boot loader and firmware

sreejith.s.s · Joined: 24 Jun 2011 Posts: 23 Location: INDIA

hey,
pls any one tell me what is the exact difference between boot loader and firmware. is both are same or not ?. how to program a pic microcontroller ..... i mean how to load a hex file to a pic microcontroller.........pls help me..... Rolling Eyes

PCM programmer · Joined: 06 Sep 2003 Posts: 21708

Read the following links:

Bootloader? What is that for?!!
http://www.ccsinfo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49989

Look at all the FAQ articles on programmers:
http://www.ccsinfo.com/faq.php

Ttelmah · Joined: 11 Mar 2010 Posts: 19496

Read PCM's links, then as a further 'comment':
_Everything_ you load into a PIC, is 'firmware'. Firmware is a generic term for software that is programmed into a chip, rather than being read off an external media such as a disk drive. The PIC in 99% of it's versions only supports 'firmware'. On your PC, you have firmware to boot the machine (the BIOS), and firmware in lots of peripherals (keyboard, mouse, video card etc.). The PC BIOS contains a bootloader, but unlike a PIC bootloader that you run only when needed to update the rest of the firmware, the PC bootloader loads stuff from the start of the 'boot device' (normally your HD), to load the rest of the code to run the machine, every time you switch on, into RAM (software, rather than firmware).
The BIOS is programmed by your PC manufacturer at the factory.
The PIC only runs code (normally) from it's ROM, so everything you run is firmware.

Best Wishes

sreejith.s.s · Joined: 24 Jun 2011 Posts: 23 Location: INDIA

thanks..........

temtronic · Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:25 am

I consider 'firmware' to be any program('software') that can be put into a computer several times,meaning that the PIC( or other computer) can be reprogrammed.
Some PICs can be factory 'burned',meaning you better be right the first and ONLY time you can program them!Early memory devices were the same, a one shot deal, where actual fuses were blown.
A 'bootloader' is just a small program that allows other,bigger programs to be read into the computer. Today, it's 'burned' into an area of EEPROM, in the good old days it was made from a matrix of silicon diodes.