ATmega48/88/168
The Watchdog always on (WDTON) fuse, if programmed, will force the Watchdog Timer to Sys-
tem Reset mode. With the fuse programmed the System Reset mode bit (WDE) and Interrupt
mode bit (WDIE) are locked to 1 and 0 respectively. To further ensure program security, alter-
ations to the Watchdog set-up must follow timed sequences. The sequence for clearing WDE
and changing time-out configuration is as follows:
1. In the same operation, write a logic one to the Watchdog change enable bit (WDCE) and
WDE. A logic one must be written to WDE regardless of the previous value of the WDE
bit.
2. Within the next four clock cycles, write the WDE and Watchdog prescaler bits (WDP) as
desired, but with the WDCE bit cleared. This must be done in one operation.
The following code example shows one assembly and one C function for turning off the Watch-
dog Timer. The example assumes that interrupts are controlled (e.g. by disabling interrupts
globally) so that no interrupts will occur during the execution of these functions.
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2545M–AVR–09/07
ATMEL [ ATMEL ]
