FTDI-board

Whilst working with the Xino, Paperduino, stripboarduino, breaduino, etc. I find that I need to keep swapping my microprocessor chips in and out of my Duemilanove to program them. Now, this isn't because I haven't tried programming them in-situ - I have and I have failed miserably!

Now I have one of these bad boys: a UM232R development module: -

• http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Modules/DevelopmentModules.htm#UM232R
• Datasheet: http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/DataSheets/Modules/DS_UM232R.pdf

Which is great, but I still haven't dedicated enough time to making it do all the Arduino programming tasks I require. So here I intend to detail my thoughts and document what I find out.

OK, most people have a cool FTDI cable with 5 or 6 pins. I don't have one and I feel less of a hacker because of it! I want to make the UM232R act like one of those.

• the FTDI TTL-232R cable at Adafruit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/70
• at FTDI: http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm
• datasheet: http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/DataSheets/Cables/DS_TTL-232R_CABLES.pdf

OK, so what magic do I need to perform to get my Xino programmed?

• Xino Basic: http://www.ciseco.co.uk/content/?p=1987
• five wires on the Xino programming header: Reset, Ground, MCUPWR (+5v), TX, and RX

With help from Dr Matt, who held the magic formula of having a 10nF capacitor between #CTS and the Reset pin, I was able to get my breadboard version working, and the following evening I had my stripboard version working (dodgy soldering!)

flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21085792@N00/sets/72157626929358874/

Next step is to add a 6 pin header for programming the Nanode.

The FTDI connector pins on the Nanode (left to right):-

• GND (Black)
• CTS# (Brown)
• VCC (Red)
• TXD (Orange)
• RXD (Yellow)
• RTS# (Green)

So we just need a single extra connection for the 6th pin - keeping it disconnected for now.