6 replies to this topic

[Lars Jessen]

I am new to the Netduino platform. We are considering using it for a commercial data logger project where we need to produce a hundred units. I am wondering whether there is a way to efficiently deploy a program to many units? With the Arduino for instance there you can make a .hex file and then deploy that over ICSP. Is there a similar approach that can be used for fast deployment on the netduino platform? /lars

[Chris Walker]

Hi Lars, Absolutely. .NET MF makes this easy. Step 1: Deploy your project to a Netduino using Visual Studio like normal. Step 2: Open up MFDeploy, go to the Target Menu and select "Application Deployment > Create Application Deployment". Save your current app as a HEX file. Step 3: Now, flash that HEX file to as many Netduinos as you'd like. You can also grab our "Netduino Update" code sample from the Mono forum and use that to script automated deployment. One thing to remember: the HEX files include an offset for your code. This offset is specific to the board you're using (Netduino vs Netduino Plus vs Netduino Mini). So just be sure not to try to reflash Netduino Plus HEX files to Netduinos, etc. Chris

[Lars Jessen]

Thanks for the quick reply Chris. That sounds great. Is the flashing of the chip always done over USB or is there ICSP option as well?

[Chris Walker]

Thanks for the quick reply Chris. That sounds great.

Is the flashing of the chip always done over USB or is there ICSP option as well?

ARM doesn't use "ICSP" like AVR chips. The flashing is always done over USB or serial. If you have your Netduinos configured in "serial deployment" mode, you can use COM1 on pins 1/2...although USB is _much_ faster.

Chris

[Lars Jessen]

Ok. I presume that I can follow this approach when flashing a blank AT91SAM7X512 chip - no need to put on bootloader first. Is that correct?

[Chris Walker]

I presume that I can follow this approach when flashing a blank AT91SAM7X512 chip - no need to put on bootloader first. Is that correct?

Yes and no. You can flash BIN files to the AT91SAM7X micros using SAM-BA. But SAM-BA loads the whole thing into RAM before writing it out. So you're limited to <100KB. There are ways around this, but they're untested.

My personal recommendation if using blank AT91SAM7X512 chips is to load the Netduino's TinyBooter bootloader using SAM-BA (or scripted SAM-BA) and then use C# code to deploy the Netduino firmware and your app.

Chris

[Lars Jessen]

Ok - thank you so much for your help.