I've always been singularly impressed by the people who can make lights blink and robots roll and whatnot. I've been trying a foray into that world for about a month now on and off with the apparently abandoned USB-IR-Boy project.
I wanted something useful that I could write in C under Linux and this USB based IR sensor looked perfect. I'm stuck however. I have code that SDCC will compile no problem, but I can't flash the MC68HC908 using spgmr08. I am trying to use a slightly corrected version of the programmer from the USB-IR-Boy site:
My question is two-fold. One is, are there any problems with that design? I've been comparing it to other designs:
They all seem to use a 9.9304Mhz oscillator and my existing design uses a 6Mhz one. Does that matter?
Also, they have capacitors with a polarity (which I am using since one lead is longer than the other). My project doesn't mention capacitor polarity. Does it matter?
Unless someone has something illuminating on the first part, can anyone recommend something prebuilt to let me program this chip from Linux for under $100? If I have to switch to Windows to build up to the point I have a clue, I'll accept that, but I don't feel like piecing together a Windows box unless I have to.
I suppose a third question might be, does anyone have a recommendation of an alternate microcontroller for a programmer (I'm fine with C and don't really want to switch to BASIC) looking to make a USB device under Linux?
Will Holcomb