Digispark ATtiny85: Install and Setup. Easily save space using this tiny chip to replace an Uno. Learn how to program this chip using the standard Arduino IDE.

The Digispark ATtiny85...

...is really just an ATtiny85 with a software defined USB interface and...

• Has 6 I/O pins.
  
  
• Uses the Standard Arduino IDE, so it is easy to use.
  
  
• No external chips to operate.
  
  
• Uses an internally generated 16.5MHz clock (no need for external crystal).
  
  
• There's no USB chip - it is all done in software!

The programming process has been tested for IDE versions (18/9/23):

1.8.19 (Reliable and old!).
2.1.0 ( Very new - a completely re-designed and re-coded IDE ) - the entire process below also works with this IDE.

Digispark Attiny85 runs at 16.5MHz (with no external crystal) and has 6  I/O pins and connects to a USB port using a micro USB connector. The breakout board comes with an ATtiny85 chip pre-programmed with the micronucleus bootloader.

If you need to save board space and only need a few outputs the this chip is ideal. It works almost exactly the same way as an Arduino Uno (and where it doesn't there are software modules to get round missing internal modules).

For most trivial programs that you use you won't notice any difference in writing code between the ATtiny85 and the ATMega328P (Arduino Uno chip). The main difference is that the Flash is smaller in size.

Digispark vs Arduino Uno internal hardware

There are three major differences:

Digispark (using the ATtiny85):

1. Does not have an Internal I2C hardware
2. Does not have an Internal SPI hardware
3. Does not have a 16-bit timer.

You can use a library to get bit-banged I2C operation.

It does have:

• A 10bit ADC (the same as an Uno).
• Two PWM channels (the Uno has more).
• Two 8-bit timers (the uno also has a 16-bit timer).
• A Serial module.
  

Bootloader

The great thing about this bootloader is that it makes a software compatible USB interface inside the ATtiny85 - even when that chip has no USB interface. By adding support libraries into the Arduino IDE you can program this chip using the Arduino IDE system in a similar way to other Arduino microcontrollers.

The rest of this page shows you a Digispark tutorial for installing the Digispark drivers, checking that they are working correctly and programming the device.

Digispark ATtiny85 Bootloader Timeout

The way that the Digispark Attiny85 works is to use the Window Driver to identify the Digispark but this can only be done for 5 seconds. After the 5 seconds the bootloader becomes a dumb device and the program control is transferred to the program just loaded.

Arduino IDE 1.8.8 (Windows Store 1.8.19.0)

It has been successfully programmed using Arduino 1.8.8 (Windows Store 1.8.19.0). So a bug has been corrected since 1.8.7 (I think) did not work in that IDE. Now tested on Arduino IDE 2.1.0.

Warning on Digispark operation

The interface can be finicky - I had this system working, then worked on another project and came back to the Digispark ATtiny85. The window 10 machine that had worked perfectly came up with the dreaded popup:

Warning "USB Device not recognized."

I tried the following:

• Re-installing Digistump drivers (clicking on DPinst64 - for a 64 bit machine).
• In device manager Deleting USB entries that correspond to the ATtiny85 by Clicking the 'View' menu entry, then show hidden devices and uninstalling the driver for those labelled "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)".
• Using zadig to install lib32-winusb on the unknown USB Device - no effect.
• Uninstall Arduino IDE 1.8.5 and install a custom version of it (DigistumpArduinoInstall1.5.8C.exe) - no effect. Went back to IDE 1.8.5.

In the Digispark Attiny documentation it is recommend that a powered USB hub is used so that you don't accidentally blowup the USB port in the PC.

Device Manager - Digispark Not Found

If you have a problem you'll see a message ("Unknown USB Device.") in the Windows Device Manager like this:

Device Manager - Digispark Attiny85 Driver Is Found

For successful Digispark ATtiny85 detection you will see this (message is libusb-win32 Devices, digispark bootloader - after the highlighted line "Keyboards" below). This appears after you plug in the Digispark to a USB port:

What if libusb really won't show up?

The following resource allowed the libusb-win32devices> Digispark Bootloader (as in the image above) to re-appear (I deleted it incorrectly):

https://digistump.com/board/index.php?topic=248.0

I have copied the information from the above link above as it is labelled as unsecure:

"First, I had a lot of trouble getting 64-bit Windows 7 to recognize the digispark.  I had installed the driver using the supplied installation tool, but windows seems to have two "levels" of installation.  The first is "give windows a driver file to use if it ever encounters this sort of device," and the second is "tell windows I am using this sort of device and it needs to load the relevant driver file."  (This is why, when you are uninstalling a device driver, there's a checkbox for "also delete the driver files"; typically it only removes the second-level installation, but the checkbox forces it to remove the first-level installation too.)  The installer program achieved the first level of installation, but not the second; and Windows couldn't make the transition to the second level fast enough.  When the digispark, after five seconds, switched from appearing as a USB device to just running the "blink" sketch, Windows would abandon trying to load the driver and say instead that the device was malfunctioning.

The fix for this was to manually run the "install hardware wizard" as though the digispark were not a plug-and-play device, forcing the driver into the second-level installed mode.  The steps for this are to choose run from the start menu, type "hdwwiz", press enter, click "next," chose "install the hardware that I manually select from a list," click next, choose "all devices," click next, wait for the hardware list to appear, scroll to "Digistump," select "Digispark Bootloader," and click next twice more.

This is the only way I was able to get my computer to recognize the digispark.  After doing this once, everything worked the way I expected."

ATtiny85 Arduino install Steps

1. Install the Arduino IDE

An easy way is to search the Microsoft Apps store in windows 8.1 or 10 and search for Arduino. Install the app. Alternatively download the executable installer here. The latest one is 1.8.8 and it does work with Digispark.

2. Install Digispark Attiny85 Windows Drivers

Download the Digispark Attiny85 windows drivers here.
(This is the 1.67 Feb 13 2016 release found here.)

Download Digistump.Drivers.zip and unzip to your hard disc. Then double click on DPinst (32 bit PC) or DPinst64 (64 bit PC) depending on your system (mine is 64bits).

You should now check that windows can see the Digispark - Just plug in the Digispark usb (micro usb connector) and you will hear the USB connection sound. If windows complains saying "USB Device not recognised." then you will need to fix this before going further - the IDE has nothing to do with this part.

The problem is that you have to install drivers in order for windows to correctly identify and communicate with the micronucleus device. If you have problems have a look here.

3. Set up Digistump for the IDE

To allow Digistump boards to be seen by the Arduino IDE you need to insert a line of code in the Menu > File > preferences window as shown below:

The line to insert in the "Additional Boards manager URLs" box is:

>>>>http://digistump.com/package_digistump_index.json DEAD as of 10/3/24.

Click here to see contents of the package_digistump_index.json file.

As noted above  digistump.com is Dead.

Setup boards manager without digistump.com

How to setup the digistump.json file even though digistump.com is dead as of 10/3/24.

The solution to add the boards manager json file is:

    Add a local copy of the .json file.

Open the link above (which is a copy of  the json file) and save the contents to a local text file and rename it "package_digistump_index.json". Now place the file in a known place on your hard disk. I used:

file:///C:/jfm/package_digistump_index.json

I used a directory on my hard disk but you can use anything e.g.:

file:///C:/Users/YourUsername/Desktop/package_digistump_index.json.

Replacing YourUsername with your user name! Now copy and paste that line above beginning "file:", into the "Additional boards manager URLs" below, instead of the one beginning "http://digistump.com". When you exit the preferences page the file will be loaded (see popup notification).

If you have more than one of these lines click the double-box symbol to the right of that entry box and add each entry one per line.

4. Select a Digispark Board or Mode

You won't see any examples for Digistump in the Menu > File > Examples until you select the Digispark board in Menu > Tools > Boards.

From that menu select the board labelled:

Digispark (Default - 16.5MHz)

Install the Digistump Boards

First click Tools > Board > Board Manager

Now search for the digistump board library and click install.

Selecting the Digispark Board

5. Select a Digispark Attiny85 Example

The examples will now be available from the Examples Menu: File > Examples > Digispark_Examples.

It does not matter which example is used, but one that does not do too much is the Infrared one - you don't need to attach an infrared receiver - you are only going to go through the process of programming it - to get used to the process. You can if you want to though - just use a standard IR receiver.

Go back to the Arduino IDE Menu > File > Examples > Digispark_Examples
And choose the Infrared example.

Now you will see the following code in the Arduino IDE.

This is simple code that does not attempt to decode the IR signal it just reacts if any signal is received by flashing the built in LED. If it does not flash the LED is on pin 1 - newer boards use this as the LED pin.

You don't need the IR receiver - this is just to see the programming process - the program is irrelevant.

int irPin=2;

void setup()
{
 pinMode(irPin,INPUT);
 pinMode(0,OUTPUT);
 //Serial.begin(9600);
 digitalWrite(0,HIGH);
     //Serial.println("You pressed a button");
     delay(1000);
     digitalWrite(0,LOW);
}

void loop()
{

  if(pulseIn(irPin,LOW))
  {
     //button pressed
     delay(100);
     digitalWrite(0,HIGH);
     //Serial.println("You pressed a button");
     delay(1000);
     digitalWrite(0,LOW);
  }

}

6. Compile and Upload a program

Leap of faith

In my new window 10 machine I re-installed all of the above and then it all appears to fail - the device manager continually alternates between device found (sound) and device disconnected (sound). Just forget all that, the programming of the Digispark is completely different to a normal Arduino device. Just start the programming sequence then plug in the Digispark to the USB cable!

There are two parts to programming the board

1. Start the compile and upload process as you usually do for the Arduino.
2. Plug in the Digispark ATtiny85 to initialise USB detection.
   

1. Normal Arduino Compilation

To start digispark attiny85 programming hit the compile and upload button or press Ctrl-u.

Once uploading starts you will see the following information in the status box at the bottom of the Arduino IDE:

2. Micronucleus USB Detection and Upload

At this point you need to plug in (or unplug and re-plug in the Digispark Attiny85). Then you will see the following status output:


Notice that the version of micronucleus firmware is 1.6. This can be upgraded to get more space by reprogramming the bootloader.

7. Digispark LED Flash Test program

Here is a program to just flash the on-board LED. Re-program the Digispark and check the led flashes (New Digisparks have the LED on pin 1, older ones have the LED on pin 0).

Now you should be familiar with the Digispark ATtiny programming process.

#define LEDPIN 1

void setup()
{
   pinMode(LEDPIN,OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
   delay(200);
   digitalWrite(LEDPIN,HIGH);
     
   delay(200);
   digitalWrite(LEDPIN,LOW);

}

[code: flash_led.ino]

Alternatively Save Bootloader Flash

To save flash memory that is used by the Digispark ATtiny85 USB bootloader you can program the chip using an AVRISP (or use an Arduino as an AVRISP) and program the chip directly through SPI. This is a bit more involved but saves you all the Flash memory used by the USB bootloader.

Conclusions

You will think that the USB interface is failing as it oscillates from (success (USB sound for good USB device) to disconnect (USB sound for bad device). It is not. Just ignore that - if you have installed the drivers and board.

All you do is start the programming sequence - then plug in the Digispark; Magically the board is  detected and programmed - try the LED flash to see it work.

Once you have got over this problem the board works easily and well with the Arduino IDE.

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