Many have misunderstood the humble bootloader and EEPROM. This video aims to change that, going through each in detail, explaining how they work and how they may affect the end user. Hopefully this video allows beginners to improve their knowledge so they can better troubleshoot potential issues.

Take home points:
A bootloader is a simple piece of software that makes updating firmware easy. It runs when the printer first turns on in case a firmware file is available. It only needs to be burned once and will then be in place for any future updates.

The EEPROM is a way of storing 3D printer settings even after the printer is turned off. Values from the EEPROM are loaded over those hard coded in the firmware, so using M503 to see exactly what the printer is doing is highly recommended, as is issuing an M502 followed by M500 if something seems off.

Arduino bootloader reference: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Hacking/Boo...
Arduino EEPROM reference: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/E...
EEPROM wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEPROM
Marlin EEPROM reference:
M500: https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M500....
M501: https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M501....
M502: https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M502....
M503: https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M503....

Pronterface software: https://www.pronterface.com

3D printing for beginners playlist:    • 3D printing for beginners  
Ender 3 bootloader video:    • Ender 5 bootloader and Marlin update  
Ender 5 bootloader video:    • Ender 3: How to install a bootloader ...  

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