I’ve updated the Atmega644P/1284P core for the Arduino IDE 1.5.8: if you’re using this version, you have to update the core because the previous one, for the Arduino IDE 1.5.7, isn’t compatible anymore due to the rewriting of the SPI library (expand the article for the link).
Software Serial.
The SoftwareSerial file in the mega4x directory is not accurate, at 57600 it is actually running at 58250. I copied the Arduino SoftwareSerial file from the root directory, and it now runs at the proper speed.
This came to light because I have a UNO on one end and 1284 on the other, before I replaced the library I had to run the UNO at 53500 baud.
MikeB