Hey everybody,
I'm trying to add my programmer to the IDE using the /hardware/arduino/avr/programmers.txt file.
Unfortunately nothing happens after editing the file. My programmer does not appear.
Even if I delete the whole content of the file all programmers still show up in the IDE.
Where do I have to install the programmer.
Any thoughts?
P.S.:
I have restarted the IDE after every change to the .txt file 
I just found the solution myself.
It seems the programmers are no longer inserted in the programmers.txt file in the arduino installation directory.
Instead there is another file here:
C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\hardware\avr\1.6.14\programmers.txt
I added the programmer here and voiÂlà now it appears in the list.
Thanks for digging that up!
HeavensBlade:
It seems the programmers are no longer inserted in the programmers.txt file in the arduino installation directory.
Instead there is another file here:C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\hardware\avr\1.6.14\programmers.txt
The reason is you updated your Arduino AVR Boards version using Boards Manager. If you hadn't done that then the programmers.txt located in the Arduino IDE installation folder would have been used. So it's not a set in stone rule that you will always need to edit the programmers.txt file at that location.
Note that you will need to redo your modification anytime the Arduino IDE or Arduino AVR Boards is updated to a new version. If your custom programmer only requires modifications to programmers.txt it's a better idea to create a dummy hardware package at {sketchbook}/hardware and put your programmer entry in that package's programmers.txt. That way you will not need to redo this process. If you want instructions on how to do that let me know.
Hey pert,
too bad you're right...
My programmer is gone now.
Could you please tell me how exactly such a dummy hardware package.
I created the folder "hardware" inside my sketch folder. Then I created the following folder structure.
arduino -> avr -> programmers.txt
didn't work.
bla -> avr -> programmers.txt didn't work either.
What am I doing wrong?
The Arduino IDE doesn't consider the package valid unless there is a boards.txt file. So you just need to add a blank boards.txt file in the folder. You should not use arduino for the vendor folder name, instead use a unique name.