usbtiny avr programmer RESET pin behavior

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1

Hi, I have a usbtiny programmer by sparkfun, When i purchased the device i was able to program attinys without any issues, The reset pin is kept low at all times, i am able to burn the bootloader to the attiny85 chip or download a sketch, only if i use a 10K pullup resistor from the reset pin to vcc, otherwise i get timeout errors messages. I don’t remember making any changes other than switching from windows7 to linux mint 18.3.

Thanks in advance.

Without the pullup resistor.

FAILED

 Using Port                    : usb
         Using Programmer              : usbtiny
avrdude: usbdev_open(): Found USBtinyISP, bus:device: 006:002
         AVR Part                      : ATtiny85
         Chip Erase delay              : 400000 us
         PAGEL                         : P00
         BS2                           : P00
         RESET disposition             : possible i/o
         RETRY pulse                   : SCK
         serial program mode           : yes
         parallel program mode         : yes
         Timeout                       : 200
         StabDelay                     : 100
         CmdexeDelay                   : 25
         SyncLoops                     : 32
         ByteDelay                     : 0
         PollIndex                     : 3
         PollValue                     : 0x53
         Memory Detail                 :

                                  Block Poll               Page                       Polled
           Memory Type Mode Delay Size  Indx Paged  Size   Size #Pages MinW  MaxW   ReadBack
           ----------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
           eeprom        65    12     4    0 no        512    4      0  4000  4500 0xff 0xff
           flash         65     6    32    0 yes      8192   64    128 30000 30000 0xff 0xff
           signature      0     0     0    0 no          3    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           lock           0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           lfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           hfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           efuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           calibration    0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00

         Programmer Type : USBtiny
         Description     : USBtiny simple USB programmer, https://learn.adafruit.com/usbtinyisp
avrdude: programmer operation not supported

avrdude: Using SCK period of 10 usec
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

An error occurred while uploading the sketch
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x00ffff
avrdude: Expected signature for ATtiny85 is 1E 93 0B
         Double check chip, or use -F to override this check.

avrdude done.  Thank you.

With pullup resistor.

SUCCESS

Using Port                    : usb
         Using Programmer              : usbtiny
avrdude: usbdev_open(): Found USBtinyISP, bus:device: 006:002
         AVR Part                      : ATtiny85
         Chip Erase delay              : 400000 us
         PAGEL                         : P00
         BS2                           : P00
         RESET disposition             : possible i/o
         RETRY pulse                   : SCK
         serial program mode           : yes
         parallel program mode         : yes
         Timeout                       : 200
         StabDelay                     : 100
         CmdexeDelay                   : 25
         SyncLoops                     : 32
         ByteDelay                     : 0
         PollIndex                     : 3
         PollValue                     : 0x53
         Memory Detail                 :

                                  Block Poll               Page                       Polled
           Memory Type Mode Delay Size  Indx Paged  Size   Size #Pages MinW  MaxW   ReadBack
           ----------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
           eeprom        65    12     4    0 no        512    4      0  4000  4500 0xff 0xff
           flash         65     6    32    0 yes      8192   64    128 30000 30000 0xff 0xff
           signature      0     0     0    0 no          3    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           lock           0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           lfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           hfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           efuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  9000  9000 0x00 0x00
           calibration    0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00

         Programmer Type : USBtiny
         Description     : USBtiny simple USB programmer, https://learn.adafruit.com/usbtinyisp
avrdude: programmer operation not supported

avrdude: Using SCK period of 10 usec
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e930b (probably t85)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
         To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: Using SCK period of 10 usec
avrdude: reading input file "/tmp/arduino_build_228928/BlinkWithoutDelay.ino.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (620 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.61s

avrdude: 620 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against /tmp/arduino_build_228928/BlinkWithoutDelay.ino.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file /tmp/arduino_build_228928/BlinkWithoutDelay.ino.hex:
avrdude: input file /tmp/arduino_build_228928/BlinkWithoutDelay.ino.hex contains 620 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.51s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 620 bytes of flash verified

avrdude done.  Thank you.
2

If you switch back to the Windows 7 computer do you get the same results? It could be an issue with the computer, or that something is wrong with the programmer.

It would be best to fall back to a known working computer to see if the issue is with your Linux PC or with the programmer.

3

Thanks for replying back, sadly i get the same results.

4

OK, it sounds like you might have a bad programmer.

If you purchased this directly from us, please fill out the form on the right hand side of [this page to start the return/RMA process. Don’t forget to enter your SparkFun order or invoice number in the form and if you know the part number, enter that as well. In the Why do you want an RMA? section, enter the URL for this forum post so the returns processor can see what troubleshooting steps have been taken.

If you purchased the part from a distributor of ours, you will need to contact them for a replacement.](Return Policy - SparkFun Electronics)