Novice question - I’m in the process of buying a ARMmite PRO with the intent of running ARMbasic. I have Windows XP and have downloaded the BASICtools pkg.
I see I need a USB adaptor to talk to the PRO… but which one?
Sparkfun lists 2
BOB00718 USB to Serial,
DEV08772 FTDI Basic Breakout 3.3v
Which is the right one? How do I supply power? Any useful hints welcome!
Phil
Have you considered buying an ARMmite instead? It already includes a USB connector which optionally provides power as well as enabling you to communicate with the board.I see I need a USB adaptor to talk to the PRO… but which one?
I’m programming the board in Oberon-07 so don’t use the built-in Basic. However, I can upload code to the board using FlashMagic and communicate with it using FlashMagic’s terminal emulator - the only cable attached to the ARMmite is the USB cable connecting it to the PC. It works like a charm!
Have you considered buying an ARMmite instead?
Yes I have but it’s physically too big for the project in hand. The PRO with an external adaptor and ribbon cable is perfect.
Thanks for the pointer to Oberon, but right now ARMBasic is a good choice for me and the grandson 
.
Phil
MiataMan:
Novice question - I’m in the process of buying a ARMmite PRO with the intent of running ARMbasic. I have Windows XP and have downloaded the BASICtools pkg.I see I need a USB adaptor to talk to the PRO… but which one?
Sparkfun lists 2
BOB00718 USB to Serial,
DEV08772 FTDI Basic Breakout 3.3v
Which is the right one? How do I supply power? Any useful hints welcome!
Phil
You want the DEV-09115 5v ftdi breakout.
5v comes off the 6pin side via USB. i.e. its usb powered.
IF you get to C programming you will need a shorting wire or jumper to set ‘program mode’. Not needed for basic.
motopic:
You want the DEV-09115 5v ftdi breakout.5v comes off the 6pin side via USB. i.e. its usb powered.
IF you get to C programming you will need a shorting wire or jumper to set ‘program mode’. Not needed for basic.
Hmm I’m interested why you recommend the 5V device?
The LPC2103 has 3.3v I/O levels I believe? And from the Coridium schematic for the regular ARMmite it appears the FTDI chip is wired for 3.3v.
Am I misreading something in the spec?
We (Coridium) recommend the 5V device, so that 5V is supplied on the connector from the USB and not the 3.3V supplied by the FT232RL.
The 9115 is a newer product and probably was not on the product list when we started the PRO
The I/Os are 5V tolerant and all are TTL compatible so that’s not an issue.
For BASIC these work fine, for C Coridium’s USB dongle controls the RTS line so that C programs can be downloaded without putting a jumper on the board.
I am thinking of buying an ARMmite board.
From the discussions in this post, I found that I can program the controller on the board with usb to serial cable.
But from the diagrams on the sparkfun site,I can’t see the serial connector on the board.Do I need to manually connect rx,tx,+v,gnd from serial output end of the usb to serial board onto txd0,rxd0 & supply,gnd pins?
Could someone help me out?
Thanks.
That had us fooled for a while also! It is easier than it looks. All you need to do is use a USB cable to connect the USB connector on the ARMMite to a USB port on your computer. A driver on your PC makes the USB port look like a COM port to Windows.myetrx:
I am thinking of buying an ARMmite board.From the discussions in this post, I found that I can program the controller on the board with usb to serial cable.
But from the diagrams on the sparkfun site,I can’t see the serial connector on the board.Do I need to manually connect rx,tx,+v,gnd from serial output end of the usb to serial board onto txd0,rxd0 & supply,gnd pins?
Hence you just need one cable to supply power to the board, upload software to it and communicate with it via a terminal emulator.
I've just re-read the previous posts. Just so there's no confusion I'm referring to the ARMmite board NOT the ARMmite Pro. The ARMmite board already has a USB connector - there is no need for an additional USB adaptor.cfb:
All you need to do is use a USB cable to connect the USB connector on the ARMMite to a USB port on your computer.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for your immediate attention n reply.
I am sorry I was not aware of difference between Arrmite & Arrmite Pro boards.I want to refer to “Arrmite Pro” board.
Do you know how should I program it & supply power to it?
Thanks again.
If you get the ARMmite PRO 'Eval kit' a USB dongle is provided which supplies power and a connection to your PC:myetrx:
I want to refer to “Arrmite Pro” board.Do you know how should I program it & supply power to it?
http://www.coridiumcorp.com/ARMhelp/scr/goUSBpro.html
Alternatively you can get an FTDI Breakout board from SparkFun:
Hi cfb,
Thanks once again.Before I buy the Armmite board,I would like to ask one more question.
Have you worked with ARM eval boards?It would be great if you can suggest a good eval board/ARM mfg/IC to start ARM evaluation.Have you used ARMmite board & find it pretty well to carry out evaluation as well as building small projects?
We have only used LPC2000-family ARM eval boards as they are the MCUs that we are targeting with our Armaide development system. However, that still gives you a wide range of choices. The development boards we have tested and are supporting are listed on our website:myetrx:
It would be great if you can suggest a good eval board/ARM mfg/IC to start ARM evaluation.
Ask me on a different day and I would have a different favourite 
Each has their own advantages and disadvantages - the choice depends a lot on how much money you want to spend and what peripherals you are interested in experimenting with. Typically the more expensive boards have more peripheral devices already connected which eliminates a large part of any development problems.
myetrx:
Hi cfb,Thanks once again.Before I buy the Armmite board,I would like to ask one more question.
Have you worked with ARM eval boards?It would be great if you can suggest a good eval board/ARM mfg/IC to start ARM evaluation.Have you used ARMmite board & find it pretty well to carry out evaluation as well as building small projects?
If you get the Armite, get the newer Armitepro and the 5v usb interface.
The ArmitePro will get you learning faster, if its your first run with embedded cpus. You can use the basic, or reload it with C. I recommend the C code.
But you will quickly run into limitations as its a cpu with no addons. You will likely need/want buttons, lcd, sd card etc.
Coridium also has a yahoo group here:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ARMexpress/
For more versatiltiy one of the LPC2148 cards is more expansive (and expensive).
I have done all that over the past 2 years, and now am ramping up on Cortex-M3. They have more features and are cheaper. They are however much more difficult to start with. I am waiting to see on eof the new LPC1300 series chips.
Also its not so much the processor as the software and debugger. I prefer OpenOCD, as I dislike proprietary debugger hw. Also I am cheap, so I cannot afford material like that as well as $$$ compilers.