====== Selecting and using AVR programmers and development boards ======

Author: Robert Harrison

Date Created: August 2008

Last Revised: See Bottom of Page

Version: 0.02

Email: rharrison [email @ goes here ] hgf.com *NB The awkward email address format is to prevent my address being harvested by spammers



====== Introduction ======

Getting a programmer to actually program an Atmel AVR chip can be a frustrating process for the beginner, at least it was for me. I have written this guide after buying four programmers and finally figuring out how to get them all working under AVR Studio (Atmels Integrate Development Environment), winavr (the open source IDE) and avrdude under Linux. It's perhaps worth noting here that winavr is actually a collection of open source (OS) programs packaged together and it is indeed avrdude that is used to do the flashing (programming) of the AVR chip in windows.

You should at least read the section on the programmer you are interested in and the problem solving section.

====== Programmers ======




===== Atmel AVRISPmkII =====

** Image **

** Specification **

Manufacturer: Atmel

Model: AVRISPmkII

Link: [[http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=3808|AVRISP mk II]]

Port: USB

ISP Connector(s): 6 pin Atmel Standard

Cost: £25 - £30

** Description **

** Supplier Links **
  * [[http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?&tier1=Electronic+Components&tier2=Integrated+Circuits&tier3=Atmel+Microcontrollers&tier4=AVR+ISP+In-system+programmer+Mk2&moduleno=77826&catref=73-4266&kw=73-4266|Rapid Electronic]] - £28.95

** AVR Studio configuration **

** avrdude (Windows) configuration **

** avrdude (Linux) configuration**

** avrdue (Mac OS X) configuration**
  * Tested with [[http://www.arduino.cc|Arduino]] IDE to flash ATmega168 with the Arduino bootloader
  * Also tested with [[http://www.vonnieda.org/software/avrfuses|AVRfuses]] to change the fuses on the AVR






===== Atmel AVR Dragon =====

** Image **

** Specification **

Manufacturer: Atmel

Model: AVR Dragon

Link: [[http://www.atmel.com/dyn/Products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=3891|AVR Dragon]]

Port: USB

ISP Connector(s): 6 pin Atmel standard

JTAG: 10 pin Atmel standard

Cost: £35 - £45

** Description **

This is a full featured programmer and debugger for the Atmel AVR chips. The programmer has both a 6 pin ISP connector and a 10 pin JTAG programming / debugging connector. Note the 10 pin JTAG programmer is different to the 10 pin ISP programmer and the two can not be interchanged. The JTAG connection will debug chips up to and including 32Mb of flash memory. Chips larger than this can be programmed but not debugged.

This is the one of the more expensive programmers but offers a lot more functionality. It also has the ability to program chips directly connected to the programming board, though you need to do a bit of soldering before you can take advantage of this feature. For instructions on how to do this click [[http://www.instructables.com/id/Help%3a-An-Absolute-Beginner_s-Guide-to-8-Bit-AVR-Pr/|here]].

** Supplier Links **

** AVR Studio configuration **

Make sure you are using the USB drivers from Atmel NOT the winavr drivers

Select the Dragon from the list of programmers and the USB port from the connection list.

** avrdude (Windows) configuration **

Make sure you are using the USB drivers from winavr NOT the Atmel drivers

avrdude  -c dragon_isp -Pusb -p m32 -U flash:w:main.hex

** avrdude (Linux) configuration**

Use dmesg to make sure the device was recognised by the kernel. Most recent kernels work.

[root@computer]# avrdude -c dragon_isp -Pusb  -p m32 -U flash:w:main.hex


===== Programmer Name =====

** Image **

** Specification **

Manufacturer:

Model:

Link: Not Set Yet

Port: USB / Parallel / Serial

ISP Connector(s): 10 pin Atmel standard / 6 pin Atmel Standard / 10 pin inverted

Cost: GB Pounds

** Description **

** Supplier Links **

** AVR Studio configuration **

** avrdude (Windows) configuration **

** avrdude (Linux) configuration**

====== Development Boards ======

** Image **

** Specification **
Manufacturer:
Model:
Port: USB / Parallel / Serial
Cost: GB Pounds

** Description **

** Supplier Links **