Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
I'm playing around with adding some extra debug output to the firmware to try to figure out my printer issues. I have the firmware building and exporting hex files, as explained in the github instructions. Should I be flashing 'Firmware.ino.with_bootloader.prusa_einsy_rambo.hex' or 'Firmware.ino.prusa_einsy_rambo.hex' ?
I don't want to put the board into a state where it is un-flashable. Hopefully, if it goes wrong, I can always flash back the official firmware.
Best Answer by madoxlabs:
Yes, they had the same timestamp.
I got an answer though - over USB should use the file without a bootloader. Flashing via the ICSP pins should use the file with a bootloader
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
I don't want to put the board into a state where it is un-flashable. Hopefully, if it goes wrong, I can always flash back the official firmware.
Provided you don't overwrite the boot loader you're golden. If you do then you'll have to use a programmer, if it were Pic based (which it most defiantly is not) you'd need a PicKit2 or similar. I assume there must be that equivalent device(s) for a Mega.
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Thanks for the info 🙂 But, I still don't know: will one of these files overwrite the bootloader? I'm not sure which file is safe to flash.
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Going by the name I would assume (and we all know how dangerous that can be) that 'Firmware.ino.with_bootloader.prusa_einsy_rambo.hex' included the bootloader, so you'd use 'Firmware.ino.prusa_einsy_rambo.hex' where bootloader is intact. Can't say I've ever seen a compiler produce 2 object files. Just out of curiosity what are the files sizes?
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Without bootloader is 623kb. With bootloader is 621kb, which doesn't make a lot of sense haha.
I ended up connecting the Arduino IDE to the printer and using the Sketch > Upload command, which worked fine. I don't know which file it chose to upload though!
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Are you sure that these two files were produced by the same compiler run?
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Yes, they had the same timestamp.
I got an answer though - over USB should use the file without a bootloader. Flashing via the ICSP pins should use the file with a bootloader
RE: Flash hex file with bootloader or without?
Academic now but very odd re files size.