setup avr on linux

Last update: Thu Jun 5 22:25:41 2025

I moved this year to "Linux only" (Mint) and I have not yet had the occasion to setup the necessary tools to do AVR development on the PC. This is the occasion to start and document, so that I can do it the same way on all the PCs at home...

Presentation

Principle

I will go 2-flavor: the Arduino suite (for arduinos !) and the AVR toolchain (for all the other MCUs).

Arduino toolchain

Foreword

I'm using LInux Mint 19 (based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS). DO NOT USE THE PACKAGES THAT COME WITH MINT 19, they are totally outdated. It's a shame but that's how it is.
We need to take a detour for doing the install the right way.

Install

That one is easy: go to the arduino website and download the latest .tar.xz file. You can then tar -zxf it or just double click and put the insides somewhere. No need to run the installer unless you want to setup the icons. There, install completed!
Nota bene: regarding the where to install, I did in /usr/local/apps (which I created). Where to install software in Linux is an eternal debate, so I picked here, but it doesn't matter it will work anywhere.

Setup

AVR toolchain

Foreword

Install

I followed this doc with minor editions/customizations. We'll use the AVR Eclipse plugin.

Get Eclipse, download the Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers, not the regular (Java).

Get some packages while it downloads sudo apt-get install gcc-avr binutils-avr gdb-avr avr-libc avrdude

Install Eclipse in your /opt folder, tar zxvf the file

In Eclipse, Help > Install new software ... > add this source "http://avr-eclipse.sourceforge.net/updatesite/" and install

Manual for a first build is here

(note that on Linux Mint 19 I didn't have to do the operations I described here to enable my mkII programmer, it worked out of the box)

Setup

Well it just works, that's great. As this doc explains:

File > New > Project ... > "C Project"

Pick "AVR Cross Target Application"

Choose the mCU and F_CPU

Once project created, right-click > Properties

AVR > AVRDude : pick your programmer

C/C++ Build > Settings:

* Optimization : set the optimization (default none)

* Additional tools in the toolchain: make sure to check "generate the HEX for Flash" in your Release config (and check AVRDude for update on the fly if you want)

I tried 2 projects, one hello world and the USB keyboard sample: just worked like a breeze. No issue or none worth even mentionning. Linux rules! (^_^)b

Pictures

Links

Helpful sources

Inspiration

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