Re: [avrdude-dev] [bug #35590] avrdude make error when programmingATmega8 through USBasp

[Bill O'Neill]

Hi Jeorge,

I to have been extremely busy, so no problem with the timing of the reply.

When you state harware problems, do you mean the programmer, or the host PC?

I have tried this on several computers and here are the results:

HP Celeron @ 1.8GHz, Windows XP, SP3
USBtinyISP (avrdude5.4 - ok, avrdude 5.1x - ok);
ponyser (avrdude5.4 - ng, avrdude5.1x - ng)

Lenovo Pentium D945 @ 3.6 GHz, Windows XP Pro, SP3
USBtinyISP (avrdude5.4 - ok, avrdude 5.1x - 60% ng, 40% ok);
ponyser (avrdude5.4 - ok, avrdude5.1x - ng)

Asus Pentium E5300 @ 2.6GHz, Windows XP, SP3
USBtinyISP (avrdude5.4 - ok, avrdude 5.1x - ok);
ponyser (avrdude5.4 - ok, avrdude5.1x - ok)

And any faster machines than the E5300 seem ok.  BTW the E5300, despite the 
slower clock is a faster machine than the D945.

I also tried the -vvvv, but the results were unrevealing.  No errors 
displayed until the summary at the end.

So at this point, it seems that it may be partially a CPU speed problem. 
Something in avrdude5.1x makes this a bit worse.  Probably requires a bit 
more processing power.  I have not done much testing under Linux as I have 
had no complaints from Linux users.

There is something odd about the Pentium D945 though.  It is the only one 
that has problems with the USBtinyISP.  Even when it does woek on that 
machine, avrdude runs a lot slower, even than on the Celeron.  At least 40% 
slower.  I am not sure if it is the hardware or the Windows XP professional. 
It has nothing else on it to conflict, just a fresh install of the XP Pro. 
Odd.

In any case, we can put this to rest.  As you said, not many people use the 
bit banger programmers any more.  Most machines these days do not even come 
with RS232 ports.


Bill O'Neill

Aztec MCU Prototyping
www.aztecmcu.com