Goal is to program ATtiny AVR chips using Arduino environment in Atmel Studio connected to STK600.  No issues getting sketch to compile but can't get it written to the device.  A clue I believe is that it's trying to use AVRDUDE bootload tool rather than the ISP programming port on the STK600 board.  I configured the vMicro Uploader and Debugger as spec'd by VM for this setup.  When running a vMicro "Build and upload" command AS7 throws up the Device Programming screen, which the device can fill in when I click around, but doesn't help the upload. 

I did update to slightly newer Arduino 1.8.12, but that had no effect.  I can't find anything else that calls for updating.

Your link points to a page implying "Arduino for Atmel Studio 7" had a release in February 2020 with new features discussed on page and in menu choices, yet the installer page for that product shows the most current version 1911.23.0 released in Dec 2019.  My AS7 installation shows that same version.  This is likely why my installation doesn't have the new menu item "vMicro>General>Automatic Atmel Studio Device Selection", nor do I see 6 error messages, nor do my menu config screens look like your examples (attached).  Makes me think I'm running a downrev that has issues but neither the Tools Extensions Updater nor the website show a newer version.   

I don't see the "vMicro->Toggle Hidden Files" menu item, but perhaps that comes with the Feb-2020-release.   

I've set up the Dec-2019-release vMicro menus as closely as I can to what you show for the Feb-2020-release.  I'm happy to provide any data you need.  Since you only allow two attachments I'm combining several screen menu captures in one JPG.   Tx.

I'm confused.  Do my menu screenshots not show I've configured them as you've instructed at your initial link?   Those are the configs I've used in the first and second post, which would seem to be as close as I can make them in the Dec-2019 release.  If you see these menus misconfigured by me let me know please and I'll retry.  

In a follow-on test I turned off "Enable Programmer For Uploads" in Uploader menu and the Output box clearly shows the system is trying (and failing) to use a bootloader.  So the "Enable" feature turned on shows the system is trying to use something *other* than a serial bootloader.  I don't seem to have the option of attaching anything else so I can't attach that dump. 

Huh.  I've been using the Vmicro 'build & upload'.  Should I be using the Debug menu instead?

Nuts.  Same result using Debug/Start w/o.

If you have "atmel device programming" as the uploader then when you click "Debug>Start and break" we would expect atmel to open device programming or use device programming for upload. If atmel fails it should open a dialog.

Please try this and then report what you see in the output window if upload fails.

I noticed on the Device Programming / Memories tab there are ERASE CHIP, PROGRAM, VERIFY and READ buttons.  These also all work.  I can erase the chip, download the elf image, and verify the AVR image matches the PC file.  So I can imagine this panel can be used in place of the Debug tab commands if desired.  Two ways to go.

Error was for AREF shunts being connected (the way the board ships from factory).  Both AREF0 and AREF1 shunts need to be set over to side (not connected) when using internal AVR reference.  Once removed and STK600 power-cycled, status LED was solid green, and AVR chip communication to AS7 worked perfectly.   

In fact, this situation is noted in the ATK600 User's Guide under "Analog Reference Voltages", but the web-format makes finding information like this very difficult.  Further, the short indication doesn't occur until the AVR is programmed, which is also confusing.

Yes, I'm using an ATtiny861, and tried to align all the AS7 boxes to that device.  The board set was downloaded from Dr. Azzy's ATTiny site into my local Arduino file tree as he describes.   

Now, his boards require a specific way to reference pins in the code so they align with the physical pins on the AVR device.  I haven't done that verification step yet for my code since that seemed a 2nd order problem compared to getting the device to compile and upload. 

I'm doing a lot of first-time integration here (STK600, AS7, vMicro Arduino, ATtiny library, ATtiny chips), which always makes problems harder to isolate and solve.  Forums like this are critical to getting through the slog.  I greatly appreciate the help provided.