Problem with Burning Bootloader to ATTiny13

Josh_Blackburn · January 23, 2017, 11:18pm

I've been using the incredibly cheap ATTiny13 microcontroller recently and, for one of my projects, I would like to change the clock speed from the default 4.8 MHz it came with. To do this, I believe, one simply burns the desired bootloader to the chip. I should mention that I'm programming the chip using the ArduinoISP sketch with an Arduino Uno and the MicroCore board files. I am able to program the ATTiny13 just fine, all four that I have at the moment, but when I try to burn the bootloader, I get the following error:

avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "unknown": The system cannot find the file specified.

I don't really know what this means, but it seems to be saying that it can't find the .hex file that should contain the bootloader. I also cannot find any hex files in the MircoCore files. Anyone have any idea what is wrong?

Coding_Badly · January 24, 2017, 6:40am

Post the verbose output. Please use
 [code] 

 [/code] 
tags.

marco_c · January 24, 2017, 7:02am

The Microcode 'bootloader' is just setting the fuses, not actually loading a boot loader (not enough memory to waste).

I had some problems with this when I was using a USB connected programmer. It worked for me when I switched over to ArduinoAsISP programmer setup (documented here).

How are you connecting between the PC/IDE and the ATTiny?

Josh_Blackburn · January 25, 2017, 6:24pm

Coding Badly, I'm not entirely sure what the 'verbose output' is, but this is the entire error message:

C:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino8/bin/avrdude -CC:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\MicroCore\hardware\avr\1.0.1/avrdude.conf -v -pattiny13 -cstk500v1 -B32 -PCOM5 -b19200 -e -Ulock:w:0x3f:m -Uhfuse:w:0xfb:m -Ulfuse:w:0x2A:m 

avrdude: Version 6.3, compiled on Dec 16 2016 at 13:33:19
         Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
         Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch

         System wide configuration file is "C:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\MicroCore\hardware\avr\1.0.1/avrdude.conf"

         Using Port                    : COM5
         Using Programmer              : stk500v1
         Overriding Baud Rate          : 19200
         Setting bit clk period        : 32.0
         AVR Part                      : ATtiny13
         Chip Erase delay              : 4000 us
         PAGEL                         : P00
         BS2                           : P00
         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     5     4    0 no         64    4      0  4000  4000 0xff 0xff
           flash         65     6    32    0 yes      1024   32     32  4500  4500 0xff 0xff
           signature      0     0     0    0 no          3    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           lock           0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           calibration    0     0     0    0 no          2    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           lfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           hfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 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% 0.02s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9007 (probably t13)
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "0x3f"
avrdude: writing lock (1 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: 1 bytes of lock written
avrdude: verifying lock memory against 0x3f:
avrdude: load data lock data from input file 0x3f:
avrdude: input file 0x3f contains 1 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip lock data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 1 bytes of lock verified
avrdude: reading input file "0xfb"
avrdude: writing hfuse (1 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: 1 bytes of hfuse written
avrdude: verifying hfuse memory against 0xfb:
avrdude: load data hfuse data from input file 0xfb:
avrdude: input file 0xfb contains 1 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip hfuse data:

C:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino8/bin/avrdude -CC:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\MicroCore\hardware\avr\1.0.1/avrdude.conf -v -pattiny13 -cstk500v1 -B32 -Ulock:w:0x3e:m 
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 1 bytes of hfuse verified
avrdude: reading input file "0x2A"
avrdude: writing lfuse (1 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: 1 bytes of lfuse written
avrdude: verifying lfuse memory against 0x2A:
avrdude: load data lfuse data from input file 0x2A:
avrdude: input file 0x2A contains 1 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip lfuse data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 1 bytes of lfuse verified

avrdude done.  Thank you.


avrdude: Version 6.3, compiled on Dec 16 2016 at 13:33:19
         Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
         Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch

         System wide configuration file is "C:\Users\Josh\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\MicroCore\hardware\avr\1.0.1/avrdude.conf"

         Using Port                    : unknown
         Using Programmer              : stk500v1
         Setting bit clk period        : 32.0
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "unknown": The system cannot find the file specified.



avrdude done.  Thank you.

Problem uploading to board.  See http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions.

marco_c, I am using a simple programming shield on an Ardunio Uno. I use the example ArduinoISP sketch. The ATTiny13 is connected as shown below:

I am able to program the ATTiny13s without any issues, the only problem I'm getting is with the bootloader.

Coding_Badly · January 25, 2017, 6:57pm

Josh_Blackburn:
Coding Badly, I'm not entirely sure what the 'verbose output' is...

What you posted.

First pass...

...
         Using Port                    : COM5
...

Second (mystery) pass...

...
         Using Port                    : unknown
...

The first pass, which is setting the fuses, works perfectly.

The second (mystery) pass, which did not output the command line so I have no idea what it is doing, fails because a serial port was not specified. The boards.txt, programmers.txt, or platform.txt file that came with the core you are using has a mistake. I suggest contacting the person who created the core.

Or, you can post a link to the core in the hopes someone here can help.

marco_c · January 25, 2017, 7:30pm

Your fuses are programmed correctly. I have ignored this message and everything seems to work fine.

EDIT: This problem was reported on the MicroCore issues on Github Error when burning Bootloader · Issue #10 · MCUdude/MicroCore · GitHub

alam25 · May 28, 2017, 1:55pm

I can understand that this is a common problem and ignoring it will do. But is there any solution to it?

daleykd · May 21, 2018, 4:52pm

Sorry to rez this, but I wanted to post an updated solution.

MCUDude has fixed it, but not released an update. You can get the updated platforms.txt file in his GitHub.

system · May 5, 2021, 10:17pm