Problem shrinking Arduino project to ATtiny 85 20MHz

Question

This is a similar problem as this one: Programming an ATtiny 85 with Arduino

However the latter question refers to older software/arduino and did not reach a resolution.

I'm using Arduino 1.0.1 (also tried this with 1.0.2) on Mac OS X ML. I've successfully ran the following program on the arduino:

int LED_Pin = 3;
int howBright;
void setup() {
  pinMode(LED_Pin, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  howBright = random(128,255);
  analogWrite(LED_Pin, howBright);
  delay(random(50,150)); 
}

Now I have an ATtiny 85 20MHz wired up as instructed here: http://hlt.media.mit.edu/?p=1695

I'm using the hardware for the ATtiny85 here: http://code.google.com/p/arduino-tiny/downloads/detail?name=arduino-tiny-0100-0015.zip&can=2&q=

I am "uploading with programmer" with "Arduino as ISP" to the ATtiny85 and get this error:

avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

Answer 1

I suggest you to confirm your steps with http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoISP and https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/200 to be sure. It seems you didn't upload Arduino ISP code to your Arduino first. Plug your Arduino to your computer and upload ArduinoISP from Examples menu. Then you may retry to program your Attiny by selecting "Arduino as ISP" from Tools | Programmer menu.

Answer 2

I would suggest checking to make sure your Arduino is working as an ISP programmer correctly, first. You could try to use it to program another Arduino or ATMega or even an ATTiny which you know to be working, with a very simple piece of code. Perhaps even use just use avrdude's terminal to see if the ISP is able to make a connection with a regular target.

You could also attempt to program your ATTiny with another ISP programmer that you know to be working. This should let you confirm that you don't have incorrect fuses on the ATtiny which is making it unresponsive.

You will have to reduce the problem space by trying to zero in on where the actual problem is if someone here is going to be able to help you. Knowing what the precise problem is and the exact symptoms (beyond "something is not working", which is really all the stk500 error message tells us) can make a world of difference when you're troubleshooting. The smaller the problem space, the more likely a solution can be found.