Am I doomed! ?Writing the bootloader to the A-star 16MHz

Do the pins GND A VCC TX RX B on the USB AVR programmer 2.1v suffices in writing the bootloader
on to the A-star ??
On the side of the A-star controller, would I need to connect VCC or GND seperately or the 2.1v can take care of all that during the process of writing the bootloader ??

I have made 3 custom boards and unfortunately, I haven’t exposed the ISP pins, am I doomed ?? :flushed::cold_sweat::slightly_frowning_face:

You definitely need access to the ISP lines to program your AVR, but all hope might not be lost. If you have not soldered the controllers to the board, you could try a socket type chip programmer.

When the USB AVR programmer v2.1 is connected via the ISP pins, it can power the target AVR directly through the 6-pin ISP header. You just need to enable the VCC output in the Pololu USB AVR Programmer v2 Configuration Utility and select the correct voltage level. There is no need for separate VCC or GND connections.

-Claire

:sob:!!!
Well back to the drawing board…
Does nRESET of the AVRISP connects to D/R
or does it connects directly to PC6(RESET) before SW1 ??

nRESET connects directly to PC6 on our A-Star 328PB boards as shown in their schematic.

-Claire