My USBtinyISP doesn't work

USB AVR Programmer and SPI interface. Adafruit's USBtinyISP.

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My USBtinyISP doesn't work

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Answering the questions from the How to get help post:

1) I purchased my USBtiny kit from Adafruit and soldered it together according to the instructions.
2) Mac OS X 10.8.4 (I don't think that is my problem).
3) Environment and micro: Arduino 018 and a Sparkfun FIO (Atmega328).
4) The USBtinyISP never worked. When I plug it in to the USB port on the Mac, the green light doesn't come on and the Mac doesn't see any new ports (in Arduino 018). When I test pins 10 and 20 of the micro with my multimeter it shows 5 volts. I suspect there's something wrong with the ATtiny micro, but I'm willing to try whatever is suggested.
5) Screenshots aren't necessary (yet).
6) Pics attached.
Thanks for any help that can be given.
Image
Image

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Try downloading and running AVRFuses: http://www.vonnieda.org/software/avrfuses

That's another front-end to avrdude, the command-line utility that does most of the actual work. IIRC, there's some kind of communication issue between the USBtinyISP and OS X that prevents them from noticing each other when you plug in the USB cable. AVRFuses is more willing to force the issue, so you can execute a 'Read' command that opens the connection without changing any of the information on the chip.

Once AVRFuses does its magic, the Arduino IDE should be able to see the USBtinyISP as well.

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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by details »

I'm a little confused by your response. Currently the green power LED on the USBtinyISP doesn't come on. If that LED doesn't come on doesn't that mean the code on the Attyiny2313 isn't running?

Or are you saying that once the Mac and the USBtinyISP see each other, that the code on the Attyiny2313 will run correctly and the green LED will light up?

Thanks for your assistance.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

details wrote:Or are you saying that once the Mac and the USBtinyISP see each other, that the code on the Attyiny2313 will run correctly and the green LED will light up?
Yes - sometimes, you need to make OSX talk to it, using avrdude or Mike's suggestion, before the green light will come on.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

As a point of clarification: the green LED means "the link to the computer has been established", not "we have power". The red LED means "we're currently transmitting data to the microcontroller".

The USBtinyISP doesn't have a power LED per se.

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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by details »

I finally got a chance to try and get AVRFuses and see if it would work. I couldn't get it to work with the version of avrdude in my Arduino install, so I downloaded a fresh copy of avrdude (6.0.1).

With the new copy of avrdude installed, AVRFuses could see the USBtinyISP and was able to read the Flash and write a new .hex file to disk.

The green LED never lit up but the red LED lights up while the command is executing (~30 seconds) and then turns off and AVRFuses reports success. Does it matter that the green LED doesn't light up?

I ran the Arduino IDE after running AVRFuses and was apparently able to write a bootloader to the ATmega328 using the IDE. Arduino reported success so I'll call it a success. Hurray!

Thanks for guiding me to AVRFuses. Are there any other utilities like this for OS X?

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Re: My USBtinyISP doesn't work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

details wrote:The green LED never lit up but the red LED lights up while the command is executing (~30 seconds) and then turns off and AVRFuses reports success. Does it matter that the green LED doesn't light up?
If the rest of the loading sequence works, not really.

That sounds more like an LED failure than a communications failure though. Re-check your PCB to make sure the LED was inserted the right way around, and that the solder joints are good.
details wrote:I ran the Arduino IDE after running AVRFuses and was apparently able to write a bootloader to the ATmega328 using the IDE. Arduino reported success so I'll call it a success. Hurray!
Good to hear.
details wrote:Thanks for guiding me to AVRFuses. Are there any other utilities like this for OS X?
That's the only GUI-based one I know. Most people use the Arduino IDE, and the ones who want more direct control install CrossPack and work from the command line: http://www.obdev.at/products/crosspack/index.html

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