Yes, that gets me further. I am running on ubuntu, so COM1 does not exist, so tried the following instead:
sudo avrdude -v -patmega328p -carduino -b57600 -D -Uflash:w:a.hex:i
This gets into the error "avrdude: ser_open(): can't set attributes for device "/dev/ttyS1": Inappropriate ioctl for device", which seems to mean that I am connecting to the wrong device (/dev/ttyS0). At ;east, I get the same error when explicitly trying to connect to other /dev/ttySnn using option -P.
lsusb lists the miniusb board as follows:
Bus 001 Device 018: ID 0403:6015 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd Bridge(I2C/SPI/UART/FIFO)
How can I find out the proper -D option?