Problems with USBASP and programming interface.

[Refrigerator]

Hello.
I've recently obtained an USBASP V2.0 programmer (and some micros) and i'm having problems. The problem is in the drivers, whenever i connect the programmer into my USB port my PC ( i'm using Windows 7 ) detects it and starts searching for the drivers but eventually fails. I've tried installing the drivers manually but didn't go very far at all ( i'm bad at this kinda stuff ).
 I'm also having problems with setting the external tools on Atmel Studio ( v6.2 ).
I have already made some code and it compiles without any errors or problems, it's the pain in the ass hardware that i'm having problems with.
I would appreciate some help.
Thanks in advance.

[dannyf]

( i'm bad at this kinda stuff ).

Then you cannot blame the hardware for your problems.

I'm also having problems with setting the external tools on Atmel Studio ( v6.2 ).

Maybe you can help others help you if you care to explain

1) what you did;
2) what exactly happened that let you to conclude that it didn't work or you had problems.

If you don't help others with more information, they cannot help you.

This "I need help" wouldn't get you much help.

[Refrigerator]

1) what you did;

1: Tried setting the USBasp as an external tool.
2: Looked at the arguments line.
3: Got lost. 

But with the USBasp i downloaded the driver, extracted it, got lost again.
Ps: sorry for being such a pain in the ass...

[Laurynas]

Check is this USBASP works on another computer. Maybe the problem is not in drivers.
Try another USB cable - USBASP is sensitive to cable length/quality.

But as for your PC problems(if above fails), this is not something easy to fix over forum.
Is it a laptop?

[Refrigerator]

As soon as i plug in the USBasp my pc detects it and starts looking up drivers, like a flash drive or a mouse, i've looked for tutorials how to install those drivers but they're either misleading or spanish...

[d3javu]

Did you buy the el cheapo usbap programmer from ebay like this -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-ISP-USBasp-Programmer-for-ATMEL-AVR-with-Case-/400739546118?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d4df03406 ? I bought one out of curiosity..which never worked in both windows and linux environment. In my case, it was the vid and pid of the programmer is different from what is defined in avrdude. Tried to modify the source code of avrdude to match the ids and recompile but unfortunately it didn't work either. I notice there are solutions where you have to mod the hardware a little and reflash the programmer with different firmware but haaa it is too tedious especially for beginners. The best solution is to buy original AVRISP mkII  which cost as low as $34.

[paulie]

"a fool and his money soon part". one can purchase a dozen usbasp programmers for the cost of one mkII and, contrary to urban myth, its more reliable and easier to use. i started out with mkII (nothing but trouble) and then dragon (still useful for debugging) but have now purchased hundreds of usbasp for customers and students with great success. like most devices it is necessary to read driver install instructions be it linux or windows.

[Stonent]

I've found there are two kinds of USB ASP, those that appear as a HID device, and those that use a raw USB driver.  The HID type usually don't need any drivers, the raw kind uses an unsigned driver that the software basically bit bangs to.

Also some programmers had some wires reversed so if you changed the firmware, they didn't work.

[d3javu]

Lol, i'm not against the entire usbasp programmers, mind you . If anyone intend to buy, at least go for the thomas fishcl's one . Don't get the one sold on ebay(which i linked on the previous post) unless you are ok if the money is wasted. The common problem with the china made clone is the usb(some and you are pretty much gambling on it) identifies as vid=0x03EB & pid=0xc8b4 which is not same as the original USBasp, vid=0x16c0 & pid=0x05dc. Good luck tinkering with the firmware(require programmer) if the one you bought works flawlessly, i'm happy for you. cheers! 

[Refrigerator]

I have now plugged the USBasp in my brother's Win8 gaming PC and it seems like the drivers installed without any problems, although i don't have any of my code nor programming software in it, and without knowing the password i can't really do anything about it.
Good to know that it works.
Edit: After about a hour of fidling around it seems like i finally installed the drivers in my laptop. The biggest problem right now is setting external tools on atmel studio.

[paulie]

i have to laugh at those who sling mud at usbasp. generally its those under the impression you always get what you pay for and only shoot for the most expensive version of anything. ive purchased over 300 of the cheapest ($2 and change) betemcu version for students and clients with no hint of trouble. the more expensive version with case etc... thats another story. sometimes you get more than you pay for... headaches.

[Refrigerator]

I have now plugged the USBasp in my brother's Win8 gaming PC and it seems like the drivers installed without any problems, although i don't have any of my code nor programming software in it, and without knowing the password i can't really do anything about it.
Good to know that it works.
Edit: After about a hour of fidling around it seems like i finally installed the drivers in my laptop. The biggest problem right now is setting external tools on atmel studio.

Glad to hear you got it working.
But can you say more about the fiddling? Even some hints at what you think may have been the problem (and what was different on your brothers PC) may help someone else, even if you're not quite sure.

Downlading the driver, unzipping it, going to device manager, setting drivers manually and after some tries is seemed to work.
And after a couple more hours i've worked out something with setting the external device on AtmelStudio 6.
But i've come to one more problem along the way.
After compiling when i click on the programmer ( In atmel studio6 ) the "R" led ( on USBasp ) emmits light for about a second, and a DOS/command prompt window opens and closes after about a second too. But nothing else really happens, the chip doesn't get programmed.
Also when i i go to command prompt and type in "avrdude -help" it tells me that there's no such internal or external device like avrdude.
Just some more info.
My command: D:\AVRDude 5,11\avrdude-5.11-Patch7610-win32\avrdude.exe
My arguments: -c usbasp -p attiny45 -B12 -U flash:w:”$(ProjectDir)Debug\$(ItemFileName).hex”:i
Also my program:
#define F_CPU 1000000UL
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <util/delay.h>
int main(void)
{ DDRB |= 0b00001000;
   while(1)
   {
      PORTB ^= 0b00001000;
      _delay_ms(100);
   }

}

[paulie]

D:\AVRDude 5,11\avrdude-5.11-Patch7610-win32\avrdude.exe

that comma in the path dont look right. easier to just change to the directory with the .exe and .conf file and type or use a batch file with something like this:

"avrdude -pm328p -cusbasp -Uhfuse:r:-:h -Ulfuse:r:-:h -Uefuse:r:-:h -Ulock:r:-:h -F"

its worked for me and many other thousands of times. once thats ok move on to things like fuses and flashing.