Tiny programmer and ATTiny85 problems

Development Boards Development Tools
1

I bought a Sparkfun Tiny AVR Programmer and some ATTiny85 and just spent (wasted) an entire morning trying to get my Win10 machine with Arduino IDE to work with it. The devices came with no documentation whatsoever!

I think I have the correct drivers loaded using Zadig (Win 10 reports OK) and I have loaded the ATTTiny Core v 1.5.2 into the IDE board manager. IDE asks for which device I’m using and there are several options that include ATTiny85 and I have no idea which to select. If I select a no bootloader option it asks me to choose a programmer, but again I have no idea which of several to select. When I plug the programmer into the PC the device manager registers its presence, but there is no power-on LED on the board indicating that it is “alive”. Is this normal?

Is there a simple, step by step guide anywhere that is up-to-date and spells out exactly which options should be chosen?

2

I am sorry to hear that you have run into some road blocks using our product.

There is a “DOCUMENTS” tab on the product page which has a comprehensive guide showing you how to use the Tiny AVR Programmer.

I have added a photo of where you can locate it.

For the full guide go here:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ti … 16EALw_wcB

I hope this helps. Let me know if I can do anything else.

Documents for Tiny AVR Programmer.png
Documents for Tiny AVR Programmer.png1920×1986 295 KB

3

I read the documents and none of them answered my questions.

Have I loaded the correct board file into the IDE?

Which ATTiny85 board (of several) should I select?

Which programmer should be selected in IDE?

Also, is there a power on LED on the board that should illuminate? Nothing lights up on my board when it’s plugged in.

I have the Sparkfun USB board for the Pro Mini and that works fine with minimal difficulty, and was well documented.

4

The guide was written by SparkFun’s engineers to get the product working and the guide does work. Perhaps I can help out with one thing at a time.

1: Provide a screen shot of the board files you have installed and I can direct you further.

2: The tutorial states “ATtin85 (internal 8 MHz clock)”.

3: ATtiny85. Tutorial shows this.

4: “Time for the Blink sketch! The Tiny AVR Programmer has an on-board LED, connected to the ATtiny, which we can use to verify that code on the IC is running. The LED is connected to pin 0 in the Arduino environment” - Tutorial states this. There is no power indicator LED, unfortunately.

5

here is a screenshot showing the board selection. ATtin85(internal. . . . etc) is not on the list.

ATtiny.png
ATtiny.png1366×768 316 KB

6

In our tutorial we use the “attiny by David A. Mellis” definitions I believe. http://highlowtech.org/?p=1695 - That might be the issue, perhaps.

I believe the first error is due to no COM port being selected. see : https://support.arduino.cc/hc/en-us/art … t-provided

If you do not see the COM port in device manager/system information it means you may need to properly install drivers. The driver installation instructions are here: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ti … stallation

The second error is due to a bug in the IDE. Nothing to worry about.

7

If you are using the programmer with IDE 2.0-rc6 or older, there is a bug in the software that will not allow uploading without a port selected. The Tiny Programmer has no port. The work around is to use “Upload Using Programmer” in the Sketch Menu. I have never had problems with IDE 1,6 up through 1.8.19. But now that IDE 2.0-rc6 allows programming with the Tiny Programmer and programming teensy 4.1, I no longer need to use the IDE 1.8.19! I hope this helps!

Preston

8

I have gotten the driver installed in my Win10 system. Problem comes with adding the boards to Arduino IDE. I have version 2.1.0 and nothing seems to match up. It all seems to point to the older versions of the IDE. Any suggestions to move forward? I have read through the forums and do not see any good matches.