Building and installing USBASP-USB programmer of AVR microcontrollers
USBASP is well known USB programmer for Atmel AVR microcontrollers originally supported by Thomas Fischl. USB ASP is made of an Atmega8 and few components. The programmer uses a firmware driver that makes this programmer attractive to many amateurs.
Another thin why this programmer is so popular – because it is officially included and supported in WinAVR (now version 20070122).
Once again lets see what this programmer is made off and how to set it up.
Original circuit you will find in authors site: http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/
The core of USBASP adapter is Atmega8 microcontroller clocked by 12MHz crystal. Soldered board is ready to be connected via simple USB cable with B type connector (Computer side needs A type of connector). Resistors R2 and R6 are current limiting resistors, that protect computer USB port. Resistor R7 helps computer to recognize device as LS (Low Speed). Diodes D1 and D2 indicates about data transfer. Header SV1 is compatible with STK200/300 just 4 and 6 pins are used for RXD and TXD (may be used for other purposes).
SCK signal can work at two frequencies 1.5MHz and 8MHz 375kHz and 8kHz which can be selected by Jumper JP3. If Jumper is unconnected, then SCK speed is 8MHz 375kHz. Low speed SCK is used when MCU is clocked with low speed oscillator like 32kHz.
Jumper JP1 is used for programming adapter itself via ISP adapter. And last Jumper JP2 is used for powering adapter from USB port (not recommended).
This is how my adapter looks like:
To make this adapter work you need to program Atmega8 with driver firmware which can be downloaded from http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/ page (usbasp.2006-12-29.tar.gz -118 kB).
Few words about setting up USBASP adapter for work in Windows XP system.
After firmware is uploaded, then connect USB cable to adapter.
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Connect cable directly to USB port of computer avoiding Hubs (in my case computer didn’t detect adapter connected through hub);
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Wait for windows information “New Hardware Found USBASP”. If device isnt detected, check the board for errors and reconnect again;
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After device is detected Driver setup wizard opens. Select where USBASP driver is located. It is in directory you’ve downloaded with firmware. If you unpacked in C: drive, than driver should be in C:\usbasp.2006-12-29\bin\win-driver\ and press next:
After successful setup you should see following view in device list:
When device is unplugged – the device disappears from the device list. This is it with first stage. Now it is time to start programming with usbasp adapter, but this will be discussed later.
You can download various PCB and circuit configurations directly from http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/ site. Good luck.
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August 3rd, 2007 at 9:13 am
Excellent solution for quick ISP programming with laptops! thanks very much..
September 21st, 2007 at 5:05 pm
help me.i make a USBasp from Thomas Fischl pages. but it dont work.WinXP dont recognize device.Win2000 show Unknow Device.who can help me???
September 25th, 2007 at 9:39 am
try to connect it through a USB hub it may solve you problem i don’t know why
December 11th, 2007 at 1:56 am
I believe description of SCK frequencies is wrong. USBasp indeed has 2 programming frequencies - high when jumper disconnected and low when connected. These frequencies are 375kHz and 8kHz, however. In order to use 375kHz speed, target MCU’s clock frequency has to be at least 1.5MHz (SCK * 4, same rule for low speed).
December 11th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Thank you M.C. for this notice. That was big mistake in description. Now it is corrected.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:08 am
[...] systems including Linux, Mac OS X, and windows. How to assemble this simple programmer read previous article in this site or go to original site of Thomas [...]
March 5th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
This article is quite interesting and well explained. But I am a newbie, I want to build this programmer. It will be my first ever. But i was quite surprised/confused when i read the following: “To make this adapter work you need to program Atmega8 with driver firmware”.
How do i program the atmega8? I want to build this circuit to be able to program amtmega’s. If i have to build another programmer then what’s the point?
March 5th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
i bought atmega 8L by mistake instead of atmega8.
Is there a way out to construct the ubasp mentioned above eith atmega 18L? (since they cannot be clocked to 16MHz)
March 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
delson you need to make a small bsd programmer for it.
its easy you need to plug in some wires in ur parallel port and connect them to ur atmega8
March 24th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I tried this schematics and didn’t work. my atm8 crashed atfer firmware update :(
I had a solution for usb (i have a laptop too.. only USBs). My card is suporting programmer, communication and power suply. :)
April 21st, 2008 at 4:43 am
Sorry to ask the naiive question:
(1) how do i unpack the tar files from fischl’s website? command line and switches please.
(2) Can anyone please explain how to load the ATM8 with the firmware, can it be done from WINDOWS…?
I’m new to this and would greatly appreciate the help.
thanks. -isaac
April 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am
Hy,
1)I simply use Total Commander unpack feature. But tar files are supported bu WinRAR program - so there should be no problem to extract simply by clicking right mouse button.
2)It depends on what programmer you use… if it is simple COM or LPT ISP programmer you can use PonyProg software.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hi,
When i try to unzip (with winzip) i get “error reading header after processing 0 entries”. could there be a problem?
April 21st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I downloaded winRAR and was able to untar. Please ignore my winzip question. Thanks for the help and pointers
May 6th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I built this programmer using atmega 8, and this microcontroller was programmed using my AVR Dragon; I’v installed driver, and I’ve checked all connections, but when I try to program a microcontroller with USBASP allways says the same error about “signature bytes” sometimes it reads 0 and F. I’am using slow clock, I don’t know why I can be able to program the microcontroller, Can any body tell what coulb be wrong? Thanks
May 15th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hello,
This article is useful and well explained !
I made this project and I installed this on my PC .
Now I need a little help in bascom-AVR software . I do not know which programmer should I select in Bascom-AVR software ( option >> programmer )
Please find this picture :
[IMG]http://i32.tinypic.com/21l7s3n.jpg[/IMG]
Please tell me and help me to solve this problem .
Thank You,
Sajjad
May 26th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Hello,
I have a problem on my laptop: Windows does not detect the programmer (unknown USB peripheral). On the other hand, the programmer well work on my desktop computer… What does it occur ?
Thank You,
May 28th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Thank you for the article. Well put.
I have a few questions:
1. Are the jumpers necessary? Can they be over riden with open/shorts according to required settings?
2. The USB device will be detected even without a target board?
Thank You
June 7th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hello,
i have a problem with programming atmega8. I use paralel programmer with uisp software. Firmware hex file programming ok, but i dont know values of fuse bits. Somebody can send me the fusebits values?
Thank you