I have been trying to set up a really bare bones Arduino.
I used as a base
and I used a redboard bootloader. I have loaded the blink onto the microcontroller.
I hooked it up on the breadboard as shown in the diagram but I can't get any voltage from digital pin to turn the LED on.
For power I am using the 5V and Gnd from an arduino as power supply to handle any problems with not having a voltage regulator. My multimeter says 5.07 volts is running through it.
I just can't get anything to come out of digital pin 13. Could someone tell me if there is a trick?
Also I am using the right pins on the microcontroller because it has a nice sticker on it to make sure I use the right ones
Thanks for the link Gammon. Your tutorial looks great however I am using the redboard to do all the bootloading so I don't have to set it up manually! The initial picture is the sort of thing I am trying to do. I don't have the pull up resistor on the resistor on the reset so I guess I should try that.
Barebone is simply not for those without sufficient experience with the non-bare product(s). Even for us old timers, it can be stressful getting such projects to perform.
There is simply not enough $aving$ to warrant going this route. I have 3 such projects on my bench right now - but, I'm designing small singke-purpose chips to frontend signal processing for a downstream Mega2560.
ADDED: 20130613 ...
Extreme bareboard (EBB) No Crystal... just chip.
How does this no-crystal thing work? Essentially, we are simply going to run the 16MHz Atmel328P at 8MHz-ish (RC oscillators are not as accurate as crystals) and the Arduino programming environment will set all the timing constants at compile time. This means that such things as tone() will continue to work at the correct frequency as with functions such as millis(). To make this magic happen, we need to provide the Arduino environment with some information about our new hardware configuration. Such information is provide to the client Arduino software on your PC/Mac/Linux box via a file named boards.txt. The following article explains how to install the file: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard please refer to the section titled: Minimal Circuit (Eliminating the External Clock) The screen-capture of the settings used by the 8MHz RC fuse configuration is shown in the second graphic.
The no crystal approach may be a great way to save a few cents on your next barebones project or lower the power requirements for battery operated projects. Most things will work OK with the lower frequency; however, please remember that timing-critical stuff such as serial communications to the PC or other devices (say, reading a GPS) are likely NOT the proper place to save the price of a crystal. That being said, you may still wish to consider the lowering of the standard 16MHz frequency to a lower crystal frequency of 8MHz to lower the power requirements.
Barebone is simply not for those without sufficient experience with the non-bare product(s). Even for us old timers, it can be stressful getting such projects to perform.
There is simply not enough $aving$ to warrant going this route. I have 3 such projects on my bench right now - but, I'm designing small singke-purpose chips to frontend signal processing for a downstream Mega2560.
Ray
True enough. But, I do not think it is really the $aving$ that attracts most people, whereas the education is what you pay for with headache currency
Barebone is simply not for those without sufficient experience with the non-bare product(s).
Yeah, it's a bit frustrating to watch all of the people having problems, without having much to say that will help. This is what using microcontrollers was like without Arduino (or the equivalents like Basic Stamps.) Avoiding this sort of thing is why those are such wonderful products!
I used a redboard bootloader.
So... I give up. What's a "redboard bootloader"? The sparkfun Redboard kit(s), which I assume is what you're talking about, says it uses an ATmega328 with the Optiboot bootloader. How did you program the bootloader? If you're not seeing ANY activity on pin13, then the bootloader burn was not successful. (It should blink rapidly several times after reset.) Optiboot, together with the normal ways to burn it, does need the crystal. The instructable you reference talks about using the Lilypad bootloader that uses the internal oscillator. But there were several versions of the Lilypad, and the newer ones use an external crystal (an 8MHz one, to be compatible with the lower supply voltages.) What are you doing for reset? The optiboot bootload process requires an external reset; mere powerup won't do the right things. You said you progammed blink. How? What do you have the "Board" set to for loading the sketch? What was it set to for burning the bootloader? What are you using for the serial connection?
Or did you mean that you programmed the chip when it was in your redboard, and have taken it out and are trying to get it (the already loaded sketch) running on the protoboard? That should work, but it will require the crystal as well.
Barebone is simply not for those without sufficient experience with the non-bare product(s).
Yeah, it's a bit frustrating to watch all of the people having problems, without having much to say that will help. This is what using microcontrollers was like without Arduino (or the equivalents like Basic Stamps.) Avoiding this sort of thing is why those are such wonderful products!
I used a redboard bootloader.
So... I give up. What's a "redboard bootloader"? The sparkfun Redboard kit(s), which I assume is what you're talking about, says it uses an ATmega328 with the Optiboot bootloader. How did you program the bootloader? If you're not seeing ANY activity on pin13, then the bootloader burn was not successful. (It should blink rapidly several times after reset.) Optiboot, together with the normal ways to burn it, does need the crystal. The instructable you reference talks about using the Lilypad bootloader that uses the internal oscillator. But there were several versions of the Lilypad, and the newer ones use an external crystal (an 8MHz one, to be compatible with the lower supply voltages.) What are you doing for reset? The optiboot bootload process requires an external reset; mere powerup won't do the right things. You said you progammed blink. How? What do you have the "Board" set to for loading the sketch? What was it set to for burning the bootloader? What are you using for the serial connection?
Or did you mean that you programmed the chip when it was in your redboard, and have taken it out and are trying to get it (the already loaded sketch) running on the protoboard? That should work, but it will require the crystal as well.
Yes I meant the redboard kit which is the Optiboot loader. It now works with the crystal which is good, although I would of prefered no Crystal.
I apologise to all the people I frustrated. I am new and learning. I am much better on the programming side than the electronics!
Yes I meant the redboard kit which is the Optiboot loader. It now works with the crystal which is good, although I would of prefered no Crystal.
I apologise to all the people I frustrated and very much appreciate the help. I am new and learning. I am much better on the programming side than the electronics!
In real-life terms, a faster crystal means things execute faster - including delay() and milliseconds() - as well as serial I/O. If your software doesn't rely on time, you should be OK. (If you're debouncing buttons, you might want to increase the time by 20/16 to compensate.)
You can use a Uno to program and then move it over to your faster crystal board to run if you don't want to bother finding a bootloader that handles 20 MHz.
It probably represents the practical minimum you can take an arduino down to without hitting problems. A lot cheaper than a Uno but you need some form of external USB-ttl adapter to program it. Quite fun to build even if you're a noob with a soldering iron.
