Help programming Atmel

Hi,
I’ve just received a Pololu USB AVR Programmer and i’m trying to reprogramme 4 Turngiy F20A Atmel based ESC’s.
When I connect my AVR programmer to the PC, the green light comes on and the red flashes (indicating no device attached).
I then attach the 6 pin plug to the programming contacts on the F20A but the AVR prorgammer continues to flash red. Contacts are: mosi/miso/sck/gnd/vcc/reset
Could you please advise me if i’m missing a step? so far thats all I’ve done, does the ESC need to be powered or something else?
Thanks!
ps. originally my PC would not detect the AVR but it turned out to be a dead USB cable so i’m now using a slightly shorter one than the standard (from a portable USB CD Rom)

Generally, yes, the device you want to program needs to be powered.
Also, if it’s just a 6-pin header you’re connecting, it may be that you hooked it up the wrong way.
The best way to find out is to try it. If the software complains, then turn the cable around and try again :slight_smile:
The 6-pin connector is generally safe to reverse, as in it won’t break anything.

Thanks, that worked fine.
I managed to get 4 Brushless ESC’s converted to be Brushed/reversible :slight_smile: