Adafruit Arduino IDE Setup

Created by Tony DiCola

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-ide-setup

Last updated on 2024-06-03 01:41:59 PM EDT

©Adafruit Industries Page 1 of 22

 Table of Contents

Overview 3

Arduino 1.6.x IDE 3

• Super Easy Installation (Recommended)
• Add the Adafruit Board Support package!
• Manage Board Support
• Manual Installation (super advanced!)

Arduino 1.0.x IDE 9

• Easy Installation
• Manual Installation
• Step 0. Install Arduino IDE
• Step 1. Add ATtiny85 Support
• Step 2. Updating avrdude.conf
• Step 3. Update 'ld' linker
• Flora Setup for Arduino 1.0.x

Windows Driver Installation 16

• Manual Driver Installation

Mac OSX Setup 19

Linux Setup 20

Troubleshooting 20
• If you get the error message avrdude: Error: Could not find USBtiny device (0x1781/0xc9f)
• If you get a lot of red text, errors and also a warning about Verification Failed
• On Linux if you get the error message "usbtiny_receive: error sending control message: Protocol error
(expected 4, got -71)"

©Adafruit Industries Page 2 of 22

 Overview

This guide will walk you through how to install the Arduino IDE to work with Adafruit's
boards like Trinket, Pro Trinket, Gemma, and Flora. It's easy to program these boards
by downloading and installing a preconfigured version of the Arduino IDE. You'll be
up and running with your Adafruit board in minutes!

For most users follow the Arduino 1.6.x IDE install page (https://adafru.it/jDQ) to install
a version of the latest Arduino IDE.

For users who need an older version of the Arduino IDE follow the Arduino 1.0.x IDE
install page (https://adafru.it/jMe).

If you aren't sure what Arduino version you need stick with the latest 1.6.x
instructions (https://adafru.it/jDQ)!

And if you're new to using Arduino be sure to check out this Arduino tips and tricks
guide (https://adafru.it/maj), and the official Arduino documentation (https://adafru.it/
aMH).

Arduino 1.6.x IDE

The latest version of Arduino is recommended for most users. Follow the steps on
this page to learn how to install a version of the Arduino IDE with support for
Adafruit's boards.

©Adafruit Industries Page 3 of 22

 Super Easy Installation (Recommended)
With the latest Arduino IDE (version 1.6.4 and greater) you can now add 3rd party
boards directly from the stock IDE! The first thing you will need to do is to download
the latest release of the Arduino IDE. You will need to be using version 1.6.4 or
higher:

Latest Arduino IDE Download

https://adafru.it/f1P

After you have downloaded and installed the latest version (remember it must be
1.6.4 or higher), you will need to start the IDE and navigate to the Preferences menu.
You can access it from the File menu in Windows or Linux, or the Arduino menu on
OS X.

A dialog will pop up just like the one shown below.

©Adafruit Industries Page 4 of 22

 We will be adding a URL to the new Additional Boards Manager URLs option. The list
of URLs is comma separated, and you will only have to add each URL once. New
Adafruit boards and updates to existing boards will automatically be picked up by the
Board Manager each time it is opened. The URLs point to index files that the Board
Manager uses to build the list of available & installed boards.

To find the most up to date list of URLs you can add, you can visit the list of third party
board URLs on the Arduino IDE wiki (https://adafru.it/f7U). We will only need to add
one URL to the IDE in this example, but you can add multiple URLS by separating
them with commas. Copy and paste the link below into the Additional Boards
Manager URLs option in the Arduino IDE preferences.

If you don't see the Additional Boards Manager URLs box, make sure you
downloaded the Arduino IDE from arduino.cc! Older versions and derivatives of
the IDE may not have it

Add the Adafruit Board Support package!

Paste

https://adafruit.github.io/arduino-board-index/
package_adafruit_index.json

©Adafruit Industries Page 5 of 22

 Into the "Additional Board Managers URLS" box

Click OK to save the new preference settings. Next we will look at installing boards
with the Board Manager.

Manage Board Support

Adding the link to the Adafruit board support package does not actually install
anything, it only tells the Arduino IDE where to find the software.

Now that you have added the appropriate URLs to the Arduino IDE preferences, you
can open the Boards Manager by navigating to the Tools->Board menu.

Once the Board Manager opens, click on the category drop down menu on the top
left hand side of the window and select Contributed. You will then be able to select
and install the boards supplied by the URLs added to the prefrences. In the example
below, we are installing support for Adafruit AVR Boards, but the same applies to all
boards installed with the Board Manager.

©Adafruit Industries Page 6 of 22

 Next, quit and reopen the Arduino IDE to ensure that all of the boards are properly
installed. You should now be able to see the new boards listed in the Tools->Board
menu.

Finally follow the steps below for your platform to finish the installation - basically
installing drivers and permissions management

• Windows Setup (https://adafru.it/jAa)

• Mac OSX Setup (https://adafru.it/mak)
• Linux Setup (https://adafru.it/iOE)

Also check out the troubleshooting section (https://adafru.it/mal) for some advice on
common errors. Have fun using Adafruit's boards!

Manual Installation (super advanced!)

If you have your own version of the Arduino IDE or would like to install the Adafruit
boards yourself then follow the steps below. However it is highly recommended that
most users stick to the initial methods

With the new version of the Arduino IDE the process of adding support for new
boards is much simpler than previous versions. First start by downloading a version
of the Arduino 1.6.x IDE and installing it as normal. Note that these instructions are
only tested to work against the Arduino 1.6.4+ IDE, earlier or later versions may or
may not work!

Once you've installed the stock Arduino IDE download and unzip the following file
which contains Adafruit's board definitions (https://adafru.it/eTY):

©Adafruit Industries Page 7 of 22

 Adafruit Board Definitions
https://adafru.it/eTZ

Unzip the file and navigate inside the Adafruit_Arduino_Boards folder to find a
hardware subfolder with a small hiearchy of files, and a drivers folder with Flora
drivers specific to Windows.

Next find your installed Arduino IDE's hardware subfolder. For Windows and Linux
the hardware subfolder should be directly beneath the folder where Arduino's IDE
was installed.

For Mac OSX the folder is hidden inside the application bundle. Right click on the
Arduino application and click 'Show Package Contents', then navigate to the Content
-> Java -> Hardware folder to find the hardware subfolder.

Once you've found Arduino's hardware subfolder carefully merge in the contents of
the hardware folder from Adafruit's board definitions, being sure to overwrite any file
that conflicts (only avrdude.conf should conflict). When you're done the Arduino
hardware folder should have the following hiearchy:

• hardware

◦ adafruit

▪ avr

▪ The contents of the hardware/adafruit/avr folder from Adafruit's

board definitions. There will be a boards.txt, platform.txt
and variants subfolder.

◦ arduino

▪ No changes to this hiearchy, it is exactly as provided by the Arduino

IDE.

◦ tools

▪ avr

▪ etc

▪ avrdude.conf - This version of avrdude.conf should be

from Adafruit's board definitions and completely
overwrites the version provided by the Arduino IDE.

▪ ... all other files as provided by the Arduino IDE.

©Adafruit Industries Page 8 of 22

 ▪ ... all other files as provided by the Arduino IDE.

Finally on Windows only, copy the contents of the drivers folder from the board
definitions download into the Arduino IDE's drivers folder (it's a sibling of the
hardware folder you found earlier).

That's all you need to do to manually install Adafruit's boards with Arduino!
Now follow the steps below for your platform to finish the installation:

• Windows Setup (https://adafru.it/jAa)

• Mac OSX Setup (https://adafru.it/mak)
• Linux Setup (https://adafru.it/iOE)

Also check out the troubleshooting section (https://adafru.it/mal) for some advice on
common errors. Have fun using Adafruit's boards!

Arduino 1.0.x IDE

The Arduino IDE version 1.0.x is an older version of the Arduino IDE and is provided
for users who might require the older IDE for compatibility or other reasons. For most
users the newer 1.6.x version is recommended!

Easy Installation
The easiest way to install the Arduino 1.0.x version IDE with support for Adafruit's
boards is with the following preconfigured downloads. Just grab the right file for your
platform and use it like the normal Arduino IDE. Adafruit's boards like Trinket, Pro
Trinket, Gemma, and Flora are configured to show up in the board list automatically!

Arduino 1.0.5 with Adafruit Boards

for Windows
https://adafru.it/eYK

Arduino 1.0.5 with Adafruit Boards

for Mac OSX
https://adafru.it/eYJ

©Adafruit Industries Page 9 of 22

 Arduino 1.0.5 with Adafruit Boards
for Linux (32-bit)
https://adafru.it/dXa

Arduino 1.0.5 with Adafruit Boards

for Linux (64-bit)
https://adafru.it/dXb

Once you've downloaded and installed the IDE follow the steps below for your
platform to finish the installation:

• Windows Setup (https://adafru.it/jAa)

• Mac OSX Setup (https://adafru.it/mak)
• Linux Setup (https://adafru.it/iOE)

Also check out the troubleshooting section (https://adafru.it/mal) for some advice on
common errors. Have fun using Adafruit's boards!

Manual Installation
If you have your own version of the Arduino IDE or would like to install the Adafruit
boards yourself then follow the steps below. However it is highly recommended that
most users stick to the easy install downloads above!

Step 0. Install Arduino IDE

This tutorial will base the IDE off of v1.0.5. You can try later versions but v1.0.5 is at
least guaranteed to work

Adding Adafruit board support does not affect any other boards that are installed so
you can continue to use the IDE with any Arduino board currently supported.

Linux note: You can find instructions for manually modifying the Arduino IDE to
support Trinket/Gemma/Flora in the README of the Trinket Arduino Linux github
repository (https://adafru.it/dXd).

Step 1. Add ATtiny85 Support

Download the following file by pressing the button.

©Adafruit Industries Page 10 of 22

 Click to download Adafruit board
hardware support
https://adafru.it/dYP

Unzip it and move the hardware folder from the zip file and place it into to your
Arduino sketchbook folder. Your sketchbook folder is the folder where the Arduino
IDE stores your sketches. This folder is automatically created by the IDE when you
install it. If this is your first time using the Arduino IDE, it will be empty!

On Linux machines, the folder is named "Sketchbook" and it is typically located in/
home/[username]

On Windows and Macintosh machines, the default name of the folder is "Arduino"
and is located in your Documents folder.

This is a common source of confusion on Windows and Mac machines, your

sketchbook folder is not named "sketchbook" it is named "Arduino"!

Now you can start (or restart the the IDE) and check the Tools->Board menu, you
should see the three new entries for Trinket and Gemma:

OK you are half done! Next is updating the avrdude configuration file.

Step 2. Updating avrdude.conf

The second step is to update the AVR chip program upload helper to be a little more
patient with the ATtiny85 bootloader we have on the Trinket. We will update the
description of the chip's erase cycle to be longer, to avoid timeouts and errors.

Windows users can download the new avrdude.conf by clicking this button:

©Adafruit Industries Page 11 of 22

 avrdude.conf for Windows
https://adafru.it/eU0

Mac users should download this version and uncompress it

avrdude.conf for Mac

https://adafru.it/eU1

On Linux download this version of the file and rename it to just avrdude.conf:

avrdude.conf for Linux

https://adafru.it/eU2

Now we will hunt for the original avrdude.conf file. If you are using a Mac, right-click
on the Arduino application icon and select “Show Package Contents” then navigate
through the Contents & Java folders. On Windows you will have to find the installation
directory, which may be a folder on the Desktop or possibly in C:\Program Files if you
used the installer. Likewise in Linux it is where-ever you uncompressed the folder.

Now find the hardware\tools\avr\etc folder, and inside you should see the
avrdude.conf file. You can also use your operating system's find tool to locate it.

Rename the old avrdude.conf to avrdude.bak and copy over the new avrdude.conf to
the same folder

©Adafruit Industries Page 12 of 22

 Be sure you rename the old file before replacing it with the new one so you are sure
to make the swap!

Step 3. Update 'ld' linker

There's a bug in the 'linker' used by Arduino on Mac & Windows, where you can't
make sketches that are larger than 4K on the Attiny85. Since its really likely you'll
make sketches this large, we suggest replacing it. It's a lot like replacing the
avrdude.conf

On Windows: explore the Arduino folder and get to the hardware\tools\avr\bin

subfolder, you'll see a lot of files starting with avr-xxx.

On Mac: Explore the App and find Adafruit Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/

hardware/tools/avr/avr/bin

©Adafruit Industries Page 13 of 22

 Download the ld for your operating system and replace the one you have now (thanks
to TCWorld for this fix! (https://adafru.it/sD4))

Download the new ld for Windows

https://adafru.it/eU3

Download the new ld for Mac

https://adafru.it/eU4

Now restart the Arduino IDE. If using Trinket or Gemma you are done with
setup! Now follow the steps below for your platform to finish the installation:

• Windows Setup (https://adafru.it/jAa)

• Mac OSX Setup (https://adafru.it/mak)
• Linux Setup (https://adafru.it/iOE)

However if you're using Flora, continue on to setup the IDE for Flora.

Flora Setup for Arduino 1.0.x

Find your boards.txt file its in the Arduino/hardware/arduino folder on Windows for
version 1.0 IDE

©Adafruit Industries Page 14 of 22

 On a Mac right click the application and select "Show Package Contents," then
navigate to Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/Arduino) and add to the bottom:

flora8.name=Adafruit Flora
flora8.upload.protocol=avr109
flora8.upload.maximum_size=28672
flora8.upload.speed=57600
flora8.upload.disable_flushing=true
flora8.bootloader.low_fuses=0xff
flora8.bootloader.high_fuses=0xd8
flora8.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xcb
flora8.bootloader.path=caterina
flora8.bootloader.file=Caterina-Flora8.hex
flora8.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
flora8.bootloader.lock_bits=0x2F
flora8.build.mcu=atmega32u4
flora8.build.f_cpu=8000000L
flora8.build.vid=0x239A
flora8.build.pid=0x8004
flora8.build.core=arduino
flora8.build.variant=flora

• Place in arduino-1.0.5\drivers (Windows only):

Adafruit_Flora.inf
https://adafru.it/eU5

• Add to hardware/arduino/variants/flora (windows) or hardware/arduino/avr/

variants/flora (mac) (create folder):

pins_arduino.h
https://adafru.it/eU6

• Add to hardware/arduino/bootloaders/caterina (windows) or hardware/arduino/

avr/bootloaders/caterina (mac)

Caterina-Flora.hex
https://adafru.it/eU7

Edit hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/USBCore.cpp (windows) or hardware/arduino/

avr/cores/arduino/USBCore.cpp (mac)
find:

#elif USB_PID == 0x9208

'L ', 'i ', 'l ', 'y ', 'P ', 'a ', 'd ', 'U ', 'S ', 'B ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' '

©Adafruit Industries Page 15 of 22

 Add right below it

#elif USB_PID == 0x8004

'A ', 'd ', 'a ', 'f ', 'r ', 'u ', 'i ', 't ', ' ', 'F ', 'l ', 'o ', 'r ', 'a ', ' ', ' '

Then find

#elif USB_VID == 0x1b4f

'S ', 'p ', 'a ', 'r ', 'k ', 'F ', 'u ', 'n ', ' ', ' ', ' '

Add right below it

#elif USB_VID == 0x239A

'A ', 'd ', 'a ', 'f ', 'r ', 'u ', 'i ', 't ', ' ', ' ', ' '

That's it, you're ready to start using Flora with Arduino 1.0.x! One last thing is to follow
the steps here for your platform to finish the intall:

• Windows Setup (https://adafru.it/jAa)

• Mac OSX Setup (https://adafru.it/mak)
• Linux Setup (https://adafru.it/iOE)

Also check out the troubleshooting section (https://adafru.it/mal) for some advice on
common errors. Have fun using Adafruit's boards!

Windows Driver Installation

Mac and Linux do not require drivers, only Windows folks need to do this step

Windows 10 users probably can skip this step, because Windows 10 already has
many drivers built in. Try skipping the installation first to see if it's unnecessary.

Before you plug in your board, you'll need to possibly install a driver!

Click below to download our Driver Installer.

Download Latest Adafruit Windows

Driver Installer
https://adafru.it/AB0

Download and run the installer.

©Adafruit Industries Page 16 of 22

 Run the installer! Since we bundle the SiLabs and FTDI drivers as well, you'll need to
click through the license

Select which drivers you want to install, we suggest selecting all of them so you don't
have to do this again!

©Adafruit Industries Page 17 of 22

 As of version 2.5.0.0, the Adafruit drivers package is no longer signed, and some of
the drivers it contains are also no longer signed. You'll need to click the second item
in this dialog box when it appears:

On Windows 7, by default, we install a single driver for most of Adafruit's boards,

including the Feather 32u4, the Feather M0, Feather M0, Express, Circuit
Playground, Circuit Playground Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0, Metro M0 Express.
On Windows 10 and 11 that driver is not necessary (it's built in to Windows) and it will
not be listed.

The Trinket / Pro Trinket / Gemma / USBtinyISP drivers are also installed by default.

You can also, optionally, install the Arduino Gemma (different than the Adafruit
Gemma!), Huzzah and Metro 328 drivers.

Click Install to do the installin'.

Note that on Windows 10 and Windows 11, support for many boards is built in. If
you end up not checking any boxes, you don't need to run the installer at all!

©Adafruit Industries Page 18 of 22

 Manual Driver Installation
If windows needs the driver files (inf/cat) for some reason you can get all the drivers
by downloading the source code zip file from this link:

Latest Adafruit Windows Drivers

release
https://adafru.it/AB0

And point windows to the Drivers folder when it asks for the driver location

Mac OSX Setup

If you're using Mac OS Mavericks, Yosemite or later you may need to update the
setting to permit running Arduino IDE

1. Open the, System Preferences from the Apple Menu.

2. Open the, Security and Privacy control panel.
3. Click on the General tab.
4. Click the Lock Icon and log in
5. Change Allow Apps Downloaded From to Anywhere
6. Open the downloaded IDE.
7. Go back to the Security preferences and change the selection back to Mac App
Store and identified developers
8. You only need to go through this procedure once. Mavericks will remember that
it's OK to run the app.

©Adafruit Industries Page 19 of 22

 9. That's it, you're ready to start using the Arduino IDE with Adafruit's board on
OSX!

Linux Setup
If you missed it on a previous page, the following link will let you download the latest
1.6.x version of the Arduino IDE for Linux:

Arduino 1.6.4 with Adafruit Boards

for Linux (32-bit)
https://adafru.it/f85

Arduino 1.6.4 with Adafruit Boards

for Linux (64-bit)
https://adafru.it/f86

If you're on Linux, and are seeing multi-second delays connecting to the serial
console, or are seeing "AT" and other gibberish when you connect, then the
modemmanager service might be interfering. Just remove it; it doesn't have
much use unless you're still using dial-up modems. To remove, type this
command at a shell:

sudo apt purge modemmanager

Troubleshooting
If you get the error message avrdude: Error: Could not
find USBtiny device (0x1781/0xc9f)
That means the bootloader wasn't active. Make sure to press the button on the Trinket
to activate the bootloader before clicking the Upload button.

©Adafruit Industries Page 20 of 22

 If you get a lot of red text, errors and also a warning about
Verification Failed
Check that you updated the avrdude.conf file above - if you don't update the
description of the Attiny85 in the configure file by replacing it, the IDE wont know to
be patient with the Trinket/Gemma bootloader and will have many upload errors

©Adafruit Industries Page 21 of 22

 On Linux if you get the error message "usbtiny_receive:
error sending control message: Protocol error (expected
4, got -71)"
These can generally be ignored and should not interfere with the program upload.
Unfortunately Linux's USB core is a little flakey communicating with the ATtiny85
processor on the Trinket/Gemma and can cause these errors. If an upload does fail,
try it again as it is likely an intermittent issue.

©Adafruit Industries Page 22 of 22