Setting Up the Midnight Make Programmer

Overview

The Midnight Make Programmer is a LUFA-based programmer that can be used to upload custom code to any Midnight Make product.

Before we can use it, though, we'll need to execute a couple of brief steps:

  1. Install avrdude.
  2. Configure the drivers on your machine.

These steps are for setup and only need to be executed once.

Install AVRDUDE

Estimated time: 5 minutes.

In conjunction with the Midnight Make Programmer, avrdude is the command-line (CLI) tool you'll use to upload your code from your computer to your Midnight Make kits. It is a common and very well-supported program used by thousands of engineers and programmers.

How you install it will vary depending on your operating system (OS). The maintainers of avrdude provide excellent instructions on how to install it that are specific to each operating system. You can find those instructions here.

Install Drivers

Estimated time: 10 minutes.

Your Midnight Make Programmer is a USB device and might require special USB drivers.

However, if your operating system is Linux or macOS, there's nothing you need to do! These OSes already include built-in drivers for this class of device. However, if you're on Windows, you'll need to following the instructions below. This only takes a few minutes.

Windows

Plug your programmer into your computer via the provided USB-A to USB-C cable. You can also use your own cable (including USB-C to USB-C, if desired), as long as it is a data cable and not just a charging cable. (This is a common source of confusion.)

Next, download the latest version of Zadig from the official website. It will be the version with the highest number, usually at the top of the page.

Run Zadig. It will look something like this.

Go to Options, and select List All Devices.

Choose AVRISP mkII from the drop-down menu.

Select WinUSB as the target driver.

Finally, click Replace Driver or Install Driver, whichever is present. This will take a few moments, and then you're done!

You're now ready to start programming your Midnight Make Kits.