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Is there any way of reducing the size of the preloaded Arduino bootloader, to save some bytes for the program?

powtac
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  • @james the bootloader. – powtac Apr 22 '13 at 10:51
  • If you mean that you want to use the same firmware, then no. If you want to use another bootloader, or no bootloader at all, then there's a series of questions on that. – Polar Apr 19 '13 at 20:07
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    You ask abou the Arduino, but the link you provided is for the USB to Serial chip on the board, not the main processor. So can you clarify what you are trying to reduce the size of? – baldengineer Apr 20 '13 at 18:39
  • did you mean the boot loader or the libraries that come with the Arduino IDE? –  Apr 19 '13 at 16:48
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    To those people closing this as off-topic, if you wish to get the [faq] changed to remove the reference to *firmware*, I would suggest that you start a [meta] discussion. – Mark Booth Apr 30 '13 at 08:07
  • @MarkBooth thanks for clearing that. I was really wondering what's wrong with my question. – powtac Apr 30 '13 at 08:10
  • @powtac - It might help if you explained what you have already tried, take a look at [ask] for tips on how to write a great question. – Mark Booth Apr 30 '13 at 08:33
  • To people who voted to close, at least provide a reason *why* is this *off-topic*. – asheeshr Apr 30 '13 at 10:07
  • OK, if you want to split hairs, it isn't really off-topic, but it is definitely "not a real question". If you want to reduce the size of an existing piece of software, you at least need to specify which bits of functionality you are willing to give up, or demonstrate which parts of the existing implementation you believe to be coded in a space-wasting way. Either of which would probably make the question "too localized", so there really isn't any good way to save it. Easier to just say "off-topic" and leave it at that. – Dave Tweed Apr 30 '13 at 11:45
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    Thanks @DaveTweed - but it might have helped *powtac* if you had mentioned this sooner rather than voting to close without comment. If a question is below quality standards then the questioner should be encouraged to improve it rather than just closing. That's why the `[ask]`, `[answer]`, `[about]` and `[faq]` comment link markup options are so useful. They allow you to very quickly and easily point people in the right direction, i.e. [ask], [answer], [about] & [faq]. – Mark Booth Apr 30 '13 at 12:02

2 Answers2

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There is an actively developed free and open-source Arduino bootloader / firmware called OptiBoot, that might be of interest. From their site:

Optiboot is a quarter of the size of the default bootloader, freeing 1.5k of extra space.

Many Arduino / clone boards now ship with OptiBoot instead of the classic Arduino firmware, though not necessarily with the latest and greatest version of OptiBoot. Existing boards can also be upgraded with OptiBoot if desired, procedures are documented at the linked site.

Also worth a look are the various bootloader enhancements on the AdaFruit web site. Not having personal experience with these, I can't really say much about AdaBoot, though.

Anindo Ghosh
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  • I've been using the AdaFruit bootloader. Pretty happy with it, and the fact that it is in C lets me modify it more easily to suit my needs. – angelatlarge Apr 30 '13 at 08:18
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It is possible to bypass the Arduino firmware (bootloader) by flashing your programs with another programmer (e.g. the USBtinyISP programmer)

As far as I know you can still use the Arduino IDE to write your program. But you have to install a "plugin" so you can directly flash your code to the board which makes smaller programs.

But:

You will not be able to flash using USB. You have to re-flash the Arduino bootloader using the USBtinyISP. (for me it worked all well and I had no problems at all)

Hope that helps

Anindo Ghosh
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  • The "You will not be able to flash using USB" comment is a bit misleading: USBtinyISP works over USB, so technically it is flashing over USB – angelatlarge Apr 30 '13 at 16:23