I was unable to use the commercial program ATMEL STUDIO to install firmware on my CVpal and the ATTINY84A EEPROM
I kept getting errors when trying to use the Mutable Instruments recommended settings for the Fuses and Lock Bit
EFuse: 0xFF HFuse:0xD6 LFuse: 0xDE Lock Bit: 0x2F
I eventually gave up trying to use ATMEL STUDIO and finally succeeded by using the command line program called avrdude
Here are my notes showing how I finally made everything work
☑ Note: My examples use the AVRISP MKII programmer and the ATTINY84A EEPROM
You may be able to use a different model programmer
See programmer choices near the bottom of this webpage
1) Copy the CVpal firmware HEX file (cvpal.hex) into your home directory - /Users/YourUserName
2) Open the MacOS TERMINAL WINDOW app
3) At the prompt, change to your home directory
cd /Users/YourUserName
4) Ensure that /usr/local/bin is in your path
echo $PATH
This is what mine looks like
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin
If /usr/local/bin does not appear in yours, you can add it easily by typing
PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
... then restart the TERMINAL WINDOW app
5) Install homebrew and avrdude using these commands from the TERMINAL WINDOW
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" < /dev/null 2> /dev/null
brew install avrdude
6) Connect the 6-pin ribbon cable from your Programmer to the CVPal 6-pin header labeled "AVR ISP"
* * * Ensure that the red stripe is oriented to Pin #1 on the 6-pin header * * *
7) Connect one end of a USB cable to the AVRISP MKII programmer and the other end to your Mac
(This is needed to supply power and also to send data to the AVRISP MKII programmer)
8) Connect one end of a USB cable to the front of the CVPal and the other end to your Mac
(This is needed to supply +5V power to the ATTINY84A EEPROM)
9) I used the commands shown in the CVpal Assembly Manual located in the firmware section. I changed PROGRAMMER_NAME to avrispmkII
avrdude -V -p t84 -c avrispmkII -P usb -B 10 -e -u -U efuse:w:0xff:m -U hfuse:w:0xd6:m -U lfuse:w:0xde:m -U lock:w:0x2f:m
avrdude -V -p t84 -c avrispmkII -P usb -B 1 -U flash:w:cvpal.hex:i -U lock:w:0x2f:m
10) If you don't see any error messages, unplug the programmer from the 6-pin header
11) To test it, run a MIDI sequencer or other MIDI utility (Ableton, MIDITrail, etc...) and select CVpal as the main MIDI OUT device
MISCELLANEOUS AND TROUBLESHOOTING INFO
This is the hardware programmer I used - USB AVRISP MKII
If you get a "Programmer can not be found" error, this might be a useful command to use
avrdude -c abc123It spits out an error message but at the same time it also lists all of the available programmers which the avrdude utility supports. The examples I used above worked with my USB AVRISP MKII programmer. See if yours is on the list below
avrdude: Can't find programmer id "abc123"
Valid programmers are:
2232HIO = FT2232H based generic programmer 4232h = FT4232H based generic programmer arduino = Arduino arduino-ft232r = Arduino: FT232R connected to ISP atmelice = Atmel-ICE (ARM/AVR) in JTAG mode atmelice_dw = Atmel-ICE (ARM/AVR) in debugWIRE mode atmelice_isp = Atmel-ICE (ARM/AVR) in ISP mode atmelice_pdi = Atmel-ICE (ARM/AVR) in PDI mode avr109 = Atmel AppNote AVR109 Boot Loader avr910 = Atmel Low Cost Serial Programmer avr911 = Atmel AppNote AVR911 AVROSP avrftdi = FT2232D based generic programmer avrisp = Atmel AVR ISP avrisp2 = Atmel AVR ISP mkII avrispmkII = Atmel AVR ISP mkII avrispv2 = Atmel AVR ISP V2 buspirate = The Bus Pirate buspirate_bb = The Bus Pirate (bitbang interface, supports TPI) butterfly = Atmel Butterfly Development Board butterfly_mk = Mikrokopter.de Butterfly bwmega = BitWizard ftdi_atmega builtin programmer C232HM = FT232H based module from FTDI and Glyn.com.au c2n232i = serial port banging, reset=dtr sck=!rts mosi=!txd miso=!cts dasa = serial port banging, reset=rts sck=dtr mosi=txd miso=cts dasa3 = serial port banging, reset=!dtr sck=rts mosi=txd miso=cts diecimila = alias for arduino-ft232r dragon_dw = Atmel AVR Dragon in debugWire mode dragon_hvsp = Atmel AVR Dragon in HVSP mode dragon_isp = Atmel AVR Dragon in ISP mode dragon_jtag = Atmel AVR Dragon in JTAG mode dragon_pdi = Atmel AVR Dragon in PDI mode dragon_pp = Atmel AVR Dragon in PP mode flip1 = FLIP USB DFU protocol version 1 (doc7618) flip2 = FLIP USB DFU protocol version 2 (AVR4023) ft232r = FT232R Synchronous BitBang ft245r = FT245R Synchronous BitBang jtag1 = Atmel JTAG ICE (mkI) jtag1slow = Atmel JTAG ICE (mkI) jtag2 = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII jtag2avr32 = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII im AVR32 mode jtag2dw = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII in debugWire mode jtag2fast = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII jtag2isp = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII in ISP mode jtag2pdi = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII PDI mode jtag2slow = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII jtag3 = Atmel AVR JTAGICE3 in JTAG mode jtag3dw = Atmel AVR JTAGICE3 in debugWIRE mode jtag3isp = Atmel AVR JTAGICE3 in ISP mode jtag3pdi = Atmel AVR JTAGICE3 in PDI mode jtagkey = Amontec JTAGKey, JTAGKey-Tiny and JTAGKey2 jtagmkI = Atmel JTAG ICE (mkI) jtagmkII = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII jtagmkII_avr32 = Atmel JTAG ICE mkII im AVR32 mode lm3s811 = Luminary Micro LM3S811 Eval Board (Rev. A) mib510 = Crossbow MIB510 programming board mkbutterfly = Mikrokopter.de Butterfly nibobee = NIBObee o-link = O-Link, OpenJTAG from www.100ask.net openmoko = Openmoko debug board (v3) pavr = Jason Kyle's pAVR Serial Programmer pickit2 = MicroChip's PICkit2 Programmer ponyser = design ponyprog serial, reset=!txd sck=rts mosi=dtr miso=cts siprog = Lancos SI-Prog <http://www.lancos.com/siprogsch.html> stk500 = Atmel STK500 stk500hvsp = Atmel STK500 V2 in high-voltage serial programming mode stk500pp = Atmel STK500 V2 in parallel programming mode stk500v1 = Atmel STK500 Version 1.x firmware stk500v2 = Atmel STK500 Version 2.x firmware stk600 = Atmel STK600 stk600hvsp = Atmel STK600 in high-voltage serial programming mode stk600pp = Atmel STK600 in parallel programming mode ttl232r = FTDI TTL232R-5V with ICSP adapter tumpa = TIAO USB Multi-Protocol Adapter UM232H = FT232H based module from FTDI and Glyn.com.au uncompatino = uncompatino with all pairs of pins shorted usbasp = USBasp, http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/ usbasp-clone = Any usbasp clone with correct VID/PID usbtiny = USBtiny simple USB programmer, http://www.ladyada.net/make/usbtinyisp/ wiring = Wiring xplainedmini = Atmel AVR XplainedMini in ISP mode xplainedmini_dw = Atmel AVR XplainedMini in debugWIRE mode xplainedpro = Atmel AVR XplainedPro in JTAG mode
For detailed reference, this is the session I captured from my Terminal Window showing the successful firmware installation
llamamusic$ avrdude -V -p t84 -c avrispmkII -P usb -B 10 -e -u -U efuse:w:0xff:m -U hfuse:w:0xd6:m -U lfuse:w:0xde:m -U lock:w:0x2f:m
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e930c (probably t84)
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "0xff"
avrdude: writing efuse (1 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: 1 bytes of efuse written
avrdude: reading input file "0xd6"
avrdude: writing hfuse (1 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: 1 bytes of hfuse written
avrdude: reading input file "0xde"
avrdude: writing lfuse (1 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: 1 bytes of lfuse written
avrdude: reading input file "0x2f"
avrdude: writing lock (1 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: 1 bytes of lock written
avrdude done. Thank you.
llamamusic$ avrdude -V -p t84 -c avrispmkII -P usb -B 1 -U flash:w:cvpal.hex:i -U lock:w:0x2f:m
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e930c (probably t84)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "cvpal.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (7908 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.85s
avrdude: 7908 bytes of flash written
avrdude: reading input file "0x2f"
avrdude: writing lock (1 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s
avrdude: 1 bytes of lock written
avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H:D6, L:DE)
avrdude done. Thank you.
