USBasp driver- where should it show in Dev Mgr?

Using Arduino Avrdude, stk500, Bootloader issues
#1

I'm trouble shooting a problem in that my Arduino IDE isn't able to burn a boot loader via my USBasp or Tinyasp devices on my Win 7 laptop. Uploads to Uno or Nano boards now work fine. They get assignments on COM7 through 11 depending on the board. Each Uno Board, for example always gets a different Com Port; one 7 and one 8.

The driver for USBasp (or Tinyasp) was showing up (in Device Manager) not in COM ports, but instead under libusb-win32 devices. That seemed odd to me. Both USBasp and Tinyasp were shown initially with many entries each, so I deleted them all, including drivers and then reinstalled via Zedig. Alas, this didn't change the situation.

The message from AVRdude:

avrdude: auto set sck period (because given equals null)
avrdude: warning: cannot set sck period. please check for usbasp firmware update.
avrdude: error: program enable: target doesn't answer. 1
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
this check.

avrdude done. Thank you.

There seems to be a problem with the USB connection for AVRdude. It seems unlikely that both my TinyAsp and USBasp would both die at the same time, while still showing up in Dev Mgr when plugged in. From what reading I have done I am confused about the location as I thought these should show up in COM ports.

Any enlightenment you can offer is much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bruce M

#2

Do this:

  • Download Zadig: http://zadig.akeo.ie/. Note that Zadig is recommended on the official USBasp page: http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/.
  • Plug in your USBasp
  • Start Zadig
  • From the dropdown menu, select USBasp. If it doesn't show up on the menu, then select Options > List all devices and check again.
  • Click the up or down arrows next to the Driver selection box on the right side until you see libusbK.
  • Click the "Replace Driver" button.
  • After it finishes you can close Zadig.

That should solve your problem with USBasp. I have no experience with Tinyasp but you can try the same. Zadig allows you to install libusb-win32 again if you like.

#3

Pert, thank you for your thoughtful response. I replaced the USBasp driver per your clear steps with Zadig.

USBasp now shows up in Device Manager under libusbK Devices, but still doesn’t seem to be talking to AVRdude in the Arduino IDE.

AvrDude still reports:

avrdude: error: program enable: target doesn’t answer. 1
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1

Any suggestions welcomed. Many thanks again for you time and expertise, Pert.
Bruce

#4