Introduction: How to Program ATtiny2313

About: Youtube engineer that has a passion for understanding what's actually happening. I try my very best to make thorough tutorials that explain everything in-depth so you leave with a completed understanding, rath…

Howdy folks!

When I first got my ATtiny2313 it took me the better part of 4 hours to finally get it programmed. I went through countless tutorials online that were old and outdated. I was never able to get the correct files from one website. I had to combine the files from several websites before I was finally able to program my ATtiny.


NOTE: With the recent update of the Arduino IDE I can't figure out how to get the boards to show up in the list. I'm sure it's easy and I'll figure it out in a bit. For now you are still going to have to use the old version of arduino for programming any ATtiny chips.


The goal of my (Current and Updated!!!) series is to find tutorials online that are old, outdated, or nonworking and make a new tutorial that I have tested and used myself.
My first i'ble in this series is how to use IR remotes to control your Arduino.
I will keep updating my i'bles in this series to work with new Arduino boards, IDEs and the like.

Now I've never tested this process on a windows but I know that it works on a mac. It should be the same for windows, just delete any mac content in the zip.

Step 1: Download the Files

First you need to download the boards information for the Arduino IDE. This file will need to be downloaded in order to program a ATtiny2313. http://www.mediafire.com/download/ju012s124w4gbl2/tiny.zip

Once you have downloaded that you will need to extract the 'tiny' folder to your Arduino hardware folder. Now if you don't know where that is or if you don't have it here are the steps.

  • Go to your Arduino documents. This is where all the sketches are saved (by default).
  • For mac users it's Macintosh HD>Users>username>documents>Arduino.
  • Create a new folder and name it "hardware", just like that. Into this folder you will put the 'tiny' folder that you downloaded.
  • For PC usersProgram Files(x86)=>Arduino=>hardware. Copy the 'tiny' folder into it and restart the Arduino IDE.Delete the extra mac content.

Step 2: Upload the ArduinoISP

  1. Connect your Arduino to your computer.
  2. Open up the ArduinoISP sketch which is with the other example sketches.
  3. Upload it.

Step 3: Connecting the ATtiny2313 to the Arduino

Make the following connections. You need to be sure that you are connecting these to the ATtiny's actual pins (starting from the top left and counting up counter-clockwise) and not the name of the pin.

Arduino--------Attiny2313
  |                   |
13------------>19
12------------>18
11------------>17
10------------>1
5v------------>20 VCC
GND-------->10 GND

Also add an LED with a resistor on the pin (#7) right next to the GND on the ATtiny2313

Step 4: Uploading and Enjoying!

  1. First make sure that you have already uploaded the ArduinoISP to the Arduino.
  2. Select the (ATtiny2313@1MHz) board. When you go to boards you will notice that you will have a lot more options to use. This is because that 'tiny' folder that we put in the 'hardware' folder gave the Arduino program more board options.
  3. Under 'programmer' select 'Arduino as ISP'.
  4. Open the blink sketch and change the led pin 13 to pin 7.
  5. Click the upload button and pray!
Once you upload it you should have no errors. If you connected the Attiny to the Arduino incorrectly, it'll bring up the an error and it will say 'double check connections'.

After upload your LED should start blinking! Congrats! You now know how to program your ATtiny2313.

Troubleshooting:
  • LED does not blink
    Make sure that you have connected the LED to the proper pins.
    Make sure that in the blink sketch you change the 13 to '7'.
    Replace the LED and try with another one.
  • Unable to program
    Make sure you have properly download, unzipped, and placed the 'tiny' folder.
    Make sure your 'hardware' folder is in the correct place.
    Make sure that you have selected 'Arduino as ISP' under 'programmer'.
    Make sure that you have selected the correct board. The correct board is the 'ATtiny2313@1MGz.

Step 5: Conclusion

I hope this i'ble was able to help you program you chip. You should be able to do this for ATtiny4313. Now I have not actually tried it myself but I will as soon as I get that chip.

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