Debug ATTiny 45/85 with Arduino

Arduino can be used to program ATTiny 45/85. In order to get any debug messages from ATTiny you can use Arduino UNO also as a serial monitor. “Coding Badly” did an excellent job to create a communication bridge between Arduino and ATTiny. Software serial and his Knock-Bang protocol are supported. The usage of the Knock Bang protocol is described here.

Prepare the Arduino

  • Download TinyISP https://github.com/Coding-Badly/TinyISP/
  • Copy the extracted folder to Arduino sketch folder
  • Start Arduino (Software). Click File -> Sketchbook -> TinyISP
  • Switch to “_TinyISP_BuildOptions” (Tab)
    • Add the line “#define RELAY_KNOCK_BANG_ENABLED 1” before “#endif”
  • Switch to “TinyISP” (Tab). Make sure to have selected the Arduino UNO board and upload the sketch.
  • To test the monitor:
    • Open “Serial Monitor”, ensure baud rate 19200 is set
    • Enter “!” to start/stop monitoring

Install Knock-Bang library

Test ATTiny Arduino communication

Select ATTiny 45/85 board and upload the following test to your ATTiny.

#include <TinyDebugKnockBang.h>

void setup( void )
{
  Debug.begin( 250000 );
}

void loop( void )
{
  Debug.println( F( "Hello G! " ) );
  delay( 1000 );
}

Open Serial Monitor and enter “!”. You should see “Hello G!”

Sources

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,123388.30.html

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