They seems to be Ardunino compatible I think you can program with serial connection using 'Arduino IDE' or 'avrdude'.

If you want to program with USB you need to add some components(USB connector, two esistors  and two zenar diodes) for 'V-USB'(full software implemented USB stack) and program bootloader like 'usbasploader' with 'AVRISPMKII'(just one time). After you added those hardware and bootloader you can program your controller with USB using 'avrdude' just like Teensy.

I used ATMega328p with V-USB and usbasp, it was great.

[HalfCent]

I used ATMega328p with V-USB and usbasp, it was great.

Did you have any performance issues using this as a keyboard controller? How many endpoints did you use? Did youo have any function layer mapping? I've used V-USB in non-keyboard related projects, and the performance impact on the main code was a problem in some of the projects, but fine in others.

[Grendel]

http://www.obdev.at/products/vusb/index.html

There's a V-USB bootloader as well, you will need an AVR ISP to get it into the chip tho.

[hasu]

I used ATMega328p with V-USB and usbasp, it was great.

Did you have any performance issues using this as a keyboard controller? How many endpoints did you use? Did youo have any function layer mapping? I've used V-USB in non-keyboard related projects, and the performance impact on the main code was a problem in some of the projects, but fine in others.

As a keyboard controller it was no problem to scan switch matrix, while I couldn't implement my PS/2-USB protocol converter with V-USB. IIRC, V-USB blocks about 50us intermittently this will cause some time critical applicaiton, but skilled people can circumvent this in most cases. Actually blargg could make his ADB-USB converter with V-USB surprisingly, though I had thought it was impossible.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=14290.msg1109173#msg1109173

I used two IN endpoints with my keyboard project(HHKB alt controller) one has a IN endpoint for keyboard interface and other has a IN endpoint for mouse and consumer keys.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=12047.0
https://github.com/tmk/tmk_keyboard/blob/master/protocol/vusb/vusb.c

As a controller of my main keyboard V-USB didn't have any problem and it had worked like a charm for a few years.

[HalfCent]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll look into developing my controller based on the 328 again.