USBtinyISP programmer from china, Mega2560

Other Hardware 3rd Party Boards
1

Does anyone have any experience of this:

I was looking at Ebay for a USBtinyISP programmer. I know that USBtinyISP are not supposed to handle Mega2560, and that is fine with me, as I only need to program Atmaga328. However, when I search on Ebay, there is a lot of chineese USBtinyISP programmers that claims to support Mega2560. When I look at the pictures, I can see that they are based on ATTINY2313, just as the original from Adafruit.

Now - can it really be true that the chineese versions support Mega2560, when it seems that they are identical to those from Adafruit?

And most important - are they only for programming Mega2560, or can they also be used for Atmega328 for example?

Br
Flemming

2

im not sure about USBtinyISP not having played with it that much but do know firmware for some of the popular USBasp programmers have been modified to work with m2560. unlike the official software which is known to fail. chinese also modified it so raw 1mhz chips program ok by default which is another problem with the official version.

3

Hi John
Thank you. But I am looking for information specifically for the USBtinyISP .

Br
Flemming

4

Lemme:
But I am looking for information specifically for the USBtinyISP .

Why?

5

Because that is the one i want (and it is widely used).

6

it is strange how popular they still are. specially considering with need for extra cable you could buy 4 of the usbasp for same price. and the problems associated with the software.

btw current versions are based on tiny44 not 2313.

7

Yes, after posting, I researched it and noted that even the knock-offs cost over $5 (US) with the six pin cable (though the USBASPs always have the wrong cable and the adapter costs an absurd amount extra), or over $8 with both while the genuine Adafruit is three or four times as much.

But it (Adafruit) has a nice case. :grinning:

8

those 6:10 adapters only add a buck or so but even this is too much imo. in fact the stock cable is not that useful to me. i recommend to clients and students toss it and use a few dupont (rainbow) wires instead. these will cost a whole nickel and the grey cable can be cannibalized for other projects or just hookup wire.

9

Hi again
I also looked into it. At Ebay the USBasp costs 1,78$ and the adapter 0,99$. and yes, it is cheaper than the USBtinyISP.

Are you saying that USBasp are just at good as USBtinyISP? Can the USBasp even handle Mega2560?
What about the software problems that John mention, what are they about?

Please elaborate, it seems that I should choose USBasp instead, but it would be nice with some technical arguments other that price. I would rather pay a few $ more, and get a device that has a good reputation and support a large list of devices.

br
Flemming

10

john1993:
those 6:10 adapters only add a buck or so but even this is too much IMO.

Comparatively speaking, yes!

john1993:
I recommend to clients and students toss it and use a few Dupont (rainbow) wires instead.

If doing this in quantity, get some 3 by 2 and 5 by two (I can fudge this with another 3 by 2 and a 2 by 2 as the ASP end does not need to be unplugged) housings and swap for the single ones that come with the ribbon.

The cable is the adapter. Much neater.

Lemme:
Are you saying that USBasp are just at good as USBtinyISP? Can the USBasp even handle Mega2560?

They are in practice, identical, the hardware differs and the code to match, but the capability is the same. It's all in the code.

Lemme:
What about the software problems that John mention, what are they about?

That is indeed about whether the software is suitable for the Mega2560. Some versions are, some are not, but that appears to affect both devices.

Lemme:
Please elaborate, it seems that I should choose USBasp instead, but it would be nice with some technical arguments other that price. I would rather pay a few $ more, and get a device that has a good reputation and support a large list of devices.

Both have a variable "reputation" as you see, almost entirely related to support of the Mega2560.

The USBASP is vastly more widely used, which accounts for the absurd difference in eBay price (since the contents are virtually identical).

11

OK - it seems that I should reconsider and go with USBasp.

However, I need to program a new Atmega328 to an internal clock at 1MHz. The Bootloader at first, and then the program. As far as I can see from USBasp - USB programmer for Atmel AVR controllers - fischl.de - I need to set the jumper JP1 for < 1,5MHz support. Do you have any experience doing that with a USBasp?

12

I found this thread - it seems that 1MHz it is handled in software. So it should work. I will now order an USBasp. Thank you for your help.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=98294.0

Br
Flemming

13

For $1.09 more you can get the USBasp with 6 pins instead of having to adapt the 10 pin: www.ebay.com/itm/251538370202 The only disadvantage other than price is it doesn't have the 3.3V option that the blue board does.

14

Yes, but with the 10 pin adapter, I get the flexibility. So that is the one I ordered.

15

pert:
The only disadvantage other than price is it doesn't have the 3.3V option that the blue board does.

another disadvantage of the 6 pin is lack of rx/tx so it will never be possible to make use of serial i/o.

16

I own one and it partially works(i have the "ArduinoISP" fab in ...,and diy this http://littlewire.cc/).
I can upload code to mega and it works ,but when burning the bootloader it fails.(with both types).
Hope it helped.