newbie 1st try

By flashing motherboard, I assume you mean the BIOS - that’s a walk in the park compared to some of this stuff, at times. :wink:

Most of the drivers that I’ve come across - whether it’s a buck, boost or neither (if such a thing exists) most appear to use an ATtiny13A atmel chip to provide the PWM signal to something downstream to provide the different output levels (dimming). The datasheet for the ATtiny13A is useful - http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/268/doc8126-1066157.pdf , for the pinouts initially, if nothing else. And more later if\when you get into writing code.

There’s quite a nbr of firmwares (the code to flash the ATtiny13A chip) on here - Guide: how to flash ATtiny13a based drivers (NANJG, QLITE, etc.) with custom firmware is defintely something to read. You do need a USBasp programmer, these are cheap as chips on eBay. Some folk provide pre-complied HEX files, but you’d be stuck with whatever values they set as opposed to ones you may want.

Most folk who provide the firmware provide the “.c” file, which you can edit in a text editor and convert (compile) and get a “flash” that’s just how you want it.

The clip is useful - if you are going to use the ATtiny13A versions (and possibly others) that have the legs visible as opposed to the even smaller ones that don’t. For what a generic clip costs - I’d get one.

You can either go down the road of buying drivers in and flashing them the firmware of your choice or build a driver - there are published boards on the site that you can order in from OSH Park.

HIH

Dibs