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I've been trying to do a sort of "crash course" in Arduino but there's something I'm still confused about.

I've read about programming ATTiny microcontrollers using Arduino boards, and I've decided to get a Nano v3 from the official Arduino site (too many clones seem too glitchy to me). All I want (for now) to do is, Stick it into a breadboard and connect it to an ATTiny, so that I can use the MCU (to create LED effects). So, for now, I just want to use the Nano as an "ISP".

Anyway, one thing I have not yet seen clarified is, How does a user put the "bootloader" onto one's first, new, just-out-of-the-box Nano (or really, any Arduino board) when there is no previous board to use to do that...?

I personally don't understand why they don't come with the bootloader already installed, but they don't as far as I can tell. So, do I just plug the Nano (or other board) into the USB port, and open the Arduino IDE, and then the board will automatically "understand" the IDE? Or is there something else that has to be done first? (By "first", I mean, aside from installing, and opening, the IDE ;) ).

Sorry for such a basic question but I simply have not seen this clarified, and I can't spend money on a Nano just to find out that I need some expensive widget to put the "bootloader" onto it...

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    a new Nano has a bootloader
    – Juraj ♦
    Commented Jun 15 at 17:07
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    All new Arduinos should all have bootloaders pre-installed. FWIW, I have only ever purchased clone Arduinos (Nanos, Unos, Megas, Micros, Leonardos, whatever). for over 9 years, and never had any problem, "glitchy" or otherwise, what so ever.
    – Greenonline
    Commented Jun 15 at 17:10
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    To add more: that the boards broadly have bootloaders is a notable "element" of what makes the original Wiring (Arduino's heritage) approach its intended goal "to make it easy for artists and designers to work with electronics, by abstracting away the often complicated details". To have, connect, and use a separate programming device being one of those details. Using attiny devices (usually) without bootloaders is more the exception than rule in the space of things "Arduino".
    – timemage
    Commented Jun 15 at 18:10
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    Buy from AliExpress or Ebay (direct from China) for a dollar (at least less than $5). Maybe buy bulk (3 or 10 units) to keep the price down. You can even get them without the horrific CH340 IC if you pay a dollar or two more (per unit).
    – Greenonline
    Commented Jun 15 at 19:52
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    Indeed all Nanos should come with a boot loader. There is a lot of discussion about missing drivers on the PC for the USB chips (of which there is a variety in use) on the Arduino boards. This is not exactly the same thing and less likely with an official Arduino product. BTW, the new series ATtinys are not programmed using the ISP method instead using UPDI so the Nano is less relevant but that is a separate topic. Incidentally, you may anyway want to upgrade the bootloader on the Nano, effectively making it a Uno, and gaining 1.5k more flash memory for your sketches. Again another topic.
    – 6v6gt
    Commented Jun 16 at 7:42

1 Answer 1

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All the Arduinos that I am aware of come with a bootloader pre-installed. They wouldn't be much use, would they, if you had to buy a second Arduino to put the bootloader on the first one, and then buy a third one to put the bootloader on the second one, and so on. You would end up buying an infinite number of Arduinos!

The whole idea of the Arduino was to let students get into programming microprocessors with a minimal expense in hardware, which is why they come with a USB interface and a pre-programmed bootloader.

In the event that you buy an Atmega328P chip from eBay without a bootloader on it, I have code that lets you use an existing Uno or similar to program it.

This lets you make a minimal board for only a couple of dollars - the price of the chip, and a handful of extra cheap components.

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  • Thanks, Nick! I don't yet know how or why answers/comments end up where they do; I just try to read through everything ;) Be that as it may, thank you for your answer - what you wrote makes sense, but some of the 'how to' articles I read seemed to contradict that. Based upon the answers here, though, my confusion was apparently just my lack of familiarity with how things are worded in the "Arduino World". Every discipline has its own "dialect" to learn... The idea of making a board is interesting, and thank you for the code link, but that's way beyond my Total Noob level for now ;)
    – BirdsInMyBrain
    Commented Jun 16 at 3:19

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