user37165: I have a FT232R that I want to use to flash my ATTiny85 bootloader in the Arduino IDE, can someone help me out on this? I don't want to get a AVR programmer.

user19409: A bootloader is a program that gets loaded into the bare microcontroller to handle a number of low level tasks. One of those tasks is the ability to load a program over UART (serial).
As such, the bootloader can be loaded into the microcontroller using a AVR programmer. Once this has occurred, you can then easily load in programs with the FT232R.
It is possible to use the bitbang mode on the FT232R to load the bootloader into an Arduino board, hence replacing the AVR programmer. So, it can work but it isn't easy.
As suggested by per1234, there is some instructions on how to do this to an Arduino Diecimila on the Adafruit website: Programming the Arduino Bootloader
In general the full page has a lot of useful information: Full page

37165: <p>I have a FT232R that I want to use to flash my ATTiny85 bootloader in the Arduino IDE, can someone help me out on this? I don't want to get a AVR programmer.</p>
 19409: <p>A bootloader is a program that gets loaded into the bare microcontroller to handle a number of low level tasks. One of those tasks is the ability to load a program over UART (serial).</p>

<p>As such, the bootloader can be loaded into the microcontroller using a AVR programmer. Once this has occurred, you can then easily load in programs with the FT232R.</p>

<p>It is possible to use the bitbang mode on the FT232R to load the bootloader into an Arduino board, hence replacing the AVR programmer. So, it can work but it isn't easy.</p>

<p>As suggested by per1234, there is some instructions on how to do this to an Arduino Diecimila on the Adafruit website: <a href="https://learn.adafruit.com/ftdi-friend/programming-the-arduino-bootloader" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Programming the Arduino Bootloader</a>
In general the full page has a lot of useful information: <a href="https://learn.adafruit.com/ftdi-friend?view=all" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Full page</a></p>
