Hi I have a ISP500 programmer from Olimex (STK500v2 compatible) compatible. https://www.olimex.com/Products/AVR/Pro … VR-ISP500/. But I have a hunch that I broke it, but I have no idea how to verify that. I am using it on a Mac with CrossPack and AVRFuses. First time I tried it I connected all the cables correctly and it worked fine. E.g. I could read the fuse settings in AVRFuses (GUI wrapper around avrdude). I could also send over a demo program created with the CrossPack command avr-project. Of course I had to edit the makefile so it contained my programmer, serial device etc.
The second instance I tried to use it I built a more complicated circuit and I connected all the cables to the programmer completely wrong. It took me a while before I realized it was all connected wrong. I got the error message below pretty much whatever I did. I tried not plugging in any cables at all and still got the same error message.
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): warning: Command timed out
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
this check.
Despite disconnecting all other parts of the circuit and connecting the lines correctly I kept getting the same error message. I have checked and double checked the connections. I have supplying a +5V to pin 2 (target Vcc) on the ISP6 connector of the programmer and I have tried without supplying external voltage. When I got it working the first time I did in fact not supply any external voltage.
When I try to read the fuses or transfer a program, The steady green light on the programmer goes blank and then blinks red for a short time before returning to green. The error message is always the same.
So I was thinking maybe I can check if the programmer works by connecting it to my arduino and attempt to read fuses e.g. Would that be away of testing it? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.