Is Gravitech the manufacturer of the Nanos? I've fried a couple as well and would like to be able to return them for repair.

OK, I finally got the bootloader to burn using avrdude instead of the burn script in the Arduino package. I have to run off, but I'll post detailed instructions later since it may be helpful to others.

Damon

Has anyone had any success using AVRISP mkii on Mac OS X to burn the Arduino bootloader? Is it possible? I can't find any mention of drivers for Mac and it doesn't show up in /dev so I don't know how to address it in the burn script.

Thanks,
Damon

P.S. I'm having similar problems attempting it on PC, but I have no idea what I'm doing on PC anyway.

Yes, it's 16 MHz - the Digikey part #300-6034-ND that is listed in the parts list.

Thanks,
Damon

Hi,

I'm having problems getting the standalone board to work. I've done a bunch of things so it's complicated to narrow down exactly where the issue is but I'll just go through what I've done and hopefully someone might have an idea.

First of all - a couple of things with the instructions and software that are causing confusion or problems:

- There's appears to be an inconsistency between the schematic and the picture of the assembled board. In the schemtic it shows pin 2 of the AVR connected to pin 1 of the hex inverter, but in the picture it's connected to pin 2 of the hex inverter. (I assumed the shematic is correct but I've tried it various ways during the course of my fiddling)

- The burn.command script didn't work for me. It successfully completed the first couple of commands but when it got to the upload instruction is gave an error (I think it was "Unable to enter progam mode"). On the PC it got nowhere.

Here's the basic saga. Note that I've tried some stuff on both the PC and Mac (including the Arduino0003 software), so sometimes the ordering here is not exact.

- First I uploaded the bootloader manually with AVR Studio with the STK500.

- Tried to connect to the Arduino0003 software but got "Programmer is not responding" error (Mac and PC). However the light did blink the LED on reset indicating that at least the bootloader seemed to exist on the chip.

- Realized that I needed to run that script that sets the fuses as well uploading the bootloader so tried that. With PC first I think, which did nothing (i.e. hung on the first command). Tried it with Mac (OS 10.4.4) which where I go the error I describe above. At this point the chip no longer had the bootloader program (at least it didn't seem to since it didn't blink the LED anymore).

- After managing to the the chip reset, I tried loading the bootloader manually again and now there's further weirdness. It seems to function as before on the programmer (i.e. it appears to be in external clock mode and have the bootloader), on the breadboard the LED blinks slower than before and even blinks if you remove the clock (but not the capacitors).

At any rate, at all points I would get a "Progammer is not responding" error in the Arduino0003 software.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Damon

Which board are you using? Serial (version 2 or 3), USB or NG?

USB

When it stop working, what happens if you press reset, instead of re-upload the sketch?

Just pressing reset doesn't fix it. It will not change it's behavior until I re-upload the sketch. And of course things like restarting Max/MSP and restarting the computer have been attempted.

When running the same sketch, but not connected to computer, it stops working too?

All it does is send data to the computer via USB so I don't know (plus that's how it's powered).

How many Arduino Pins are you using?

- 4 digital pins output to control the multiplexers (MC14067) (connected in parallel to control all 3 multiplexers at the same time)
- 2 analog pins input for 2 of the multiplexers
- 1 digital pin input for the 3rd multiplexer
- 7 additional digital pins input connected directly to switches (i.e. not multiplexed)

So - all digital pins except pins 0 & 1 plus 2 analog pins. I'm reading a total of 26 potentiometers and 26 switches.

What kind of power source are you using?

USB (either directly to the computer or through a powered hub - both ways have experienced problems).

This problem happened before, or it's the first time it happens?

The 3 examples I mentioned in my original post happened on three different occasions spanning a matter of months. I haven't been using it a lot lately so I don't have a huge sample set. Strangely, I don't think I've ever experienced problems at home, only when I'm on the road (of course it's natural that it will only go down at a gig...). Most of the time it works just fine, but when it goes weird only re-uploading the sketch seems to fix it.

Thanks for your help.

I'm having frequent problems with the sketch getting corrupted or something. I have an Arduino connected to several multiplexers for a box of knobs and switches that control a Max/MSP patch. Here's what happens:

Normally, it works fine. If it works for the first minute or two it will continue to work.

However, several times, something has happened to make it act strange. It might work for a minute or two, but then goes kaput. To further complicate matters, the way in which it goes awry has varied:

- nothing worked - i.e. it wasn't sending the serial data at all (in fact, this time I had trouble connecting to it at all although eventually I managed to get the IDE to re-upload the sketch)

- it sent data, but the knobs were all mixed up (mapped to the wrong value)

- it caused Max/MSP to have a stack overflow

In all cases, re-uploading the sketch caused it start functioning normally.

Here's the system:
Older Arduino with ATMega8
Mac OS 10.4
Max/MSP 4.5

Any ideas on what could be happening?

Thanks.

P.P.S - Well, I just figured something out. If I reverse the order of the HIGH-to-LOW and LOW-to-HIGH transition sections, I get much smoother results. Still not quite as smooth as without the multiplexer, but I'm more optimistic about getting this to work.

Any further thoughts would still be appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. Thanks for sharing this cool technique!

I have a question about adding more capacitive touch sensors through a multiplexer. I'd like to add a bunch more sensors providing continuous data (i.e. not digital on-off buttons). The tests I've made make me concerned that I won't be able to get smooth, consistent data when reading this through a multiplexer (MC14067). I understand that with wires dangling and a breadboard one can pick up stray capacitance so it's not the best test but my tests have led me to be concerned anyway and I thought I'd ask if anyone can confirm the possibility (or impossibility) of this technique before I go through all the effort of getting a PCB made.

Here's the situation:

1) Connecting a sensor and the resistor directly to the Arduino pins produces smooth, continuous data as my finger moves across the sensor (as long as there's some insulation over the copper - scotch tape has worked fine for my prototypes).

2) Connecting the sensor and resistor into a breadboard and then on to the Arduino also produces smooth, continuous values (though slightly different than number 1).

3) Connecting the pins through a multiplexer to read multiple sensors produces approximately accurate results but the values jump around a bit. That is, it won't be completely random but with a constant finger position it will jump back and forth within a small range. Too much change to use smoothing in the code I think.


The fact that both 1 and 2 work well leads me to believe that it's the multiplexer, not the breadboard/dangling wires that is causing the problem.

Anyone have any thought on how/if this setup could work?

Thanks.