Sam_I_Am

If you're looking for an application that allows you to communicate with Atmel AT91SAM7S microcontrollers on Linux systems using a USB connection, look no further than Sam_I_Am. This handy tool runs under Linux and connects with the microcontroller over a USB connection.

Developers using Sam_I_Am have a range of features at their disposal. They are able to read and write memory/peripheral locations, send and receive Intel HEX format files to either RAM or FLASH, execute code on the microcontroller, and display microcontroller peripheral status.

To use Sam_I_Am, you will need to ensure that you have a Linux kernel 2.4 or 2.6 with USB generic serial or Communication Device Class drivers available as modules, as well as Python 2.3 or higher. Once you have these requirements in place, installation is easy: simply run "python setup.py install" as root.

When it comes time to run Sam_I_Am, you have two options: "/usr/local/bin/Sam_I_Am" or "/usr/bin/Sam_I_Am."

If you've used Sam_I_Am in the past, you'll be pleased to know that the latest release has fixed a bug that prevented go commands from properly executing in some cases when it was the last command specified on the command line. Additionally, the info aic command has had the sense of external and internal interrupt sources reversed in the AIC_SMRx register. The info tc command has also had the TIOA and TIOB sources reversed when displaying external trigger sources, and the help flash command mistakenly said the command was used to program RAM.

All in all, if you need to communicate with Atmel AT91SAM7S microcontrollers on Linux systems using USB, Sam_I_Am is an excellent tool that is easy to use and comes with a range of helpful features.