1AVRDUDE(1) BSD General Commands Manual AVRDUDE(1)
2
4 avrdude — driver program for ``simple'' Atmel AVR MCU programmer
5
7 avrdude -p partno [-b baudrate] [-B bitclock] [-c programmer-id]
8 [-C config-file] [-D] [-e] [-E exitspec[,exitspec]] [-F]
9 [-i delay] [-n] [-O] [-P port] [-q] [-s] [-t] [-u]
10 [-U memtype:op:filename:filefmt] [-v] [-V] [-y] [-Y]
11
13 Avrdude is a program for downloading code and data to Atmel AVR microcon‐
14 trollers. Avrdude supports Atmel's STK500 programmer, Atmel's AVRISP and
15 AVRISP mkII devices, Atmel's JTAG ICE (both mkI and mkII, the latter also
16 in ISP mode), programmers complying to AppNote AVR910 and AVR109 (includ‐
17 ing the Butterfly), as well as a simple hard-wired programmer connected
18 directly to a ppi(4) or parport(4) parallel port, or to a standard serial
19 port. In the simplest case, the hardware consists just of a cable con‐
20 necting the respective AVR signal lines to the parallel port.
21 The MCU is programmed in serial programming mode, so, for the ppi(4)
23 based programmer, the MCU signals ‘/RESET’, ‘SCK’, ‘MISO’ and ‘MOSI’ need
24 to be connected to the parallel port. Optionally, some otherwise unused
25 output pins of the parallel port can be used to supply power for the MCU
26 part, so it is also possible to construct a passive stand-alone program‐
27 ming device. Some status LEDs indicating the current operating state of
28 the programmer can be connected, and a signal is available to control a
29 buffer/driver IC 74LS367 (or 74HCT367). The latter can be useful to
30 decouple the parallel port from the MCU when in-system programming is
31 used.
32 A number of equally simple bit-bang programming adapters that connect to
34 a serial port are supported as well, among them the popular Ponyprog
35 serial adapter, and the DASA and DASA3 adapters that used to be supported
36 by uisp(1). Note that these adapters are meant to be attached to a phys‐
37 ical serial port. Connecting to a serial port emulated on top of USB is
38 likely to not work at all, or to work abysmally slow.
39 Atmel's STK500 programmer is also supported and connects to a serial
41 port. Both, firmware versions 1.x and 2.x can be handled, but require a
42 different programmer type specification (by now). Using firmware version
43 2, high-voltage programming is also supported, both parallel and serial
44 (programmer types stk500pp and stk500hvsp).
45 The simple serial programmer described in Atmel's application note
47 AVR910, and the bootloader described in Atmel's application note AVR109
48 (which is also used by the AVR Butterfly evaluation board), are supported
49 on a serial port.
50 Atmel's JTAG ICE (both mkI and mkII) is supported as well to up- or down‐
52 load memory areas from/to an AVR target (no support for on-chip debug‐
53 ging). For the JTAG ICE mkII, JTAG, debugWire and ISP mode are sup‐
54 ported. See below for the limitations of debugWire.
55 The AVR Dragon is supported in all modes (ISP, JTAG, HVSP, PP, debug‐
57 Wire). When used in JTAG and debugWire mode, the AVR Dragon behaves sim‐
58 ilar to a JTAG ICE mkII, so all device-specific comments for that device
59 will apply as well. When used in ISP mode, the AVR Dragon behaves simi‐
60 lar to an AVRISP mkII (or JTAG ICE mkII in ISP mode), so all device-spe‐
61 cific comments will apply there. In particular, the Dragon starts out
62 with a rather fast ISP clock frequency, so the -B bitclock option might
63 be required to achieve a stable ISP communication.
64 The USBasp ISP and USBtinyISP adapters are also supported, provided
66 avrdude has been compiled with libusb support. They both feature simple
67 firwmare-only USB implementations, running on an ATmega8 (or ATmega88),
68 or ATtiny2313, respectively.
69 Input files can be provided, and output files can be written in different
71 file formats, such as raw binary files containing the data to download to
72 the chip, Intel hex format, or Motorola S-record format. There are a
73 number of tools available to produce those files, like asl(1) as a stand‐
74 alone assembler, or avr-objcopy(1) for the final stage of the GNU
75 toolchain for the AVR microcontroller.
76 Avrdude can program the EEPROM and flash ROM memory cells of supported
78 AVR parts. Where supported by the serial instruction set, fuse bits and
79 lock bits can be programmed as well. These are implemented within
80 avrdude as separate memory types and can be programmed using data from a
81 file (see the -m option) or from terminal mode (see the dump and write
82 commands). It is also possible to read the chip (provided it has not
83 been code-protected previously, of course) and store the data in a file.
84 Finally, a ``terminal'' mode is available that allows one to interac‐
85 tively communicate with the MCU, and to display or program individual
86 memory cells. On the STK500 programmer, several operational parameters
87 (target supply voltage, target Aref voltage, master clock) can be exam‐
88 ined and changed from within terminal mode as well.
89 Options
91 In order to control all the different operation modi, a number of options
92 need to be specified to avrdude.
93 -p partno
95 This is the only option that is mandatory for every invoca‐
96 tion of avrdude. It specifies the type of the MCU con‐
97 nected to the programmer. These are read from the config
98 file. If avrdude does not know about a part that you have,
99 simply add it to the config file (be sure and submit a
100 patch back to the author so that it can be incorporated for
101 the next version). See the sample config file for the for‐
102 mat. Currently, the following MCU types are understood:
103 Option tag Official part name
105 c128 AT90CAN128
106 pwm2 AT90PWM2
107 pwm3 AT90PWM3
108 1200 AT90S1200
109 2313 AT90S2313
110 2333 AT90S2333
111 2343 AT90S2343 (*)
112 4414 AT90S4414
113 4433 AT90S4433
114 4434 AT90S4434
115 8515 AT90S8515
116 8535 AT90S8535
117 m103 ATmega103
118 m128 ATmega128
119 m1280 ATmega1280
120 m1281 ATmega1281
121 m16 ATmega16
122 m161 ATmega161
123 m162 ATmega162
124 m163 ATmega163
125 m164 ATmega164
126 m169 ATmega169
127 m2560 ATmega2560 (**)
128 m2561 ATmega2561 (**)
129 m32 ATmega32
130 m324 ATmega324
131 m329 ATmega329
132 m3290 ATmega3290
134 m48 ATmega48
135 m64 ATmega64
136 m640 ATmega640
137 m644 ATmega644
138 m649 ATmega649
139 m6490 ATmega6490
140 m8 ATmega8
141 m8515 ATmega8515
142 m8535 ATmega8535
143 m88 ATmega88
144 t12 ATtiny12
145 t13 ATtiny13
146 t15 ATtiny15
147 t2313 ATtiny2313
148 t25 ATtiny25
149 t26 ATtiny26
150 t45 ATtiny45
151 t85 ATtiny85
152 (*) The AT90S2323 and ATtiny22 use the same algorithm.
154 (**) Flash addressing above 128 KB is not supported by
156 all programming hardware. Known to work are jtag2,
157 stk500v2, and bit-bang programmers.
158 -b baudrate
160 Override the RS-232 connection baud rate specified in the
161 respective programmer's entry of the configuration file.
162 -B bitclock
164 Specify the bit clock period for the JTAG interface or the
165 ISP clock (JTAG ICE only). The value is a floating-point
166 number in microseconds. The default value of the JTAG ICE
167 results in about 1 microsecond bit clock period, suitable
168 for target MCUs running at 4 MHz clock and above. Unlike
169 certain parameters in the STK500, the JTAG ICE resets all
170 its parameters to default values when the programming soft‐
171 ware signs off from the ICE, so for MCUs running at lower
172 clock speeds, this parameter must be specified on the com‐
173 mand-line.
174 -c programmer-id
176 Use the pin configuration specified by the argument. Pin
177 configurations are read from the config file (see the -C
178 option). New pin configurations can be easily added or
179 modified through the use of a config file to make avrdude
180 work with different programmers as long as the programmer
181 supports the Atmel AVR serial program method. You can use
182 the 'default_programmer' keyword in your ${HOME}/.avrduderc
183 file to assign a default programmer to keep from having to
184 specify this option on every invocation.
185 -C config-file
187 Use the specified config file to load configuration data.
188 This file contains all programmer and part definitions that
189 avrdude knows about. If you have a programmer or part that
190 avrdude does not know about, you can add it to the config
191 file (be sure and submit a patch back to the author so that
192 it can be incorporated for the next version). See the con‐
193 fig file, located at ${PREFIX}/etc/avrdude/avrdude.conf,
194 which contains a description of the format.
195 -D Disable auto erase for flash. When the -U option with
197 flash memory is specified, avrdude will perform a chip
198 erase before starting any of the programming operations,
199 since it generally is a mistake to program the flash with‐
200 out performing an erase first. This option disables that.
201 -e Causes a chip erase to be executed. This will reset the
203 contents of the flash ROM and EEPROM to the value ‘0xff’,
204 and is basically a prerequisite command before the flash
205 ROM can be reprogrammed again. The only exception would be
206 if the new contents would exclusively cause bits to be pro‐
207 grammed from the value ‘1’ to ‘0’. Note that in order to
208 reprogram EERPOM cells, no explicit prior chip erase is
209 required since the MCU provides an auto-erase cycle in that
210 case before programming the cell.
211 -E exitspec[,exitspec]
213 By default, avrdude leaves the parallel port in the same
214 state at exit as it has been found at startup. This option
215 modifies the state of the ‘/RESET’ and ‘Vcc’ lines the par‐
216 allel port is left at, according to the exitspec arguments
217 provided, as follows:
218 reset The ‘/RESET’ signal will be left activated at pro‐
220 gram exit, that is it will be held low, in order
221 to keep the MCU in reset state afterwards. Note
222 in particular that the programming algorithm for
223 the AT90S1200 device mandates that the ‘/RESET’
224 signal is active before powering up the MCU, so in
225 case an external power supply is used for this MCU
226 type, a previous invocation of avrdude with this
227 option specified is one of the possible ways to
228 guarantee this condition.
229 noreset The ‘/RESET’ line will be deactivated at program
231 exit, thus allowing the MCU target program to run
232 while the programming hardware remains connected.
233 vcc This option will leave those parallel port pins
235 active (i. e. high) that can be used to supply
236 ‘Vcc’ power to the MCU.
237 novcc This option will pull the ‘Vcc’ pins of the paral‐
239 lel port down at program exit.
240 Multiple exitspec arguments can be separated with commas.
242 -F Normally, avrdude tries to verify that the device signature
244 read from the part is reasonable before continuing. Since
245 it can happen from time to time that a device has a broken
246 (erased or overwritten) device signature but is otherwise
247 operating normally, this options is provided to override
248 the check.
249 -i delay
251 For bitbang-type programmers, delay for approximately delay
252 microseconds between each bit state change. If the host
253 system is very fast, or the target runs off a slow clock
254 (like a 32 kHz crystal, or the 128 kHz internal RC oscilla‐
255 tor), this can become necessary to satisfy the requirement
256 that the ISP clock frequency must not be higher than 1/4 of
257 the CPU clock frequency. This is implemented as a spin-
258 loop delay to allow even for very short delays. On Unix-
259 style operating systems, the spin loop is initially cali‐
260 brated against a system timer, so the number of microsec‐
261 onds might be rather realistic, assuming a constant system
262 load while avrdude is running. On Win32 operating systems,
263 a preconfigured number of cycles per microsecond is assumed
264 that might be off a bit for very fast or very slow
265 machines.
266 -n No-write - disables actually writing data to the MCU (use‐
268 ful for debugging avrdude ).
269 -O Perform a RC oscillator run-time calibration according to
271 Atmel application note AVR053. This is only supported on
272 the STK500v2, AVRISP mkII, and JTAG ICE mkII hardware.
273 Note that the result will be stored in the EEPROM cell at
274 address 0.
275 -P port
277 Use port to identify the device to which the programmer is
278 attached. By default the /dev/ppi0 port is used, but if
279 the programmer type normally connects to the serial port,
280 the /dev/cuaa0 port is the default. If you need to use a
281 different parallel or serial port, use this option to spec‐
282 ify the alternate port name.
283 For the JTAG ICE mkII, if avrdude has been configured with
285 libusb support, port can alternatively be specified as
286 usb[:serialno]. This will cause avrdude to search a JTAG
287 ICE mkII on USB. If serialno is also specified, it will be
288 matched against the serial number read from any JTAG ICE
289 mkII found on USB. The match is done after stripping any
290 existing colons from the given serial number, and right-to-
291 left, so only the least significant bytes from the serial
292 number need to be given.
293 As the AVRISP mkII device can only be talked to over USB,
295 the very same method of specifying the port is required
296 there.
297 For the USB programmer "AVR-Doper" running in HID mode, the
299 port must be specified as avrdoper. Libusb support is
300 required on Unix but not on Windows. For more information
301 about AVR-Doper see http://www.obdev.at/avrusb/avr‐
302 doper.html.
303 For programmers that attach to a serial port using some
305 kind of higher level protocol (as opposed to bit-bang style
306 programmers), port can be specified as net:host:port. In
307 this case, instead of trying to open a local device, a TCP
308 network connection to (TCP) port on host is established.
309 The remote endpoint is assumed to be a terminal or console
310 server that connects the network stream to a local serial
311 port where the actual programmer has been attached to. The
312 port is assumed to be properly configured, for example
313 using a transparent 8-bit data connection without parity at
314 115200 Baud for a STK500. This feature is currently not
315 implemented for Win32 systems.
316 -q Disable (or quell) output of the progress bar while reading
318 or writing to the device. Specify it a second time for
319 even quieter operation.
320 -s Disable safemode prompting. When safemode discovers that
322 one or more fuse bits have unintentionally changed, it will
323 prompt for confirmation regarding whether or not it should
324 attempt to recover the fuse bit(s). Specifying this flag
325 disables the prompt and assumes that the fuse bit(s) should
326 be recovered without asking for confirmation first.
327 -t Tells avrdude to enter the interactive ``terminal'' mode
329 instead of up- or downloading files. See below for a
330 detailed description of the terminal mode.
331 -u Disable the safemode fuse bit checks. Safemode is enabled
333 by default and is intended to prevent unintentional fuse
334 bit changes. When enabled, safemode will issue a warning
335 if the any fuse bits are found to be different at program
336 exit than they were when avrdude was invoked. Safemode
337 won't alter fuse bits itself, but rather will prompt for
338 instructions, unless the terminal is non-interactive, in
339 which case safemode is disabled. See the -s option to dis‐
340 able safemode prompting.
341 -U memtype:op:filename[:format]
343 Perform a memory operation as indicated. The memtype field
344 specifies the memory type to operate on. The available
345 memory types are device-dependent, the actual configuration
346 can be viewed with the part command in terminal mode. Typ‐
347 ically, a device's memory configuration at least contains
348 the memory types flash and eeprom. All memory types cur‐
349 rently known are:
350 calibration One or more bytes of RC oscillator calibration
351 data.
352 eeprom The EEPROM of the device.
353 efuse The extended fuse byte.
354 flash The flash ROM of the device.
355 fuse The fuse byte in devices that have only a sin‐
356 gle fuse byte.
357 hfuse The high fuse byte.
358 lfuse The low fuse byte.
359 lock The lock byte.
360 signature The three device signature bytes (device ID).
361 The op field specifies what operation to perform:
363 r read device memory and write to the specified file
365 w read data from the specified file and write to the
367 device memory
368 v read data from both the device and the specified
370 file and perform a verify
371 The filename field indicates the name of the file to read
373 or write. The format field is optional and contains the
374 format of the file to read or write. Format can be one of:
375 i Intel Hex
377 s Motorola S-record
379 r raw binary; little-endian byte order, in the case of
381 the flash ROM data
382 m immediate; actual byte values specified on the command
384 line, separated by commas or spaces. This is good for
385 programming fuse bytes without having to create a sin‐
386 gle-byte file or enter terminal mode.
387 a auto detect; valid for input only, and only if the
389 input is not provided at stdin.
390 d decimal; this and the following formats are only valid
392 on output. They generate one line of output for the
393 respective memory section, forming a comma-separated
394 list of the values. This can be particularly useful
395 for subsequent processing, like for fuse bit settings.
396 h hexadecimal; each value will get the string 0x
398 prepended.
399 o octal; each value will get a 0 prepended unless it is
401 less than 8 in which case it gets no prefix.
402 b binary; each value will get the string 0b prepended.
404 The default is to use auto detection for input files, and
406 raw binary format for output files. Note that if filename
407 contains a colon, the format field is no longer optional
408 since the filename part following the colon would otherwise
409 be misinterpreted as format.
410 As an abbreviation, the form -U filename is equivalent to
412 specifying -U flash:w:filename:a. This will only work if
413 filename does not have a colon in it.
414 -v Enable verbose output.
416 -V Disable automatic verify check when uploading data.
418 -y Tells avrdude to use the last four bytes of the connected
420 parts' EEPROM memory to track the number of times the
421 device has been erased. When this option is used and the
422 -e flag is specified to generate a chip erase, the previous
423 counter will be saved before the chip erase, it is then
424 incremented, and written back after the erase cycle com‐
425 pletes. Presumably, the device would only be erased just
426 before being programmed, and thus, this can be utilized to
427 give an indication of how many erase-rewrite cycles the
428 part has undergone. Since the FLASH memory can only endure
429 a finite number of erase-rewrite cycles, one can use this
430 option to track when a part is nearing the limit. The typ‐
431 ical limit for Atmel AVR FLASH is 1000 cycles. Of course,
432 if the application needs the last four bytes of EEPROM mem‐
433 ory, this option should not be used.
434 -Y cycles
436 Instructs avrdude to initialize the erase-rewrite cycle
437 counter residing at the last four bytes of EEPROM memory to
438 the specified value. If the application needs the last
439 four bytes of EEPROM memory, this option should not be
440 used.
441 Terminal mode
443 In this mode, avrdude only initializes communication with the MCU, and
444 then awaits user commands on standard input. Commands and parameters may
445 be abbreviated to the shortest unambiguous form. Terminal mode provides
446 a command history using readline(3), so previously entered command lines
447 can be recalled and edited. The following commands are currently imple‐
448 mented:
449 dump memtype addr nbytes
451 Read nbytes bytes from the specified memory area, and dis‐
452 play them in the usual hexadecimal and ASCII form.
453 dump Continue dumping the memory contents for another nbytes
455 where the previous dump command left off.
456 write memtype addr byte1 ... byteN
458 Manually program the respective memory cells, starting at
459 address addr, using the values byte1 through byteN. This
460 feature is not implemented for bank-addressed memories such
461 as the flash memory of ATMega devices.
462 erase Perform a chip erase.
464 send b1 b2 b3 b4
466 Send raw instruction codes to the AVR device. If you need
467 access to a feature of an AVR part that is not directly
468 supported by avrdude, this command allows you to use it,
469 even though avrdude does not implement the command.
470 sig Display the device signature bytes.
472 part Display the current part settings and parameters. Includes
474 chip specific information including all memory types sup‐
475 ported by the device, read/write timing, etc.
476 vtarg voltage
478 Set the target's supply voltage to voltage Volts. Only
479 supported on the STK500 programmer.
480 varef voltage
482 Set the adjustable voltage source to voltage Volts. This
483 voltage is normally used to drive the target's Aref input
484 on the STK500. Only supported on the STK500 programmer.
485 fosc freq[M|k]
487 Set the master oscillator to freq Hz. An optional trailing
488 letter M multiplies by 1E6, a trailing letter k by 1E3.
489 Only supported on the STK500 programmer.
490 fosc off
492 Turn the master oscillator off. Only supported on the
493 STK500 programmer.
494 sck period
496 STK500 programmer only: Set the SCK clock period to period
497 microseconds.
498 JTAG ICE only: Set the JTAG ICE bit clock period to period
500 microseconds. Note that unlike STK500 settings, this set‐
501 ting will be reverted to its default value (approximately 1
502 microsecond) when the programming software signs off from
503 the JTAG ICE. This parameter can also be used on the JTAG
504 ICE mkII to specify the ISP clock period when operating the
505 ICE in ISP mode.
506 parms STK500 programmer only: Display the current voltage and
508 master oscillator parameters.
509 JTAG ICE only: Display the current target supply voltage
511 and JTAG bit clock rate/period.
512 ?
514 help Give a short on-line summary of the available commands.
516 quit Leave terminal mode and thus avrdude.
518 Default Parallel port pin connections
520 (these can be changed, see the -c option)
521 Pin number Function
522 2-5 Vcc (optional power supply to MCU)
523 7 /RESET (to MCU)
524 8 SCK (to MCU)
525 9 MOSI (to MCU)
526 10 MISO (from MCU)
527 18-25 GND
528 debugWire limitations
530 The debugWire protocol is Atmel's proprietary one-wire (plus ground) pro‐
531 tocol to allow an in-circuit emulation of the smaller AVR devices, using
532 the ‘/RESET’ line. DebugWire mode is initiated by activating the ‘DWEN’
533 fuse, and then power-cycling the target. While this mode is mainly
534 intented for debugging/emulation, it also offers limited programming
535 capabilities. Effectively, the only memory areas that can be read or
536 programmed in this mode are flash ROM and EEPROM. It is also possible to
537 read out the signature. All other memory areas cannot be accessed.
538 There is no chip erase functionality in debugWire mode; instead, while
539 reprogramming the flash ROM, each flash ROM page is erased right before
540 updating it. This is done transparently by the JTAG ICE mkII (or AVR
541 Dragon). The only way back from debugWire mode is to initiate a special
542 sequence of commands to the JTAG ICE mkII (or AVR Dragon), so the debug‐
543 Wire mode will be temporarily disabled, and the target can be accessed
544 using normal ISP programming. This sequence is automatically initiated
545 by using the JTAG ICE mkII or AVR Dragon in ISP mode, when they detect
546 that ISP mode cannot be entered.
547
549 /dev/ppi0 default device to be used for communication with the
550 programming hardware
551 ${PREFIX}/etc/avrdude/avrdude.conf
553 programmer and parts configuration file
554 ${HOME}/.avrduderc
556 programmer and parts configuration file (per-user
557 overrides)
558 ~/.inputrc Initialization file for the readline(3) library
560 ${PREFIX}/share/doc/avrdude/avrdude.pdf
562 Schematic of programming hardware
563
565 avrdude: jtagmkII_setparm(): bad response to set parameter command: RSP_FAILED
566 avrdude: jtagmkII_getsync(): ISP activation failed, trying debugWire
567 avrdude: Target prepared for ISP, signed off.
568 avrdude: Please restart avrdude without power-cycling the target.
569 If the target AVR has been set up for debugWire mode (i. e. the DWEN fuse
571 is programmed), normal ISP connection attempts will fail as the /RESET
572 pin is not available. When using the JTAG ICE mkII in ISP mode, the mes‐
573 sage shown indicates that avrdude has guessed this condition, and tried
574 to initiate a debugWire reset to the target. When successful, this will
575 leave the target AVR in a state where it can respond to normal ISP commu‐
576 nication again (until the next power cycle). Typically, the same command
577 is going to be retried again immediately afterwards, and will then suc‐
578 ceed connecting to the target using normal ISP communication.
579
581 avr-objcopy(1), ppi(4), readline(3)
582 The AVR microcontroller product description can be found at
584 http://www.atmel.com/products/AVR/
586
588 Avrdude was written by Brian S. Dean <bsd@bsdhome.com>.
589 This man page by Joerg Wunsch.
591
593 Please report bugs via
594 http://savannah.nongnu.org/bugs/?group=avrdude.
595 The JTAG ICE programmers currently cannot write to the flash ROM one byte
597 at a time. For that reason, updating the flash ROM from terminal mode
598 does not work.
599 Page-mode programming the EEPROM through JTAG (i.e. through an -U option)
601 requires a prior chip erase. This is an inherent feature of the way JTAG
602 EEPROM programming works. This also applies to the STK500 in parallel
603 programming mode.
604 The USBasp and USBtinyISP drivers do not offer any option to distinguish
606 multiple devices connected simultaneously, so effectively only a single
607 device is supported.
608BSD June 22, 2019 BSD