| Addendum Part-1 | |
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| FORUM | Exchange information about this project at http://kitsandparts.com/fluxbb |
| Hardware Requirements |
Minimum requirements for a practical and speedy Linux machine are at least 512 Megs of RAM and a 1 GigHz CPU, either Intel or AMD. A R/W CD optical drive, a R/W DVD drive prefered.
At least one USB-2.0 port and one Serial Port is also prefered but not required. At least a 40 Meg HD. A 3.5" Diskette Drive is not required.
A minimum of 800x600 Video capability. LAN and/or WiFi capabilities. Sound capabilities are nice but not required.
You will need a PROGRAMMER to upload software from the PC to the AVR microcontroller. There are several devices available but I am recommending the ATAVRISP2 programmer (available from http://digikey.com part# ATAVRISP2-ND $34.00 You will need a circuit board and parts to complete the project. A high quality Printed Circuit Board will be available for $5.00 and a complete development kit will be available from http://kitsandparts.com for an estimated cost of about $15.00 |
| Download MINT |
Download the Linux Mint ISO installation file from http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/stable/7/LinuxMint-7.iso and then validate the downloaded file by running an MD5 program. A MD5 program is available free from http://download.cnet.com/MD5-Checker/3000-2092_4-10410639.html and from me at http://w8diz.com/qq-fc-project/part-1/md5.zip It works for both Windows and Linux(via Wine). The MD5 value is "64e2a290fb51f8e7a9d058355fe93d0e". Note that there is a MD5 checksum program that is included with Linux Mint installations called md5sum. |
| Install MINT |
Follow the instructions using this PDF file: http://www.w8diz.com/qq-fc-project/part-1/mint_7_gloria.pdf |
| Explore Desktop Menu |
Place your Mouse Cursor over the word Menu in the lower left corner of your Desktop. The pop-up should display your Linux Mint version number. Now click (once only) on the word Menu. Your Linux Mint Menu should pop-up. Click on Favorites or All applications in the upper right corner of the Menu; Repeat. These are your two Views of the Linux Mint Menu. You can add or remove applications to and from the Favorites Meny by right-clicking the Menu application and selection the desired action. Look at the Filter: input field at the bottom of the Menu. Type the word music in the input field and notice that as you type, the available Menu options become limited until you only have menu options that include the word music. |
| Desktop ICONS |
All installed programs are available to run from the Menu. In addition to the Menu, you may wish to install Icons on the bottom toolbar or on the Desktop. Activate your All applications menu. click on Internet, drag the Firefox Web Browser to the bottom toolbar. Repeat but drag the icon to your Desktop. To activate Firefox from the Desktop, double-click it. To activate from the toolbar, just click it once. Right click any Icon to manage it. Speaking of Firefox, here is a tip to prevent accidental closing of tabbed browser windows: Activate the Firefox Browser and enter about:config in the URL input field. In the Filter: field, type tabs, then double-click browser.tabs.closeButtons and change the value from one to zero. |
| Terminal | The Terminal program is similar to the u$ Windows "CMD" or DOS command. By executing Linux commands through a Terminal window, you have full control of your Linux PC. Activate your All applications menu. click on Accessories, drag the Terminal icon to the bottom toolbar. Click on the Terminal icon once. A window should pop-up, ready for you to type a command at the "$" prompt. Note that all commands and file references are case sensitive. help is not the same as Help. Try the following commands: [whois arrl.org] [ls -la] [pwd] [stty -a </dev/ttyS0]. The last command checks the status of your COM1 serial port. |
| Screen Captures |
Hit the Print Screen key to take a screenshot of the whole screen Alt Print Screen takes a screenshot of the current window. These screenshots may be saved to your Desktop or elsewhere and then edited using the included image editor called gimp. |
| Install WINE |
Wine allows you to run Windows software on Linux. You can read about Wine at http://www.winehq.org/ To install Wine, click on the Menu in the lower left corner of your Desktop. Under System, click on Package manager When prompted, enter the Linux Mint system password. Type the word Wine into the Quick search input field at the top of the screen. Select the Wine package by clicking in the Wine box and in the pop-up, select and click on Mark for installation Now click on Apply in the tool bar near the top of the screen. When the pop-up Mark additional required changes shows, click on the Mark button. Again, click on Apply in the tool bar near the top of the screen. When the pop-up Apply the following changes shows, click on the Apply button. The Package manager will now install Wine. When the pop-up Changes applied shows, click on the Close button. Now close the Synaptic Package Manager window. Reboot your Linux Mint PC by clicking on the Menu, under System, click on Quit, in the pop-up, click on Restart. Wine is now installed on your Linux Mint PC. |
| Install Printer |
My Printer is a BROTHER Model MFC-8460N. It prints, copies, scans, faxes and connects to the Linux Mint PC via a CAT5 LAN(local area network) cable. Click on Menu followed by System Control center. Under Hardware, click Printing and select the New icon. Now select the connection type. In my case I selected Network Printer and saw my Brother printer listed. Double click your printer type and the system will search for the correct drivers on-line. Follow the instructions to finish the installation. Print a TEST PAGE to verify the install. To install software to activate the Scanner portion of my printer, I installed a program called XSane Install XSane by following the instructions for the Wine install. |
| Install ExpressPCB |
ExpressPCB is a free Windows schematic capture and PCB layout program that is available from http://expresspcb.com/ExpressPCBBin/ExpressPCBSetup.exe. ExpressPCB runs on Linux using the Wine program installed in the topic above. Download ExpressPCB for XP, 2000 & NT to your Desktop. To install the expressPCB programs, you must first have Wine installed on your Linux Mint PC. To start the installation of expressPCB, run the Terminal program. Click on Menu, click on Terminal located under System. At the "~ $" prompt, type cd Des, then hit the Tab key. Notice the command line auto-completes to display cd Desktop/ Now hit the Enter key. At the ~/Desktop $ prompt, type wine Ex and hit the Tab key. At this point, Wine will start the installation of expressPCB. Install using the default options. When the installation is complete, close the Terminal program. You should now notice 4 new icons on your Desktop. Delete the 2 icons named ExpressSCH.lnk and ExpressPCB.lnk. Click each icon once with the mouse and hit the Delete key. To test your installation, double-click the ExpressSCH.desktop or ExpressPCB.desktop icon. A pop-up may show; Untrusted application launcher; click on the Launch anyway icon. Instructions for ExpressPCB and ExpressSCH will be available in a future chapter. Limited instructions are available from the program's Help menu. |
| Install AVRA |
AVRA is a free advanced AVR macro assembler used to write and compile code for the ATmel line of AVR microcontrollers. To install AVRA, use the same procedure that you used to install Wine. Note that you do not need to reboot the PC. To test AVRA, open a Terminal window and type avra at the prompt and hit the Enter key. |
| Install AVRDUDE |
AVRDUDE is a free program used to upload and download AVR code files between your PC and an ATmel AVR target (in our case the Freq Ctr). To install AVRDUDE, use the same procedure that you used to install Wine. Note that you do not need to reboot the PC. To test AVRDUDE, open a Terminal window and type avrdude at the prompt and hit the Enter key. |
| Errata Part-1 | |
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| Part-2 |
"The NEXT ARTICLE (Part-2): Install ATmel tools on Linux for development, including AVRA and AVRDUDE.
Also, a short course in Assembler Language using the ATmel ATtiny2313-20PU. Learning by doing, a beginner's project to make an LED blink exactly once per second" "Design a Freq Counter and create a schematic using free tools from http://expresspcb.com" |