arduino IDE >= 1.5 now has different '3rd party vendor' board manager

[bombasticbob]

see https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/wiki/Arduino-IDE-1.5-3rd-party-Hardware-specification

need to support this in the future with single-file download to install this project's files, etc.

[bombasticbob]

also see THIS documentation

https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/wiki/Arduino-Hardware-Cores-migration-guide-from-1.0-to-1.6

[bombasticbob]

• need to create a repository for IDE-related files (for now call it IDE)

• need to create JSON file: https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/wiki/Arduino-IDE-1.6.x-package_index.json-format-specification

• need to create repository snapshots with appropriate boards.txt and platform.txt and avrdude.conf files in them

• need to test using 1.6.x and 1.8.x

  • tested on Linux. FreeBSD works when I use sketchbook/hardware (its hardware manager is broken)
  • still need to test on windows, but should not be a problem

[bombasticbob]

example for tutorial, see https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-ide-setup/arduino-1-dot-6-x-ide

[bombasticbob]

tested on 1.6.12 (FreeBSD) and 1.8.1 (linux 32-bit), seems to work now. THIS is the URL for the JSON file. In the case of FreeBSD, the hardware manager was unusable, and so the solution is to download the snapshot tarball and extract it into ~/sketchbook/hardware. For the 32-bit linux test using 1.8.1, the files were placed within a tree contained in ~/.arduino15/packages . The tree it extracted into has a DIFFERENT structure than the files being placed into ~/sketchbook/hardware, which includes the version number in addition to the platform (i.e. something/avr/version rather than something/avr).

As such, there are TWO tarballs created now for each version, one of which is a 'snapshot' that's the correct structure and compressed using xz compression, with the extension '.txz' and the word 'snapshot' in its name. Example, here:

https://github.com/XMegaForArduino/IDE/raw/master/XMegaForArduino-0.9.1.snapshot.txz

the JSON file is located here:

https://github.com/XMegaForArduino/IDE/raw/master/package_XMegaForArduino_index.json

It has to comply with naming conventions, and currently has only one version in it (0.9.1).

[bombasticbob]

URL to be submitted to

https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/wiki/Unofficial-list-of-3rd-party-boards-support-urls#list-of-3rd-party-boards-support-urls

[bombasticbob]

need to test all platforms - discovered minor spelling error in wiring_analog.c [fixed locally, not yet uploaded]. will be corrected on next 'git push'. only showed up when I built with 1.8.1 though for an xmega128a1u for some reason...

[bombasticbob]

some fixes related to differences between 1.0.x and 1.8.x were done for USB. Otherwise appears to be working fine for Linux using 1.8.x . FreeBSD has a port for 1.6.x which required use of sketchbook/hardware [its hardware manager is either broken or not implemented in the port].

still need to test on windows.

[bombasticbob]

tested on windows using 1.8.1 - works fine, even 32e5