Program the ATTINY85 with Arduino 1.8.18 (2022)

How do build a programmer and program the ATTINY85 (Attiny 85) using Arduino IDE version 1.8.18.
It also works on Arduino 1.8.17 and down to 1.8.10 (probably older as well). And it will likely work for newer versions as well.

In addition to programming / flashing the ATTINY85 we also burn the bootloader.

Buy ATTiny85 (affiliate links):
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Shrink your Arduino projects and make them battery friendly by replacing it with the attiny 85. In this example we are using an Arduino as the programmer (ArduinoISP / Arduino as ISP).

This video is using the ATTiny Core by SpenceKonde.

This is the link to be used in the preferences menu:

Instructions for making the programmer:
Arduino - ATTINY85
5V - PIN 8
GND - PIN 4
D10 - PIN 1
D11 - PIN 5
D12 - PIN6
D13 - PIN 7

Add a 0.1uF (104) capacitor between GND and 5V of the ATTINY85
And finally add a 10uF capacitor between GND and RESET of your ARDUINO.

Note that you can use both a an Arduino Uno or an Arduino Nano as the programmer. You can also use other boards, see the Arduino Programmer ISP documentation for a complete list.

Remember to use a reliable power source, or add capacitors to make sure the programmer have a stable 5V input.

[DIYTECHBROS]

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[rupacustoms]

Complements! Great slow tutorial. No audio fluctuations nor annoying music. No chaos. Properly demonstrated. Chapeau. I applaud.

[rotiree]

Excluding the intro, how to upload the Blink sketch and outro, you explained how to get an Arduino to program a tiny85 in less than 4 minutes. Clear, concise, dead easy to follow.

A couple of years ago, I bought a sparkfun USB programmer - it was always finicky and fragile. This way seems to be bullet-proof, so far.

Thank you for this very clear, well-produced video.

[awesomegamer]

a note for any of my friends struggling out there with an incorrect board signature on uploading the sketch: use the sketch tab and select "Upload using Programmer!"

[tomlewis]

Thanks for taking the time to produce this. I'm trying to program a ATtiny45 with an UNO R3 per your procedure, and I have 2 snags. 1. For the Board, I don't see an ATtiny45 that doesn't say (Optiboot) after it. 2. For the Programmer, I don't see Arduino as ISP (ATtinyCore).

[jakemurdock]

thank you much I've been trying to program this attiny 85 for days and now I got it

[shatbratches]

Great tutorial! I purchased a USB AVR programmer along with these chips and never had any success getting even the bootloader burned. I have always just put my bag of ATtiny chips away and continued to use pro minis/micros for small projects, knowing that I was always wasting so many pins, as well as money and potential reductions in project size. I am so happy to finally be able to use this chips. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video.

[clarissamagsipoc]

Just when I was about to learn how to program attinys! Very informative, thanks! :)

[jromhek]

Thanks ….. after trying and failing all this afternoon …. then I found your video and the led is blinking within minutes !

[fabianboshoven]

I am going to buy a attiny85 it is a nice board

[tohcp]

Thank you for so detailed guidance for programming ATTiny85, simple and go to the point

[sigurdboe]

A year later BUT STILL just when i needed it thanks

[TrillShatner]

Thank you very much!!! I got my blink sketch working asap, and eventually got neopixel strip working. However your instructions no longer match current ATTiny Core board settings...

You now have to select "ATTiny85 (No Bootloader)" and select "AVR Dragon ISP mode (ATTiny Core)" as programmer in order to Burn Bootloader... Selecting "ATTiny85 (no bootloader)" & "Arduino ISP" is fine to upload sketches after that.

Thank you again~ I hope you can upload a new video with the latest version of Arduino IDE and share this~ Subscribed!

[jpolarseminario]

Very good video. Just a friendly advice: if you anounce the vide is going to have chapters or sections, it's nice to add the time-stamp of the begining of each ones for the viewers that want to skip directly to their point of interest. Very good job.

[ianbirkinhead]

Thank you tried so many other videos, yours is the clearest to understand, and it worked

[DIYTECHBROS]

At 6:63 - it is after the blinking of the Arduino stops that you can remove the ATTiny85 - not the LED for the blink sketch. That will blink forever.

[lazzerbear]

Great video! I went all around to try and figure this out. Your video was the best place got it to work first try.

[charlesklein]

made the sale! the difficulty with this is that in the past you had to load drivers for it from "gethup" and while im a member i still cant figure out how to do this and people who think this is public are really mistaken! i cant get it to work. are their videos that explain this yes but they show you how to load into it not read from it. but you loaded this with out it using the arduino! thank you!

[RegisMichelLeclerc]

Alternately, you can get a USBASP device and simply wire MISO/MOSI/RST for programming. Instead of burning the bootloader, you can use avrdude to set the "fuses" to the divider you want (that's how you get your ATMega328P at 20MHz instead of 16MHz, that's 25% increase!) and make an entry in boards.txt to create your bespoke board (basically, copy the existing entry and alter the lines as needed). The only reason to use an Arduino as a programmer is that it's breadboard friendly, which USBASP is not (at all). However, it's nuch easier to use to reprogram a chip "in place" without taking the chip out of the circuit, as long as you have put a 6-pin or a 10-pin plug near your ATTiny (10-pin is less sensitive to environment). I also use an inductor to "clean" the power, and I generally connect ARef to Vcc when using the ADC.

[MrBobWareham]

Thank you very much for this tutorial it worked first time, so I can use my Attiny85 chips that have been in my draw for some time, but I see as of 19-10-2022 the price has gone up.