Difference between revisions of "AVR Drivers"

You will need two pieces of hardware: an AVR ISP programmer that attaches to your computer's USB port and a clip to attach to the Atmel chip which is already soldered in place.  

There are a number of ISP programmers available, including one called USBTinyISP that you can build yourself from a kit. Ironically, it uses an Atmel chip as well which must be programmed before it can be used as a programmer. There are also a number of cheap drivers available on eBay if you search for USBASP. These all look similar with an exposed blue circuit board and cost about $12, usually including a ribbon cable, which you probably won't need.

[[File:Soic8clip.jpg|thumb|200px|SOIC 8 clip with wires rearranged]]The other piece of hardware is a SOIC 8 clip to attach to the pins of the Atmel chip on the flashlight driver. There are cheap blue ones on eBay made by Pomona that have been very problematic, but sometimes work. They cost about $12. It is best to get one with a ribbon cable that attaches to pins coming out of the clip. The individual wires of the ribbon cable can be moved to the correct pins for the ISP programmer. See below for the proper configuration. There are [http://cgi.ebay.com/SOIC-8-SOIC8-8-Way-SMD-Programming-Testing-Test-Clip-/380333853764?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588daa0c44 more expensive ones on eBay] made by 3M that might work better. These are black, cost about $21, and don't seem to include the cable. The programmer itself includes a cable but you will need some way of connecting the wires in the ribbon cable to the pins sticking out of the clip.