Hi, I know this a very talked topic in this forum as there are a lot of similar posts about different issues around avrdude showing the device signature as 0x000000 but as far as I have read in about 20+ posts, none of the proposed solutions have worked for me.
Long story short, I got a atmega32A and have been trying to program it using my arduino uno. At fisrt it wouldnt work but tinkering with the command in avrdude it ended up working. The command that I have used to program it until now has been the follwing(inside microchip studio software):
The problem now is that I got a usbasp thinking programming the atmega32a would become simpler but it showed as sck couldnt be synced and requires a firmware update. For this, I reuploaded the Arduino as ISP firmware and connected both of them. Since trying for more than 3 hours to update the usbasp's firmware I couldn't as it said: device signature = 0x000000, or the usbasp would unpower itself when starting to upload the firmware.
The problem now is that if I try to program the atmega32 again, it shows the same error, yet, for example, I can read the atmega32a signature through the arduino in the microchip software to check on fuse settings.
the command for the usbasp will be bit different (-c usbasp).
USBasp has a switch for slow SCK (JP1) https://www.fischl.de/usbasp/ so it will work for raw chip without FW update. The number of jumper may vary depending on the version of USBasp. Chinese clones have not soldered it.
There is also jumper for self programming and must be closed if you want update the FW.
Most important thing is that the device signature as 0x000000 mostly points to incorrect wiring. Check those 6 wires carefully again. Also the command should be with -c stk500v1 for Arduino as ISP. It is because stk500v1 does not produce the reset pulse which would reset the Arduino.
Little advice at the end: Try to post exactly the command and the log. Long story description does not help much, at least for me.
I've been tryng to update the firmware with your suggestions but the device signature keeps being read as 0x000000. Also, sometimes when executing the command, the USBASPs power LED turns off, not sure if just the LED or the entire microcontroller as the LED is connected to a digital pin. Removing the self-programming jumper fixes it. I have rewired the icsp connection skipping the cable that came with the usbasp just in case and still the problem occurs. Below I attach the result of the command as it happens normally and beneath when it turns off for some reason(doesn't find the target device).
