The ATmega 328 is top dog in the microcontroller world. There are a lot of haters out there, but the facts are out. The best way to program these chips are to take an Arduino that uses a dip package and remove the controller and replace it with a Zif socket. program the Arduino as normal, test, then remove from the socket. Forget all those other methods. My way works great and I've been programming these chips with my method for years. Save your money boys. Don't turn something easy into something hard. If you need a boot loader you can chain a Arduino to one of the chips and copy the boot to the device. Unless you're an advanced user and you have a need to change factory presets. Leave them alone. The original Arduino programing environment is probably the best way to program these devices for a beginner.
I 'm thinking to make something similar with a spare arduino pro-mini (5V16MHz) I have. I will put it in a breadboard and installed a ZIF socket and 2 female pins for the XTALs so I can change them using 16MHz or 8Mhz instead.
Indeed there are so many alternative ways to use the avr Products I sometimes use atTiny but on the other hand If I need More i o pins I²C or atmega1284 Big chip with lots of memory and many Timers
The argument about the lack of Arduino support in the intro falls a bit flat when there are plenty of Arduino bootloaders for almost all of the AVR chips, even the ATtiny and the last Dx series. Sure it's not mainstream support but those still keep most of the Arduino/Wiring code compatibility on a minimalist board. About the HVP, you really just need some FuseDoctor or RescueAVR that will set to default the fuses to re-enable serial line and reset pin. No need for a complete HV programmer. In most cases, even no need to use HV just for a bad clock source fuse setting, as some fancy ISP sketches for Arduino also provide an external clock signal to connect to the xtal pin of the target. Other than that, AVRdudess is a GUI for AVRdude, for those who don't like CLI.
Incredibly good video! I've felt intimidated about the thought of not having a bootloader (I'm new to embedded and use RPi Picos), apparently for no reason.
I love this video and this series! There is just something really nice about having more control of form factor and features, as a result of breaking away from Arduino. Nice Stuff!
I bought a bunch of ATTiny chips and put all my Arduino Nano's on E. Bay and haven't looked back since.... D'you wanna try some assembly language... AVRs have one of the nicest and easiest to use assembly languages I've ever used.
If I understand right MPLAB SNAP should support AVR and SAMD chips and also microchip chips. It's supported by microchip studio. It cost around 11e without tax in distributors. Some ESD safety may be needed because it's bare pcb like AVR Dragon was. It should also support debugging like AVR Dragon or Atmel ICE. I think it's more hobby friendly because it have 0.1" female pin header.
If you are a complete beginner, then yes an Arduino Uno would be a good starting spot. This video is meant for intermediate/advanced viewers who want to expand beyond the Arduino ecosystem.
