Comments on: ATmega168 Parallel Programmer

By: calfred

calfred — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:45:00 +0000

yo Carlitos.
wassup.
here’s to show my working Arduino (homemade)
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265685755
Parallel Programmer works fine. . Wires are only 10inches long.

By: Carlitos

Carlitos — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:28:10 +0000

@calfred You are right. After burning the bootloader, you should be able to program the device serially (thats the purpose of the bootloader). The programming may fail some times, but it hapend to me only once or twice, in which case you can simply resend the program. Also, keep in mind that the length of the wires may affect the performance of your programmer.

By: calfred

calfred — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:18:45 +0000

I’ve built this avr serial programmer.
http://electronics-diy.com/avr_programmer.php
in contrast to the parallel port programmer, it can act as an external programmer.
no need bootloader whatsoever.
but it doesn’t work so far… might be due to the tedious wiring.

1) after u burn the bootloader into Atmega8/168 using parallel port programmer,
2) then u just connect it serially / usb to program like normally to load future project codes?

could you verify point 2) for me Carlitos

By: Carlitos

Carlitos — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:28:16 +0000

@calfred I am pretty sure it works. I used it many times without any problems. I hope this helps and sorry for the late response, I was out on a trip.

By: calfred

calfred — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:34:24 +0000

hi Carlos, nice presentation on the parallel programmer.
according to forum users at arduino.cc, the Atmega8 works fine,
but Atmega168 does not.
are you sure this can work on the 168???!

By: Carlos

Carlos — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Sajid,

I'm afraid I cannot help you pout with that one since I have never tried to do that.

Sorry about that. Cheers

By: sajid

sajid — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:46:00 +0000

Hi, carlitos
i think u can help me in my project coz im facing a problem which is related to prgramming atmega168 through USBASP programmer
i have avr dude with me,
eroor showing is the device signature error and the same that expected signature is 1E94 06..etc
can u help to remove this error….

By: Carlos

Carlos — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Hello J,

I'm glad you liked the article.

The length of the wire can be a problem indeed. Thus is where twisting the wires together and using a ferrite core comes in handy.

I'm glad you got your programmer finally working.

Cheers

By: J

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:08:00 +0000

Sweet article, thanks!

I built one of these purely to burn the boot loader to my ATMega168, but for several frustrated hours I kept getting:

avrdude: Device signature = 0×000102
avrdude: Expected signature for ATMEGA168 is 1E 94 06
Double check chip, or use -F to override this check.

Occasionally the device signature would be another random number, but mainly 0×000102.

I found that shortening the cable between the parallel port and chip solved the problem. I have also read that lower value resistors could have been a solution too.

By: Eko Setio

Eko Setio — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:46:00 +0000

Bala,

I used UISP and AVRDUDE instead of the Arduino software.

RC=-1 might indicate that ur parallel programmer is not working.

Again, make sure that your parallel port is ECP. have u done this? otherwise this will not work at all. Check this via the device manager. Another thing was the interrupts. I cant remember which to use just make sure its ECP and try it with the three different option of interrupts.

Btw, i used it as port1 and address is 0x378.

I used the UISP to check if my parllel programmer is working or not, then i used AVRDUDE to upload my hex file.

check out my questions at the arduino forum. they too have some info for Atmega8.

http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1208859235/45

Regards,
eko

By: Bala C

Bala C — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:13:00 +0000

Hi Carlos and Setio,
Actually, Initially I wired the parallel port adapter ONLY for bootloading the ATMEGA8, as I anyhave the serial cable for laoding programs via the Diecimla to 'bootloaded' chip. I tried bootloading via diecimla and via a breadboarded version (as per arduino site). Using the Arduino software if I chose the diecimla board option and then try to bootload, I get a message avrdude: initialisation failed, rc=-1
invalid device signature. Expected signature for ATMEGA168 is 1E 94 06.
If I use the ArduinoNG or older w/parallel programmer option I get a simialr message with expected signature for ATMEGA8 is 1E 83 07

Your site says enter an id in preferences.txt at the upload.using line for the programmer from the programmers.txt file. Obviously my statements (ref earlier email) are wrong. Hence,which is the correct id for your parallel port programmer? Are any other lines to be added in this case?

I need to be able to bootload the ATMEGA8, hence I'd very much appreciate your help.

Since giveio is installed the parallel port is recognised.
regds,
Bala

By: Eko Setio

Eko Setio — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:41:00 +0000

Maybe its a good idea that you first check your parallel port settings. Make sure that it is ECP. you can change it from bios.

rgds,
eko

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:34:00 +0000

Bala,

I use the programmer only for burning the bootloader, and I am very far from anything remotely similar to an Arduino at the moment (and for a long time) so I cannot try and compile something to see how it works. I think your best chance is to look at the page where I got the programmer model (http://www.arduino.cc/en/Hacking/ParallelProgrammer) and the Arduino website in general.

Enjoy your Arduino hacking.

By: Bala C

Bala C — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:13:00 +0000

Hi Carlos,

I have wired up your parallel port programmer for use with an ATMEGA8 in the Arduino Diecimal board as an external programmer.

When I try to compile and upload my programs using Arduino and your parallel prot circuit, I get the error:
Can't find programmer id "null"

I added the statement upload.using= Parallel Programmer to the preferences.txt file.
I got the same error.
I changed this to upload.using = dapa
Same error
I even included statements:
Parallel.name=Parallel Programmer
Upload.using = avrdude.conf:658

same error.
Sorry for being naive. Can you help with the correct statements /advice.

regds
Bala

By: Eko Setio

Eko Setio — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Hi Carlitos..

Im a total embedded noob playing around with an empty atmega168 and arduino.

what program did you use to upload the bootloader? I cant upload sketch nor the bootloader to my Atmega168. I hope you have some tips for me, i’ve followed everything the site told me to do. Ive been hangin around the arduino forum for days with no result.

Maybe you could also make a tutorial as well

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:46:00 +0000

Hi Eko,
The Arduino bootloader can be burnt to the Arduino board by using the Arduino software.

If you have no Arduino board whatsoever, Maybe you should have a look at this (if you haven’t already): http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Learning/AtmegaStandalone

If you prefer to program in C and then compile it and upload it to the ATmega, you could use AVR-GCC and AVRDUDE.

I hope this helps. Good Luck