Well my little AVRISP MKII that I have had for years seems to have some sort
of issue? (Or at least an issue with AVRDude...)

I have been using my little guy for years without any issues.

About 8 months ago I got rid of Atmel Studio 6.0, I think that was the
version, because it didn't support Linux and it was getting bigger and
running slower.

Since the ONLY THING I was using it for was to Program my AVR's VIA the
AVRISP MKII I started using AVRDude to talk to it to do my programmer.

All has been worry-free for months.

Yesterday it didn't seem to communicate properly.

I reseated the connections and all seemed to be good.

I just figured something didn't make contact.

TODAY!

It just doesn't seem to communicate properly.

My AVR is running code. (It has a serial interface I use for debugging
information.) I just can't program it VIA the AVRISP MKII?

Any troubleshooting ideas?

Are there some things that can be done from AVRDude to try to verify if it
is functioning properly?

I am not too Familiar with the AVRDude workings, and like most Linux/Unix
things the Documentation and User Interface seem to be a bit lacking.

For me I am currently downloading Atmel Studio v6.2. To see if I can figure
out anything from there.

I'm not going to shed any tears if the AVRISP is dying/dead. It has managed
to program AVR's 1,000's of times for me.

And to make matters worse, I am traveling, no Laptop AC Adapter, no spare
AVR's, no spar USB A/B Cables, no spare programmers, etc...

Maybe the ONE AND ONLY AVR Chip I have with me has reached the
"end of it's pogramming life"? (The error doesn't seem to me to indicate
that, but I have never reached the "EOL for an AVR being programmed with
AVRDude. So I don't know what will/should/could happen?)

I just thought I would ask.

Here is what I get...

    avrdude -c avrisp2 -p m328p -b 115200 -P
    usb -U flash:w:sys-main.hex:i

    avrdude: stk500v2_recv_mk2: error in USB receive
    avrdude: stk500v2_recv_mk2: error in USB receive
    avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

    Reading | ################################################## | 100% 2.03s

    avrdude: Device signature = 0xffffff (retrying)

    Reading | ################################################## | 100% 2.04s

    avrdude: Device signature = 0xffffff (retrying)

    Reading | ################################################## | 100% 2.04s

    avrdude: Device signature = 0xffffff
    avrdude: Yikes!  Invalid device signature.
             Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
             this check.

    avrdude done.  Thank you.

Batch files are the same, AVRDude is the same, mice/serial converters work
on all USB Ports...

P.S.

I will post an update tonight, as well as check responses, after I get and
AC Adapter, a spare used A/B Cable, and Atmel Studio v6.2 installed...

Avrdude has a -v option to enable verbose output. More -v options increase verbosity level. edit your makefile command and add a half dozen -v -v -v -v -v -v to get more info on the problem.

With that said, it looks like a communication problem between the programmer and chip which means the programmer might be broken assuming you know the serial ports on the chip are good. If the chip was worn out, avrdude wouldn't know while writing but would get a ton of verification errors.

Let's see what you get with the -v's.

Really Noter?

"Extra -v's" will get "more verbosity"?

:)

That is quite interesting in itself.

Well I "cut short my trip"...

I decided that I couldn't go out and about limping along when that was a planned
activity". (I know, pretty sad... ;) )

I went back home where I have a "plentifull supply of extra parts of all types"...

From what I could figure out, the test board I have been using is one I travel around
with often.

It seems that, maybe, some traces or solder pads got broke became weak. Maybe a solder
joint wasn't very good and was stressed and finally broke free.

I don't know for sure...

What I do know...

Atmel Studio v6.2 takes nearly 5GB! (I am sure I had a previous version an not an earlier version of 6 before like I had
thought/imagined.)

Turns out:

The AVRISP MKII programs chips in other boards I have without issue
That "every I/O Pin" worked without issue on My Board I was having problems with
Everything on My Board I was having problems with looked okay

So I resoldered the ISP Connector...
The Problem seems to be solved!

The ONLY good part, was that the night before everything worked properly.
Which was really good because I was trying to show/teach someone somethings... (That would have been REALLY EMBARASSING...)

I am going to play around with those "-v" settings, for future hardships...

Thanks again...