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by sidewndr46 1568 days ago
What? Why couldn't an MCU interface with my computer? It's not like it has special electrons or something in it. I regularly program atmega chips with a cable I made that plugs into the parallel port on the back of any computer that has one. If you have a couple GPIO pins on a motherboard, you can probably program almost any MCU with with it.

The only exception is if the motherboard GPIO was say 3.3v and you had a 1.8v only MCU, but level shifters aren't exactly expensive.
1 comments
ticklemyelmo 1568 days ago
So do you jam the chip into the parallel port? Or do you...use an adapter?
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selcuka 1568 days ago
I don't see the difference if it's just a parallel cable. Do you jam an STM32 into a USB port?
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lmm 1568 days ago
> Do you jam an STM32 into a USB port?

I unplug my phone for a moment, or use one of several identical cables I have lying around. If this thing needs a dedicated cable then that seems just as annoying in practice as needing a dedicated "programmer" box.

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