I am thinking of now using a bootloader for programming my 16F877A and considering the Bloader from sparkfun.com
After having a look at their tutorials, I am unclear about whether it can be used at 8MHz.do any other members have any experience with this bootloader ?
Also, I have a general bootloader question.I need to use the hardware UART of 877A for my program.However I do not need it to interface with the PC.Just the output at the Tx pin of the 877A UART at TTL levels.Will it be possible when using a bootloader since, the booltloader will also need the hardware UART and a level shifetr and all ? I was thinking I might need something like a SPDT switch for switching between MAX232 for the bootloader and my application hardware. Place the switch to connect Tx to MAx232 while programming the chip.Once its programmed, toggle it to connect it to the application hardware.And when new code doesnt need to be flashed, keep it in this position.Does this sound alright ?
I hope what I have said is clear. Thnaks.