i found out recently that avrdude is having trouble communicating with my arduino mega and uno when using them as a ICSP/ISP Programmer. i dont know what happens but when i run avrdude in the command prompt i keep getting this error.
avrdude: Version 6.0.1, compiled on Apr 15 2015 at 19:59:58
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch
System wide configuration file is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
Using Port : COM8
Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x03
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude done. Thank you.
Nothing, this is trying to burn bootloader to an external 16l8pu.
Avrdude is now picking up my arduino's but is still spitting out errors.
avrdude: Version 6.0.1, compiled on Apr 15 2015 at 19:59:58
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch
System wide configuration file is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
Using Port : COM5
Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200
AVR Part : ATmega2560
Chip Erase delay : 9000 us
PAGEL : PD7
BS2 : PA0
RESET disposition : dedicated
RETRY pulse : SCK
serial program mode : yes
parallel program mode : yes
Timeout : 200
StabDelay : 100
CmdexeDelay : 25
SyncLoops : 32
ByteDelay : 0
PollIndex : 3
PollValue : 0x53
Memory Detail :
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack
----------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
eeprom 65 10 8 0 no 4096 8 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
flash 65 10 256 0 yes 262144 256 1024 4500 4500 0x00 0x00
lfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
hfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
efuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
lock 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
calibration 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00
signature 0 0 0 0 no 3 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00
Programmer Type : STK500
Description : Atmel STK500 Version 1.x firmware
Hardware Version: 2
Firmware Version: 1.18
Topcard : Unknown
Vtarget : 0.0 V
Varef : 0.0 V
Oscillator : Off
SCK period : 0.1 us
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.04s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x000000 (retrying)
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.04s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x000000 (retrying)
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.04s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x000000
avrdude: Yikes! Invalid device signature.
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
this check.
im not wiring anything, im trying to get avr dude to work correctly before i even think of doing anything, i uploaded the arduino as isp sketch to both my uno and mega and i get the errors on both
right! okay then, so now avrdude is working correctly, how do i go about uploading the bootloader to the 16l8pu?
Edit: I cant burn the bootloader because of this error! So im stuck again
This!
Atmel ATMEGA16L-8PU
something is not right at all now, i cant do anything while that error persists!
spycatcher2k:
I've never heard of a 16I8pu! so can't comment, but if you google it i'm sure the solution will present itself. 
Something is no right with AVRdude, i just attacthed my nano(which has been sitting for ages) and i still get the same error.
spycatcher2k:
No- somthing no right with your wiring, bus as you have not shown any, NO ONE CAN HELP!
Apologies for the last post...
just getting pretty annoyed that it just refuses to work.
heres the setup
spycatcher2k:
Then you will get errors!!
Twat!
i Apologise, i updated the last post.
if this helps, i have mightycore installed
Again, i apologise, avrdude now shows that its expected signature for ATmega 328p is 1E 95 0F
spycatcher2k:
You need to select ATMEGA16, then bootload.
finally! it burned the bootloader, i just tried to upload a sketch but came up with the syncing error again?
hmmm, bootloader is installed, but now having trouble with the sketch uploading, i used the arduino to breadboard tutorial, got nothing.