I bought a USB breakout board to replace the NerdKit USB dongle and serial TTL converter board. It was really cheap on EBay (USB To TTL Converter Module cp2102 arm9 max232) and I could not refuse.

I have been able to get it to work communicating with UART (send data to and from PC) without issues, but I can not load a script (C code) on to the MCU as I have to change something in the MAKEFILE I am assuming. Basically I have to use the NErdKit header to program the ATmega168, then I can use the USB board I bought without problems.

UPDATE: Got it working fully! I had to make the COM12 lower, I forced it to use COM5 ("in use" from NerdKit serial header but not used anymore for PC) and everything works great now!

It is a really handy board. It supplies power to the breadboard (USB powered). It is about 10% the size (5% the weight) of the NerdKit reader/writer/header and can be easily added to any project to make it a real USB device. Now we can also get rid of the 5volt voltage regulator as the USB supplies either 3.3V or 5V that is safe for our kit. Even if I cannot figure out how to use it on the NerdKit for programming a preloaded bootloader MCU, it will still be a grat add-on to include with projects I create (although I am sure it is a simple thing to make it work as a header to load C code to MCU).

• Built-in USB to RS232 Transfer chip.
• Designed to be used for USB to TTL electronic applications.
• TTL interface output, easy to connect to your MCU.
• Power LED.
• STA LED.
• Dual 3.3V and 5V Power output, work with both 3.3v and 5v target devices.
• Compact design.
• Dimension: 40mmx15mm.
• High Quality

ERROR - NEED HELP:

See this line in our MAKEFILE; AVRDUDEFLAGS=-c avr109 -p m168 -b 115200 -P COM12, the "avr109" lets the kit know we are setting up for suitable connection for NerdKit. If we change the avr109 to "pada", then it attempts to look for a printer port ("stk500" and "avrispmkII" is for a type of ISP, other words that can be used "ponyser", "jtag1"). I need to know what word I need to replace "avr109" with to get it to program to my new USB board.

When I try to upload any code to my MCU get this error:

make: *** [project-upload] Error 1

I:\DRIVERS\NERDKITS.com\Code\Code\initialload>make
avrdude -c avr109 -p m168 -b 115200 -P COM12 -U flash:w:project.hex:a
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "COM12": The system cannot find the file
specified.

make: *** [project-upload] Error 1