For those who want to install the latest AVRDude 6.3 (AVR Downloader / Uploader), here are the backport PPA for Ubunu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17/18, and derivatives.

AVRDUDE is a utility to download/upload/manipulate the ROM and EEPROM contents of AVR microcontrollers using the in-system programming technique (ISP).

It provides a command-line interface for all downloading and uploading features. Supports a wide range of programming hardware, from cheap ISP plugs that connect the AVR’s ISP interface directly to a computer’s parallel port or serial port. Supports Intel Hex, Motorola S-Record, and raw binary files for input and output.

While the current two Ubuntu LTS offer old versions in their main repositories, I’ve uploaded the 6.3 release into PPA to make it easy to install.

AVRDude 6.3 features:

• New devices support: ATmega48PB, ATmega88PB, ATmega168PB, ATtiny28 (HVPP-only device), AT90PWM216, ATmega32M1
• New programmers support:
  • Atmel mEDBG: xplainedmini, xplainedmini_dw
  • ftdi_syncbb
  • uncompatino, ttl232r (FTDI TTL232R-5V with ICSP adapter)
  • Atmel DFU, using FLIP protocol version 1 (AT90USB and ATmegaU devices), or version 2 (Xmega devices)
  • Atmel-ICE (ARM/AVR), JTAG, PDI, debugWIRE, ISP modi
• The stk500v2 implementation now uses its own higher-level command implementation for byte-wide access
• The -B option can be suffixed with “Hz”, “kHz”, or “MHz”, in order to specify a bitclock frequency rather than period.
• Print part id after signature
• buspirate: Also support “cpufreq” extended parameter in binary mode
• The “-P net:” syntax (forwarding of serial data over TCP) is now also implemented for Win32 systems.
• Atmel EDBG protocol support added (JTAGICE3, XplainedPro, Atmel-ICE)

Install AVRDude 6.3 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

Either run the following commands one by one in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to add PPA and install the utility:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install avrdude avrdude-doc

Or grab the DEB packages for both avrdude and avrdude-doc from the link below and click install via Gdebi or Ubuntu Software App:

Download AVRDude (deb)