Arduino as ISP

Using Arduino Programming Questions
1

hi, i recently bought some attiny45 chips to make a permanant arduino project. now, after i installed the necessary files and what not, i was able to do so. but now, after this, i cannot write any programs to my arduino uno (board i used as ISP). i changed the board type back to arduino and made the programmer AVRISP mkll.
i get this error after i attempt to upload:

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00

i tried it with my arduino nano and it worked ok, it just seems to be the uno i used as a ISP.

please help me as im stuck and do not know what to do.
thanks, George

2

It looks like bootloader missing but... Disconnect/connect, is arduino recognized? If yes, try to upload something and look at leds what happens.

3

it is recognised, if i plug it in and check device manager it is there under com ports. when i plug it in, the lights just turn on and stay solid. how could i be missing the boot loader? does uploading arduino as ISP remove it?

4

No, Arduino as ISP does not remove the bootloader.
Is the correct COM port selected in the IDE?

5

The all leds stay on? Weird. Did you remove a chip from the board?

6

the correct COM port is selected, you know how the lights flash in a particular sequential code when connected to the computer? well mine doesn't. they just turn on and stay solid like i have connected it to a power source only. the computer still recognises it and has the correct serial port ticked. and no, i have not taken apart any chips. this problem only occurred after i attempted to program an attiny85 micro controller.

really not sure what to do. my nano works fine and i did the exact same thing to it.

7

It really looks like no bootloader is there.

8

ok so then i must have somehow deleted the bootloader. how do i get it back on?

9

You have to have a ISP programmer to be able upload a bootloader. I see that you have Nano which could be used as ArduinoISP in principle but I never did that because I haven't Nano. Make connection same way as from UNO to MCU which you've already programmed. From Nano to Uno the all ISP connector pins except RESET. Uno reset should be connected to Nano D10. Upload ArduinoISP sketch before to make connection between Arduinos.
I'm recommending to use this command before start with uploading the bootloader:

avrdude -pm328p -Pport_name -cavrisp -b19200 -C*path_to_conf_file*avrdude.conf -vv

NOTE: Replace italic with appropriate name.

This should list a MCU's signature and compare with the part name at -p switch. No write is performed. If it will be OK you can continue to with upload or you can continue to use avrdude for detecting a problem, to check fuses and flash content.
I'd prefer the second choice to investigate a problem but you have to be careful.

10

Out of interest. Even though the box is ticked saying that you have selected the correct board and programmer, have you tried clicking them again?

I have noticed sometimes it doesn't go through on the first click attempt (usually when I have several windows open [OSX])