Noob problem with programming AZ-ATmega328

Using Arduino Programming Questions
1

Please forgive my noobness. I need to program a AZ-ATmega328 for a project, it's the first time I'm doing this.
I've got an Arduino UNO and use Arduino IDE.
The board gets detected on COM3 under Win11. In Arduino IDE I selected Arduino UNO as the board, as well as COM3 as port.
When I want to write the bootloader, I always get the message "programmer not detected".
I've tried two Windows machines and a Macbook Pro, on various USB ports, but the result is always the same. What am I doing wrong?

PS: This is the board I got:

It gets recognised as an Arduino UNO.

1 Like
2

Welcome to the forum

What makes you think that the board does not already have a bootloader on the chip ?

Do any of the LEDs on the board blink when you connect a USB lead and, if so, how often ?

Have you tried uploading a sketch ?

3

I bought a blank chip and the board also came with one.
The instructions, which I'm trying to follow, told me to burn the bootloader.
Even if those chips already have a bootloader, would it not be overwritten by programming it again?
When plugging in the board I get one green and one orange LED lighting up permanently.

4

Unlikely

If the chip does not have a bootloader then you have not got a Uno

Do the instructions tell you how to do it ?

5

I'm confused now. UNO is the board, the chip is the CPU (ATmega328-PU). We are talking about getting the bootloader on to the chip, right?
In either case, these are the instructions:

  • Make sure Arduino UNO is not plugged into the computer or powered on.
  • Carefully remove existing ATmega328-PU chip from and Arduino UNO board.
  • Carefully place the blank ATmega328-PU into the empty DIP socket on the board.
  • Open Arduino IDE and select Tools-->Board Arduino/Genuino Uno and make sure the correct port is selected under Tools-->Port.
  • Select Tools-->Burn Bootloader to load the Arduino boot loader.
  • Select Sketch-->Upload to load the program onto the chip.
  • Close the IDE and unplug the Arduino UNO.
  • Carefully remove the newly programmed ATmega328-PU chip from the Arduino UNO board.
  • Carefully place the newly programmed ATmega328-PU chip into the DIP socket on the J20 board.
6

I've done some more digging, and other websites suggest that the programming of the bootload is a LOT more involved, having to set up the CPU on a separate bread board, with a 16MHz oscillator and various other components, see here:

Will i really have to do all this?

7

Have you checked out this from yet? (Burn the bootloader on UNO, Mega, and classic Nano using another Arduino). I think this could help you. (Edit: According to this as long as you have another board like an arduino uno you can burn it. (but don't trust me do your own research becuase I am also a noob in this))

8

There are ATMega328 chips available from many sources that have the bootloader already burned. In fact I have had difficulty finding chips at a reasonable price without the bootloader.

As far as programming the chips goes:

Even after the bootloader is burned you will still need the same circuit to program the chips with your sketch. Of course you can put the chip into an Uno and use another Arduino to program the bootloader and then program the chip with your desired sketch. The only problem then is you will still need the crystal and the other components to make your finished project.

Here are two videos to watch:

The first video provides a very detailed description of the procedure and the second video shows how to make a shield for an Uno that allows easy programming of both the ATMega328 chip and the ATTiny85 and similar chips.

I don’t much care for videos without voice but the idea is good.