Optiboot makes your Arduino faster, sleeker

Tired of waiting for that Arduino sketch to upload? Find yourself limited by code space? Optiboot eases both of these problems. The package is an alternative bootloader that runs at a higher baud rate (115200 versus 57600) and it takes up 1.5 KB less space than the stock version. This means your sketches can be larger without upgrading to a … Read the rest

Dell Vostro A90 hackintosh

dell_vostro_a90

A friend recently commissioned us to install OSX on a netbook. We advised him to purchase the Dell Vostro A90. It’s essentially a rebadged Dell Mini 9, a model that has been discontinued, but is well suited for OSX. It’s only available with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB RAM, and 16GB SSD. Depending on what deals are available, it’s … Read the rest

Through-hole Bus Pirate kit from Fundamental Logic

bpv1ath

Fundamental Logic is selling a Bus Pirate kit and bare PCB based on our universal serial interface tool. They started with our serial port-based v1a hardware, and modified it to use all through-hole parts.  8pin DIP LP2951ACN/-3.3 switchable voltage regulators replace the surface mount TPS79650/33 that we used. The PIC is pre-programmed with our latest … Read the rest

Bounty on Bus Pirate features, get a free v2 PCB

bpv2

We’re putting a bounty on two high-priority Bus Pirate features. You can get a free PCB for the upcoming Bus Pirate V2 by writing a bit of code. Hack a Day has a varied and talented group of readers, and we know someone out there has the experience to make these changes with minimal difficulty.

  • The latest code integrates the

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wireless bootloading

Tired of having to physically connect to your microprocessor to upload new code? Just do it over a wireless connection. [Nathan] takes us through the process of setting up a wireless bootloader for the ATmega168. He is using the XBee base and remote modules for the wireless communication. While people have been doing wireless bootloading with the Arduino … Read the rest

Archos 5th generation hacked, bigger drive possible

Over at the ArchosFans.com forums, [grond] has posted some screenshots of his cracked archos 5th generation. Using a custom bootloader, they’ve unlocked the ability to swap hard disks as well as some hidden plugins. The plugins seem to be used mainly for dev tools, like core dumps and screenshots, but this opens the door to possible future homebrewed plugins.… Read the rest