3.b.1. Adding Devices to AVR Studio 5

Adding the right XML file to the tools\STK500\xml directory in AVR Studio 5 enables programming of that particular AVR using an STK500-compatible programmer such as the Pololu USB AVR Programmer.

While AVR Studio 4 supports programming a large number of different AVRs with STK500-compatible programmers such as the Pololu USB AVR Programmer, AVR Studio 5 only supports programming 24 different devices by default. If you would like to program a device that is not supported by default using AVR Studio 5, you will need to add an XML file to one of AVR Studio 5’s directories.

1. Navigate to the directory where you installed AVR Studio 5 and find the tools\STK500\xml subdirectory. By default, on a 64-bit computer this will be C:\Program Files (x86)\Atmel\AVR Studio 5.0\tools\STK500\xml.
2. Right click on ATmega168_stk500.xml and select Edit to open it in Notepad.
3. Replace all occurrences of “ATmega168” in the file with the name of the device you want to program. The device name you type should exactly match the name of one of the XML files in AVR Studio 5’s devices subdirectory, for example “ATmega328P”.
4. In the File menu, select Save As… and save it as DEVICENAME_stk500.xml where DEVICENAME is the same device name that you entered into the file, for example ATmega328P_stk500.xml.
5. Restart AVR Studio 5. A new entry for your device should now be visible in the Device drop down box of the AVR Programming dialog. This should allow you to program HEX files onto that device from AVR Studio 5 using the Pololu USB AVR Programmer.

The ATmega328P has been successfully added to the device selection box of AVR Studio 5.