Sparkfun Pocket AVR Programmer

This is perfect! My arduino got into a weird state where it wouldn't reset or take any new programming. Who knows what I did, I'm new and still learning. I wasn't sure how to fix it. I even though I might need a new Aruino board. Then I decided that reloading the bootloader would be worth a shot. It turned out to be super straightforward to use this with the Arduino IDE. It reloaded my Aruino Uno bootloader on the first go. Now my Arduino board is right as rain and back on track. I loved how easy it was to use this AVR Programmer and how it helped solve my problem.

This AVR programmer is awesome! Now I can buy inexpensive, blank ATMEGA 328 chips and easily install my own boot loader! sparkfun (dot com) has an excellent tutorial on using this device as an ISP (in-system programmer) for the Aruduino Uno. Although there's a lot of description text there (you can use this little guy in MANY different ways)... the simplest for me was a single picture they have of wiring the Arudino to this programmer. Yes, it comes with a ribbon cable, but I have a Arduino Uno Zebra Case (Black Ice) and the ribbon cable doesn't fit in the cutout hole, and I didn't feel like disassembling it. In short, on the Arudino: Vcc/5v - Red - Pin 2 Gnd - Black - Pin 6 MOSI - Green - Pin 4 MISO - Yellow - Pin 1 SCK - Blue - Pin 3 Reset - Gray - Pin 5 And on this device: Vcc - Red - pin 2 Gnd - Black - Pin 6 MOSI - Green - Pin 1 MISO - Yellow - Pin 9 SCK - Blue - Pin 7 Reset - Gray - Pin 5 This is product 9825 on the sparkfun web site, and they have a pdf of the schematic. Once connected, it is a simple matter of selecting (from Arudiino IDE) Tools - Programmer - (choose USBTinyISP) Then: Burn - Boot loader I did all this from my Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Project Board - 1GB RAM - 900 MHz Quad-Core CPU after installing the Arudino IDE via: sudo apt-get install arduino That command installs everything you need, including the avrdude programmer. Note that BOTH the Arudino AND this programmer need to be plugged into USB ports. Amazon sells a good hub that works for me: AmazonBasics 7 Port USB 2.0 Hub with 5V/4A Power Adapter Very cool. Highly recommended. p.s. Pay attention to the "Power Target" / "No Power" switch.

This thing works great. No need for bootloaders on chips when you use this. I use it with the Arduino IDE to write and load programs into ATmega328 and ATTiny85. It's great for allowing you to build a special use board and install a dedicated chip with an ICSP connector to program with. Lets you build and program special use boards without tying up an Arduino especially when it's over kill and an ATTiny85 will work instead. Sparkfun has all the info and resources on their site to get this up and running.

Functional, includes a cable with the two different ASP/ISP standard sizes. Pin compatible with my USBasp device. I purchased this to program my ATMega328 chips, which the USBasp was struggling to program. However, even with bypass circuitry and such, the programming off of this seems fairly unreliable. Sometimes I have to try 3 or 4 times before it will program and verify properly. It does inevitably work, however. I can't guarantee that the problem isn't on my end. I'd recommend a clone of the AVRISP instead of any of these super cheap ones. It's not that much more expensive and it works for the entire product line.

used with linux successfully as the windows terminal is not fun. i made my own programming boards for the cpus. avrdude is ok to use, don t bother with other non free more fancy programmers, they are a pain to setup. there are online websites simulating the fuses and addresses to program, very helpfull.

This device has potential, but the driver support on Windows is terrible. Perhaps it's different on an alternate OS, but it was unusable in my case. I had to return it.

Hard to find drivers for win7 x64 but they are out there, and I got this working fine. Perfect for reburning bootloader to an arduino atmega328 you've zapped. This should power the arduino without the arduino being connect to usb itself, if it doesn't, you've got the plug backwards. I saw a tutorial online that had this all wrong, don't let it mess you up. With this thing you can just buy a blank atmega328p, no need to spend extra on having it already bootloaded.

I'm working through the book MAKE: AVR Programming and decided to use this programmer to work through the lessons. I had a little trouble the first day as there's very little (and confusing for a newbie) documentation on getting it working. I wanted to use Atmel Studio as it's based on Visual Studio which I use in my day job. This video helped a lot;[...] Now it's working great and I'm enjoying it very much.

Not the cheapest, not that it's expensive, but pretty much the go to standard that you know is going to work. Shipped domestically so you're not waiting ashore gazing asea for your boat to arrive to get one. Might fit in your pocket but then I tend to leave mine on the workbench since I have yet to get an emergency programming call to run to.

Not green horn friendly