[avr-chat] Using the /Reset line for I/O on a Tiny85

[Alex Shepherd]

Hi Guys,

I sent this to the Yahoo list but it seems to have got lost so I'm tying
this list...

I have a small hobby project (Model Railroad DCC Accessory Decoder for
signalling) that basically need to use 2 pins for comms and 4 pins to drive
3 or 4 single color LEDs or 2 bi-color (red/green) LED's - so I would like 6
I/O.

Now with the AtTiny85 I can get 5 I/O easily if I use the internal RC osc,
which is fine but I'm wondering about using the /Reset line for the last I/O
pin that would be "nice-to-have"

My real question is how easy is it in practice to configure the Dragon or
JTAG MkII to reconfigure the /Reset pin all the time using HV ICSP so I can
develop/debug the code while the /Reset line is used for I/O as well as
debugWire?

Is this a good idea or not? 

I could only use the /Reset pin for an infrequent use that I can live
without while developing and then re-enable when I'm done if that makes a
difference.

Comments?

Regards

Alex Shepherd