Firmware update for 1284P on a Mac

null@example.com (atelles) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:39:32 +0000

I ran into some errors trying to update the firmware on a 1284P (for Panelolu) using a Mac.
It could be something weird with my setup, but I don't think so. Anyway I thought to post the problem/solution here so it can help if someone else encounters this problem.

I was following lawsy's guide for the firmware upgrade on https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-marlin

But when I changed the chip to the 1284P and tried to update the firmware, he wouldn't recognize the board. It was visible on the Tools -> Board, but when I tried to upload it, it would fail with the message:

avrdude: AVR Part "atmega1284p" not found.

After searching a while, I figured it out it was probably another avrdude.conf somewhere causing the conflict.
And I found the old file was inside the Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc.

After I copied the correct file to this location, I got a new error:

avrdude: parallel port access not available in this configuration
avrdude: error at avrdude.conf:531: programmer type not specified

This time a found a nice reference that documents both errors: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRapPro_Huxley_maintenance

I edited the avrdude.conf and commented out the lines 521 through 712, and this time it all went well.

SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Firmware update for 1284P on a Mac

Firmware update for 1284P on a Mac