Difference between revisions of "Ordering ATmega"

Latest revision as of 20:09, 16 July 2010

From the start of the project MegaDrum was made available for free to anyone for non-commercial use, see MegaDrum Copyright notice for details. Until May 2010 all new MegaDrum firmware versions were published in open format, i.e. anybody could download the latest MegaDrum firmware file and program his/her ATmega with it. Unfortunately, the open MegaDrum firmware format was commercially abused. As a result I had to implement a protection mechanism. From June 2010 onwards all MegaDrum firmware files are published in encrypted format. These new firmware files can only be loaded with a new, protected, bootloader. To keep this new bootloader secure, it must be programmed into ATmega by me. This means that to be able to load new firmware versions you will need to get ATmega MCU from me. I should make it clear here:

• I have no intention of profiting from this.
• I'll try to make the process of getting ATmega with the protected bootloader as cheap as possible so that the cost of ATmega MCU still constitutes a small part of the total cost of building the whole MegaDrum module by a DIYer.

To make the cost of getting ATmega as cheap as possible I recommend you to organise a bulk order as it was done in ATmega bulk order on the forum. In this case, provided the cost of the chip on Farnell UK stays the same, getting one ATmega644-20PU MCU will cost:

• Uninsured postage to EU, Russia (and maybe CIS countries): £10.43
• Insured postage to EU, Russia (and maybe CIS countries): £14.63
• Uninsured postage to the rest of the world: £11.48
• Insured postage to the rest of the world: £15.68

(See price break down for detail) Of course it will require some time to get together a few people to qualify for a Farnell bulk order discount.

If you don't want to wait you can request an ATmega chip from me on your own. In this case it will cost £4 more. Please, send me a PM over the forum to request an ATmega chip individually.