Building a dual MCU project with two ATmega328 chips

That would make sense if you are remoting the funtionality someplace I suppose. Put the processing at the sensor source, send the results back via RS485 interface. Or something.

CrossRoads:
Here's a dual '328 design I ruminated on a while back but never implemented.
I have a dual '1284 done up too.
I wouldn't mind ordering a set of boards if there was some other interest.
About $4.50 a board to mail a single PCB out when they arrived.

Very nice! You can count me in for one of the dual '328 pcb's if you have them made up. I might even take two :slight_smile:

PM or email if you do it.

Thanks,
Jake

Okay, I'll review the design and see it it needs any tweaking based on things I've done since Idid these.

Say have an Atiny 85 running/doing something as part of an entire assembly/sensor/module...does anyone see any big flaws with attempting this?

No problems with that. I helped a friend design a board with a Mega256 and 4 Tiny84s. The 84s handled high-speed frequency/period measuring and they all worked as SPI slaves to the Mega.


Rob

Allright, I've got 2 '328s breadboarded as minimal hardware setups.
Bootloaded both with Uno optiboot, get 3 quick flashes on reset, looking good.

I need to change the CKSEL fuses on one of them to 0000 so I supply it with an external clock (which I will provide from the other '328).

Was gonna do it with AVR ISP MKii, but AVR Studio 5 doesn't seem to recognize it as being plugged in, I am guessing as a result of changing from the AVR Studio default Jungo driver, to the Arduino provided driver for the MKii.

Is there a way to use avrdude or something to change the CKSEL fuses?

Off to bed now, will try any suggestions after work tomorrow.

Thanks!

Is it just the avrdude parameters you need? The following will set the fuses to the normal values for an Optiboot Uno (in this case using an ArduinoISP on COM6 as the programmer):

avrdude -c stk500v1 -p atmega328p -P com6 -b 19200 -u -U lfuse:w:0xff:m -U hfuse:w:0xde:m -U efuse:w:0xfd:m

The CKSEL bits are in the low fuse byte, so for an external clock (keeping 65ms startup time) I'd change that to

avrdude -c stk500v1 -p atmega328p -P com6 -b 19200 -u -U lfuse:w:0xe0:m -U hfuse:w:0xde:m -U efuse:w:0xfd:m

Hope that's helpful. How are you linking the clocks? Are you using CLKO or XTAL2 to drive the 2nd chip?

Yes, the avrdude command/parameters.

This part here changes the CKSEL bits? lfuse:w:0xe0:m
Why does the upper bit of 0xff get changed as well?

Low Fuse Byte Bit No Description Default Value
CKDIV8(4) 7 Divide clock by 8 0 (programmed)
CKOUT(3) 6 Clock output 1 (unprogrammed)
SUT1 5 Select start-up time 1 (unprogrammed)(1)
SUT0 4 Select start-up time 0 (programmed)(1)
CKSEL3 3 Select Clock source 0 (programmed)(2)
CKSEL2 2 Select Clock source 0 (programmed)(2)
CKSEL1 1 Select Clock source 1 (unprogrammed)(2)
CKSEL0 0 Select Clock source 0 (programmed)(2)

Note: 1. The default value of SUT1...0 results in maximum start-up time for the default clock source.
See Table 9-12 on page 34 for details.
2. The default setting of CKSEL3...0 results in internal RC Oscillator @ 8MHz. See Table 9-11 on
page 34 for details.
3. The CKOUT Fuse allows the system clock to be output on PORTB0. See ”Clock Output Buffer”
on page 36 for details.
4. See ”System Clock Prescaler” on page 36 for details.

So have bit 7 = 0 means Divide by 8 is enabled? I still want to run at 16 MHz.
The clock will be coming from Xtal2 on the 2nd 328 in the dual-328 system I am proofing out, and go into Xtal1.
PB0 will not be changed, and PB7 should be free'd up as well. I suppose that could be added to pins_arduinio.h as well to have another IO pin.

CrossRoads:
This part here changes the CKSEL bits? lfuse:w:0xe0:m
Why does the upper bit of 0xff get changed as well?

That's it. Zero = programmed, so the default lfuse value of 0x62 enables the clock divider and results in a 1MHz clock. Interestingly the clock prescaler can be overridden in software by writing to CLKPR. Handy for testing code on a 5V 16MHz board before building a project based on a lower-frequency board. It can also be used for power saving without the bother of entering and exiting sleep mode, although I haven't tried this myself.

Ok, so I really want
lfuse:w:0xf0:m
so it is Not programmed and Not divided down.
Will try it when I get home & see what happens.

One protocol I have been very happy with is EasyTransfer by Bill Porter. Available as a I2C as well as Serial library. Makes communications between two Arduinos a snap. Used it for 2 328's, a 328 and a 1284p, etc. Highly recommended.

Erm, not quite sure I'm on the same wavelength. Are you mixing up bit 4 & 7? As far as I can make out 0xF0 is not an allowed combo.

0xE0 = 0b11100000 : CKDIV=1 (disabled), CKOUT=1 (disabled), SUT=10 (65ms startup), CKSEL=0000 (ext. clock)
0xF0 = 0b11110000 : CKDIV=1 (disabled), CKOUT=1 (disabled), SUT=11 (reserved), CKSEL=0000 (ext. clock)

@tim7, You are right - I was flipping the wrong bit of the nibble. 0xe0 it is.

@Constantin, Hadn't got that far yet. Still working on getting 2 uCs running of 1 crystal so I can some boards ordered. I think I have enough jumpers/headers on the board so any of those kinds of comm's can be set up.
See the schematic in Reply #9 of this thread. Have to tweak the crystal connections a little - xtal2 of chip1 will feed xtal1 of chip2. chip2 will have fuses set to allow external clock.
Think I'll do the connections with solder jumper pads so the two can be isolated if needed.

No worries. Just thought I'd chime in re: using the I2C bus for the communications. Pretty easy to implement and requires few traces and components on the board. Maybe give a choice using a shunt jumper or a cutable pad for SDA and SCL?

I'm following this thread with great interest. Would definitely like to try out a dual '328 board with I2C when it's ready.

I hope I don't get in over my head though! :smiley:

@Constantin - Check the schematic - I added internal headers so the two uC could talk to each other with user installed jumpers, while also keeping header pins free for offboard connections.

@BlueJakester - I'll order some boards once I verify the fuses & clock connections. Maybe tonight.

If I'm in a hurry I usually use this site:

http://www.engbedded.com/fusecalc

That gets the fuse bits right, and tells you the exact (partial) avrdude command -- the part with the fuses in it.

Ok, how do I run that?
Win Vista
Opened Command Prompt,
worked my way down to
C:\Arduino1.0\hardware\tools\avr\bin>
typed in this:
avrdude -c stk500v1 -p atmega328p -P com6 -b 19200 -u -U lfuse:w:0xe0:m -U hfuse:w:0xde:m -U efuse:w:0xfd:m

Get a couple of errors back:
avrdude: can't open config file "": Invalid argument
avrdude: error reading system wide configuration file ""

Probably add -C ..\etc\avrdude.conf to the options list... that's what I have to do

FWIW, I have this jotted down in my text notesfile for the 1284P:

(Burning Bobuino fuses on MacOS X)

bin/avrdude -C etc/avrdude.conf -v -p m1284p -c stk500v2 -P /dev/tty.usbmodem411 -e -Ulock:w:0x0F:m -Uefuse:w:0xFD:m -Uhfuse:w:0xDE:m -Ulfuse:w:0xFF:m

Are the fuses programmed via ICSP or via the Serial interface?

ICSP. The serial interface is only for the bootloader.