On this page:
http://evilmadscience.com/partsmenu/54-zif20
There's a picture of one of these sockets soldered onto one of your target boards. I thought that was neat and wanted to try it out. I soldered up just like the picture shows and then tried to use USBtinyISP from lady ada to burn the Arduino bootloader, but it doesn't work! Is there something that I need to do to get this to work that isn't obvious from the picture? I know that my programmer works because I can burn the bootloader onto a standard Arduino.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Is the chip you're trying to use already setup for using an external oscillator? If the default is switched to external (like the Arduino-programmed chips are), the chip won't work without the crystal/resonator.

Yes, that should work.

We often use our target boards with the ZIF sockets (just like that) to program chips through a USBtinyISP. There are a few things, but not many, that can go wrong. Make sure that you've got the connector attached the right way, the chip and socket are facing the right way, make sure that you're applying an appropriate power supply to the chip when programming, and (if programming the Arduino bootloader or anything else that requires an external crystal/resonator) make sure that you've got the right external components added.

okay,
thanks. I'll stick a crystal in there and see if that works.

Sorry, just to understand.
I am trying to write to a atmega168 chip that came with the arduino bootloader on it, using the usbtinyisp and am getting a
function not supported rc-1 error

I am using the 6 pin connector and hooking up to 9 points on the 168 (the 2 Vcc and Vref together, and the 2 grounds together). I am supplying power from the usbtinyisp.

What I really want to do is overwrite the bootloader with adafruits smaller one, because I have a sketch that is just a bit too big.

Are you saying that I need to put a resonator on the target board (the evil mad sci one) and if so how do I hook up and power it?

Thanks,

Ben

Yes, that's correct. The fuse settings that are burned with the standard "Arduino" bootloader require that the clock source is an external crystal or resonator. If the chip has been set up this way, it will not run at all-- even for reprogramming with an ISP programmer --unless it is provided with a proper clock source.

You can use either an external 3-pin ceramic resonator or a 2-pin oscillator crystal in combination with two matched capacitors. You can check the parts lists and schematics of all the different Arduino boards (and their clones) to see the different options available. Our web store has appropriate 16 MHz crystal and cap sets for use with Arduino systems, and our target boards have designated locations for those components.

Ok, will try this, thanks alot.

One more question. If I hook up the resonator and caps on the target board, will this also still work for unprogrammed chips, or will I need to have 2 target boards (one for ext clocks one for not)

Thanks again,
Ben

Yes, you can add an oscillator without ill effect. If the fuses are set to look for an external oscillator, it will use that, and if the fuses are set to use the internal oscillator it will use that instead. The target board that I use for programming '168s and '328s has an onboard crystal, and it can be used with "raw" chips, with chips programmed to use their internal oscillator, or with chips programmed to use an external oscillator.