Yeah ive replaced just the chips.
1 is genuine Arduino, 3 are clones - all killed by the programmer
None of them flash with the reset button no matter what i try.
I cant recall the programmers exact error but I think it was just a generic, abstract error with no detail (I had verbose output enabled in the IDE too)
I only remember the device signature error from the Arduino as ISP unfortunately and i only have genuine Arduinos left that Id rather not sacrifice the reproduce the error