Wow !

Thanks Crossroads, those 8x1 LCD's are pretty cool, just cant get them on my fav electronics superstore... ebay lol

Good idea with the 7-segment displays, going to look into that asap !

Also thanks loads @ Semicolo !!

Thats a great idea to use bigger font sizes !

I was only just looking at a similar thread, cant believe i missed yours !!

Heres what i found, its a bit beyond my humble learner skills but im sure you'd know how to get the extra characters in there, not sure if you knew how to get characters as well as numerics on the LCD's:

Big Font LCD:
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,44427.0.html

Still, im looking for a nice cute tiny little LCD, if one exists, something like a 4x2 character LCD would be pretty cool to have, probably just day-dreaming but hope something like that does exist lol !

Thanks again for all your help so far ;-)

Hi all, firstly a great many thanks in advance for any help !

ive only just found these 8x2 LCD Displays

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-8x2-Characters-LCD-Module-HD44780-/230752879654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b9f18426

but am probably only needing something half that size, only enough to display the temperature in °C (UK) so wouldnt really need anything more than " XX°C " so say, 4 characters, one line !

But ive been scouring the internet for months now and finally at the point where i need help lol !

Does anyone know of a real tiny LCD module we can use with the Arduino ?

I dont mind any SMD soldering if needed, so if any LCD needs SMD components (as long as its not the MLF package's, pins under the IC etc lol) then i'd be most pleased to hear about them !!

Many thanks again for any input !

Okay so i think ive sussed out the pins and now get this message so i think that ive got the pins correctly established and all i need is the right modification of the Atmega8A-AU device signature, please please help westfw !!

heres what i get now on compiling the optiboot sketch:

c:/users/mini power house 1.0/desktop/arduino-1.0/hardware/tools/avr/bin/../lib/gcc/avr/4.3.2/../../../../avr/bin/ld.exe: optiLoader.cpp.elf section .text will not fit in region text
c:/users/mini power house 1.0/desktop/arduino-1.0/hardware/tools/avr/bin/../lib/gcc/avr/4.3.2/../../../../avr/bin/ld.exe: region text overflowed by 4182 bytes

a yelp for help lol !!!

Okay so you were completely correct about the Adapter's pins not being as straight forwardly placed as i found pin-1 and its not where pin 1 is supposed to be on the DIP pin headers as the picture below shows...


So the supplier is un-helpful and his supplier asked the manufacturer for a pin layout and theres going to be no help from there but they said to check the pins with a digital multimeter (DMM) to see what they are... ok... so does anyone know how to do this and how on earth would i be able to find out what pin is connected to each pin on the TQPF chip inside the adapter ?

Or if anyone could kindly point me to anywhere saying what readings i am looking for from the DMM ? basically is this even possible to determine what each pin is for ?

many thanks in advance

well ima just checking the pinouts from the manufacturer of the adapter i have, just to rule out the possibility ive got the pins completely wrong, will let you know how that goes lol !!

watch this space lol !!!

thanks so very very much for the help westfw !!!!

Your most-welcome tack !

i bought the resin from: (i'm also in the UK, London !)

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MB-Fibreglass/_i.html?_nkw=Water+Clear+Casting+Resin+%2B+Catalyst%2C+DSM+Synolite&submit=Search&_sid=869123677

and as i always buy stuff in bulk i bought the 5KG tub lol !

so plenty for other stuff i got plans for lol !

Also ive made a few instructables for Arduino on breadboards for beginners as im learning myself and got a terrible memory so its for future reference just in case i ever forget anything lol !

right here for Arduino UNO on breadboard
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-The-Easiest-Breadboard-Arduino-UnoE/

that ones jam-packed with info i found all over the net !

As a side note, ive been trying to request samples from Atmel for months but they wont send to me, all i keep getting is:

Your email domain is not authorized to request samples from Atmel.com.

Please use your company email domain to request samples

but my email address is a free one on yahoo and dont have any other email address, how did you get them to send to you, if you dont mind me asking ?!? 

Oops ! Yaa apologies there for the slip up, just been seeing your attribution everywhere and didnt read properly lol ! Mighty-fine work on everything all the same !

Yaa ive got the atmel datasheet open and i think ive got the pins sussed out right in regards to the adapter, any other way ive wired it up yield no results except the way ive got it now, but im now not sure about something, im looking at the datasheet, when you said that to look for pins 14 to 17 +29, yup im with you there but im afriad i havent connected up pin 14 to anything ??? what does this connect to ?

on Atmega8            TO          RBBB (with Optiboot Sketch)

14 = SS                                  ?
15 = MOSI                             Pin 11
16 = MISO                             Pin 12
17 = SCK                              Pin 13
29 = RESET                           Pin 10

So could this be why my setup is failing ? because i havent connected up pin 14 on the Atmega8A ?!?

 hahaha !!        Absolutely Right @ RetroLefty !!     

Wouldnt ya know it, at the time i made these modded PL2303's i was completely oblivious to the CP2102 USB adapters and soooooooooo-WISH i would have known about them back then as it was alot of NECK-ACHE to tediously solder onto Pin 2 of the PL2303 chip - a serious amount of headache too lol  x 2 !!!

was indeed challenging to do but i think if i make anymore of these then ima definitely going to buy the CP2102 adapters and mod them easier lol !!

thanks so much for the heads-up too !!

why-o-why didnt i consult these forums back then lol ! well, some learn the hard (stupid!) way eh !!

also there is someone selling Atmega8A-AU chips here:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121022928704&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

with the Arduino UNO Optiboot Bootloader pre-loaded, this would be perfect for me too but cant find any reference to how its done !

i already have 10 blank virgin Atmega8A-AU chips & 10 of Atmega328P-AU chips to bootload lol !

What would be the best way to mass-bootload them brfore-soldering ?!?

Hi westfw !

OMG, the creator of Optiboot ! your work is LEGENDARY !!

i tried hooking up the Atmega8A-AU to an Arduino As ISP setup and simply selected board "Arduino NG or older w/ATmega8", selected the correct com port & Arduino As ISP in the programmer section, then when hit tools > Burn Bootloader i got:

avrdude: Yikes!  Invalid device signature.
         Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
         this check.

Then tried one of your Optiboot loaders but im such a newbie for burning bootloaders im not entirely sure of what im doing, as long as ive got instructions saying to connect this pin to that pin and then hit the button, then im fine lol !

i found one of your optiboot bootloaders from here:

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=87908.0

downloaded the files from github and slammed them into the libraries folder in my Arduino IDE (using 1.0.2 version), uploaded the sketch to an RBBB Arduino UNO Clone and hooked up the wires as directed to the SMD Atmega8A, powered it through USB Adapter and opened up the serial monitor to see what was going on and i hit the reset button, a few times, one after the other, not all at once, lol - just to see if i had the same error code come up but the error code changed each time and now im lost lol !

Error code was:

OptiLoader Bootstrap programmer.
2011 by Bill Westfield (WestfW)

Target power on! ...
Starting Program Mode - Failed, result = 0x7860

Target power OFF!

Type 'G' or hit RESET for next chip

second time i pressed reset:

OptiLoader Bootstrap programmer.
2011 by Bill Westfield (WestfW)

Target power on! ...
Starting Program Mode - Failed, result = 0x7070

Target power OFF!

Type 'G' or hit RESET for next chip

well i thought check a third time;

OptiLoader Bootstrap programmer.
2011 by Bill Westfield (WestfW)

Target power on! ...
Starting Program Mode - Failed, result = 0x7060

Target power OFF!

Type 'G' or hit RESET for next chip

so then tried as many files online through google searches that contained the words Atmega8A-AU + bootloader + Optiboot and i think i was really close on one of them where the signateure was expecting the DIP version of Atmega8A but now cant find that file and ive since deleted it from my computer, turned myself about a few times, sat in the corner, cried a bit and then thought about asking (begging!) for help lol !

Ive burned away a good bunch of Atmega328P-PU MCU's in PDIP flavor but cant seem to find an easy way of bootloading the SMT Atmega8A-AU sitting in the TQFP socket !

this is where i got the socket from: (just so you can see what sort of socket im using!)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220896147182?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


thank you so very very much for trying to help me with this, i can surely tell you that i greatly appreciate any light you can shed on this subject !

hi & good day to you tack,

ive got good news for you !

its definitely possible to get the PL2303 Module you have to get setup for Auto-Reset as i have made a whole bunch of them for a few buddies but ended up modifying about 40 of them in total lol !

Your right from looking in the PL2303 datasheet, Pin 2 on the SMD chip is the one responsible for the Auto-Reset signal and its not connected to anything on that board so you got two choices here:
either get hold of a CP2102 which has an easily solder-able DTR pin or try modding the PL2303 adapter you already have like mine !

Here's a bunch of photo's taken of my modified one, this one was the prototype and soldering it was pretty easu but tedious and took a while just getting it right but after the many DAYS/HOURS of finding a method that worked i can hopefully save you some trouble if your looking to do the mod yourself !

The trick is to always use flux, as Guru crossroads said, dont overdo it and here's my method that worked for me:

Tin the tip of your fav soldering tip a little, only enough to cover 2 (TWO) pins of the SMD PL2302 !!!

Yup you read that right, TWO Pins, lol !

What i found out by Days of trying NOT to get solder on two pins was that it is actually easier to take solder AWAY from & UNBRIDGE two SMD pins than it is to only solder one-pin !

So...

Ingredients:

1 x 1 Male Pin Header
1 x 0.1uF Capacitor (100nF)

Method

1.
Get your 0.1uF Capacitor and trim the leads like so:
Pic 1


2. Get a fine file and gently shave down the back-side of the capacitor so that it sits right on the PL2303 chip, trust me, this works well lol !

Pic 2


Now these next photo's are from my really basic and cheap USB Microscope so the quality is not great but if you view these photo's in a small window (save to desktop etc !) then you will be able to see them better !

3.
Place the Capacitor in top of the PL2303 Chip with the short leg bent onto the top of Pin-2 and you might want to literally add a TINY amount of super-glue to the back shaved-down side of the capacitor so that it doesnt move when your soldering, but i mean the SMALLEST amount, just enough to 'Tack it down temporarily' !

Pic 3



4.
Apply Flux to Pin-1, Pin-2 & the Short Capacitor Leg, Tin your iron's tip with just enough solder to cover both Pins 1, 2 & the capacitor leg:

Pic 4


Pic 5


Now here's the trick !

As i found out, its imperitively much easier to bit-by-bit REMOVE solder from these two BREDGED SMD Pins by 1st getting rid of all the solder from the iron's tip, dipping the tip into some flux, i use a grease-like flux, NOT rosin-based, and remove the tip from dipping it in the flux quickly so that a drop of flux stays on the tip, touch the tip onto Pins 1 & 2 of the PL2303 chip and little-by-little remove the excess solder until the solder is only covering Pin 2 and the capacitor leg !!!

Heres a few pics in succession:

Pic 6


Pic 7


Pic 8


Pic 9


And then solder the 1 Male Pin-Header to the other side of the Capacitor and bend it so that it lines up with all the other pins of the module and tack it down with some more superglue OR get a hot-melt glue-gun involved, its not pretty but it will work b-e-a-utifully always AutoUploading sketches !!

btw i used a mold i had made to encase the module in casting resin and then sanded & polished it !

here's a few more pics !

PL2303 Modded:


PL2303 Mass-Modding, lol:


PL2303 Mass-Modding, lol (2):


The Finished Articles:


if anything isnt clear or you want me to explain anything just let me know & i'll be happy to help out !

have fun !

Hi folks and good day to you all !

i'm back with yet more hair-raising help !!!

Ive really tried and failed so much on this already and after 3 weeks of trying out bootloader sketches for my two SMD atmega chips i keep failing miserably to get the Arduino NG bootloader onto the Atmega8 and UNO on the Atmega328 (unless we can get UNO on both then that will be much easier lol !)

But please could anyone point me out to working files for getting my two SMD chips bootloaded please please ?!?

Ive an SMD TQFP 32 to DIL adapter and i have a load of RBBB's configured as:

one for Arduino as ISP

one for Optiboot for Atmega328 UNO (DIP Package)

one for Optiboot for Atmega328 Duemilanove (DIP Package)

But i have gone and bought 10 Atmega8A-AU chips for small projects and wish to bootload them before soldering them and the same with the Atmega328P-AU chips !!

Please could anyone kindly help as im totally exhausted after download after download and a great many days of failed attempts, on my last hope here lol !

An even greater great many thanks in advance for help !!

kindest regards,

Anil !

 !!! DUDE !!!

Thank you so very very Very VERY MUCH !!!!!

Honestly speaking, i think i was about to break down and cry my eyes-out, lol !!!

Got the mighty-1284p bootloader with 16 Mhz crystal bootloaded and got the blink sketch blinking away and uploaded the sketch via TX0/RX0 (UART 0) !!!

  Your an absolute LEGEND !!!! !!!! !!!! 

Ive burned a good load of Atmega328P-PU's so kinda knew what i was doing but this Atmega1284 is a whole new type of animal, lol !

I really cant thank you enough ~ !!!

I've been using the atmega1284 without issue (you like I did got the atmega1284-PU, not the atmega1284P-PU - Note that the PU specifies a DIP package and is nothing to do with the device).

All I had to do is to find the definition for ATmega1284P (just using CTRL-F), and change the signature to:

    signature        = 0x1e 0x97 0x06;

Then I used the IDE to burn a version of optiboot bootloader compiled for the mega1284p

Then once the bootloader was burned I changed the signature back to:
    signature        = 0x1e 0x97 0x05;

It works a treat for me.


If you let me know what clock frequency you plan to use, I will compile an optiboot hex file for you. Note that the version I modified uses UART1 for programming.

Hi Tom, please please please could you help me with getting this bootloader onto my Atmega1284P-PU chips, i have 2 of them also and have been trying my very very best to figure out how to do this for the last 2 weeks but after failure after failure i really could do with your help!

I have the Atmega1284P-PU microcontroller, i had downloaded loads of different hex files, optiboot files and now im so confused, lost and disheartened by all these failures of mine.

Ive been using the Arduino as ISP sketch uploaded to a Breadboard RBBB and trying to burn any Sanguino-Type bootloader onto the Atmega1284P-PU with absolutely no results, please could you put out a quick step by step list of what needs to be done in order to burn a bootloader to this microcontroller, i really feel like ive lost the war over here, please please could you help. a Great-Many thanks in advance,

kindest regards,

Anil Sethi Jnr

Hi,
   I have been using optiloader running on an UNO to burn the bootloader onto 8's, it detects the 8 and burns a suitable version of optiboot. You do need to add a new board to boards.txt but its pretty simple to do.

Duane B

Okay so i found a great comparison page for the Atmega8 all the way to the Atmega328 here:

http://avrprogrammers.com/doc-atmega8-atmega328.php

But i would really appreciate your help on optiloader being able to burn bootloaders as it automatically does like with the Atmega328P-PU chips i have, but i would like it to be able to burn the bootloaders onto Atmega8 and Atmega16's, please help me do this ! please please please !!!

many thanks in advance too !

kindest regards,

Anil