qmk_firmware/LUFA/ManPages/ProgrammingApps.txt

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/** \page Page_ProgrammingApps Programming an Application into a USB AVR
 *
 *  Once you have built an application, you will need a way to program in the resulting ".HEX" file (and, if your
 *  application uses EEPROM variables with initial values, also a ".EEP" file) into your USB AVR. Normally, the
 *  reprogramming an AVR device must be performed using a special piece of programming hardware, through one of the
 *  supported AVR programming protocols - ISP, HVSP, HVPP, JTAG or dW. This can be done through a custom programmer,
 *  a third party programmer, or an official Atmel AVR tool - for more information, see the Atmel.com website.
 *
 *  Alternatively, you can use the bootloader. From the Atmel factory, each USB AVR comes preloaded with the Atmel
 *  DFU (Device Firmware Update) class bootloader, a small piece of AVR firmware which allows the remainder of the
 *  AVR to be programmed through a non-standard interface such as the serial USART port, SPI, or (in this case) USB.
 *  Bootloaders have the advantage of not requiring any special hardware for programming, and cannot usually be erased
 *  or broken without an external programming device. They have disadvantages however; they cannot change the fuses of
 *  the AVR (special configuration settings that control the operation of the chip itself) and a small portion of the
 *  AVR's FLASH program memory must be reserved to contain the bootloader firmware, and thus cannot be used by the
 *  loaded application. Atmel's DFU bootloader is either 4KB (for the smaller USB AVRs) or 8KB (for the larger USB AVRs).
 *
 *  If you wish to use the DFU bootloader to program in your application, refer to your DFU programmer's documentation.
 *  Atmel provides a free utility called FLIP which is USB AVR compatible, and an open source (Linux compatible)
 *  alternative exists called "dfu-programmer".
 */