AVR Freaks

Since you have got "world" correct,    your 8MHz won't be far wrong!

I suspect that you just want to ensure that you get a good 'start bit',   so change your setup() to:

void setup()
{	
	pinMode(RX, INPUT);
	pinMode(TX, OUTPUT);
        digitalWrite(TX, HIGH);
        delay(10);                //steady high level before first start bit
	PORTA |= (1<<PORTA6);
	myserial.begin(9600);
}

Untested.     I guess that you don't have an oscilloscope.    To be honest,   I would think that the SoftSerial constructor() would have done the pinMode()s and delay().    i.e. you could have just said:

void setup()
{	
	DDRA |= (1<<PORTA6);        //output
        PORTA |= (1<<PORTA6);       //high
	myserial.begin(9600);
}

I guess you have an LED on PA6 pin.    I have no idea what digital# PA6 might be.    However,   you could look it up.     Then use pinMode() and digitalWrite() when you want to light your LED.

David.

Your first job is to buy proper resistors for your LEDs.     (unless they have internal ones)

Then you buy a proper 3.3V or 5V power supply.     Quite honestly,   this could just be an Arduino or a USBASP.

Yes,   you should read your fuses.    But if the SoftSerial is not working,   you can't see the output!

I suspect that everything would be better when you learn Ohms Law.   i.e. buy some resistors.

David.

I suggest that you tidy up your sketch.   i.e.   I bet that the

SoftwareSerial myserial(RX, TX);

is expecting digital#  rather than a PORTA bit number.

I also guess that SoftwareSerial() constructor would set the pinMode() and quiescent TX level.

Yes,   you can write a regular statement like:

	PORTB &= ~(1<<LED); // low

but I would try to use the Arduino methods.

And you seriously want to sit down with a textbook on Ohms Law and a catalogue from the resistor shop.

David.

Many thanks to Joey for actually looking up a 'typical third-party Tiny' Arduino core.

I still advise that you stick to Arduino digital# pin numbers and methods.

All the same,   I suspect that your PORTA1 statements would be referring to different pins.

Far from anyone wanting to beat someone up,   you have actually posed an interesting question !!!

If you reveal which 'third-party Tiny Arduino core' you are using,   I will try it for myself on a real Tiny84.

The beauty of the Arduino success lies in its 'official releases'.     I can run a sketch written by a Brazilian on hardware made by an Italian company in the middle of Outer Mongolia!

This means that the whole world can help each other.    And often through this forum.

Unfortunately,   the 'Tiny Arduino variants' are not official.     So worldwide help is more luck than judgement.

Please post a link to your third-party Tiny core.    

David.

This thread interested me.    So I installed Arduino-Tiny core from https://code.google.com/p/arduino-tiny/downloads/detail?name=arduino-tiny-0100-0018.zip

Then 'corrected' the initial sketch to use conventional Arduino pins and methods:

#include "SoftwareSerial.h"

#define RX		9    //PORTA1
#define TX		8    //PORTA2
#define LED             4    //PORTA6

SoftwareSerial myserial(RX, TX);

void setup()
{	
    pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);
    myserial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
    digitalWrite(LED, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(LED, LOW);
    delay(500);
    myserial.println("Hello world");
}

It ran perfectly.    Yes,   my Tiny84 is running on its internal 8MHz RC.    And being programmed and powered (3.3V) by my STK500.    It also works at 5.0V.     It does not work at 2.5V because my Brown-Out-Detector is set for 2.7V

David.

p.s.   My STK500 CTRL is on com7 and SPARE is on com3.     I have to tell the Arduino IDE that I am using Serial Port: COM7 for the "Upload with Programmer" to work.    Which means that I use a different Terminal for the 'Output'.

Does anyone know how I can set a different COM# for the Programmer and Output ?

Alternatively,   I could install a Bootloader.    And just use a single COM port.

Well,    I am totally amazed that you could get any comms on PA1, PA2 pins when your SoftwareSerial(1, 2) is using PB1, PB2 pins.

By "visual macro" I assume that you mean the irritating SPAM provider when you start up AS6.2.

Now that I know what your third-party is,   I can see how they map Arduino digital# pins.

Yes,    you can mix and match Arduino libraries with regular C code.    But you need to do it consistently !

There is no 'remapping' of ports.     All Arduino code uses digital# and analog# to reference hardware pins.    It uses a software lookup table.     It is not like Cypress or NXP that do re-routing in hardware.

David.

I tried my posted sketch on my laptop (which has Visual Micro)

It uses exactly the same "Arduino-Tiny" core.    So it behaved exactly the same.   i.e. RX, TX on digital#8,9.

If I used your digital#1,2 then nothing happens.

Oh,   and the "Visual Micro" works quite smoothly.

I ended up by installing a bootloader in the Tiny84.    So I did not need the complication of the STK500.

David.

I have already told you that I tried your code.    I had to alter the #include ""SoftwareSerial/SoftwareSerial.h" to "SoftwareSerial.h"  in order to find "SoftwareSerial.h"

Joey has explained how Arduino constructors and methods use the digital#.  

On both my desktop and my laptop,    I was using "Arduino-Tiny" core from the link that I posted earlier.     Arduino-Tiny digital#8,9 correspond to physical PA1, PA2 pins.     It is not "official" but is the first result from Google,   and used by the most Tiny 'enthusiasts'.

You are probably using an uncommon third-party Tiny core.    Perhaps one from the list on my link page.

Perhaps your core maps digital#1,2 to PA1, PA2.    Perhaps it doesn't.

Please tell us which core and where you got it from.  e.g. post a link.

I think that you might now understand why the whole world goes wrong when you have unofficial third-party software !

David.

Well,    I tried both of your links.     One had several messages.    The other had a regular Arduino library.

Nowhere could I find a Tiny core of any description.

Perhaps you have provided the wrong link(s) or perhaps I have to subscribe to the website.

I recommend that you download and install the "Arduino-Tiny" core.     But I have no experience of any of these 'third-party' cores.     Over the years,    several forum members seem to have used Tinys with unofficial third-party cores.     With luck,   we may hear from these members that have the Tiny experience.    They may know something better than "Arduino-Tiny".

All the same,    until Arduino makes anything official,     I would be very wary.     After all,    what advantage is there in using a Tiny84 instead of a Mega328P ?    Oh,   and if I was Italian,    I would never release anything for Tinys.

If you want something breadboardable,    there are plenty of cheap Chinese Pro-Mini clone boards.     And you end up with an Arduino project that can be reproduced reliably anywhere in the world.

If you are at the stage of creating a commercial pcb,    a MLF-32 is not much bigger than a MLF-20 or a TQFP-32 is about the same as a SOIC-14.

David.