Arduino no longer uploading code

Hello,
I am brand new to absolutely all of this. Luckily, I had written my first code that successfully worked on my current project. I thought I could remove the ATMEGA off the Arduino uno and program the 8MHz internal clock onto it outside the Arduino and onto a breadboard. That being said, I removed the ATMEGA, realized I had to put it back on to give it the 8MHz internal clock before breadboarding it, but once I had put it back on the Arduino, the same chip is no longer working. I now get avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding and I am hoping I do not have to buy another Arduino Uno. I tried deleting the IDE, resetting both the Arduino and my computer, ports are correct, ect.

Is there a solution or do I need to buy another Arduino Uno to either act as a bootloader for the non-working UNO in hopes that it will revive the first one.

It sounds like you may have damaged the ATMEGA chip on your Arduino Uno when you removed it from the board. It's also possible that you damaged the board itself or the programming headers when you re-installed the chip.

If you have access to another Arduino board, you could try using it as a programmer to try and re-flash the bootloader onto the damaged board. To do this, you would need to connect the two boards together using the appropriate pins. You can then use the Arduino IDE to select the second board as the programmer and the damaged board as the target, and try to upload a new bootloader to it.

If this doesn't work, it's possible that the chip or board is damaged beyond repair and you may need to purchase a new Arduino board. It's always a good idea to be very careful when handling electronic components, as they can be easily damaged by static electricity or physical mishandling.

Assuming the chip is not damaged and the socket is not damaged, could removing the ATMEGA and reinstalling the same one cause issues? If the socket and IC are not damaged, why do I have to use a bootloader. I am trying to learn and understand for future situations where I can avoid any potential issue.

In general, removing and reinserting an IC into a socket should not cause any problems as long as the socket and IC are undamaged. However, it is always a good idea to handle ICs with care to avoid damaging them.

As for the use of a bootloader, it is not strictly necessary to use a bootloader in every situation. A bootloader is a small program that is stored in the non-volatile memory of a microcontroller and is used to load larger programs into the microcontroller's memory. The main advantage of using a bootloader is that it allows you to update the program on the microcontroller without the need for any special hardware or cables. This can be especially useful in situations where the microcontroller is hard to access or if you want to be able to update the program remotely.

In summary, using a bootloader can be convenient in certain situations, but it is not strictly necessary in all cases.

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I found the issue, I put the IC on backwards. After I took it off, I assumed the 5v and Ground on pin 7/8 would align with the 5v and Ground on the Arduino. I flipped the IC around and it works lol. Silly mistake.

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