Did the modification to the LiquidCrystal lib for 4 bit operation and "additional commands" ever get published?

I think you both have good points, but you might want to consider RS stores in a different context. By that I mean . . .

There are no less than 10 RS stores in the Denver, US area. These stores, some franchised, maybe some not, compete with each other for the limited hobbyist market. I don't think the market is big enough for any of the stores to make out on this.

Several years ago RS tested a pilot "superstore" idea in Denver. For one who has already admitted to having a very bad attitude towards them, I have to say I was very impressed. They sold wire and cable by the foot, and had 3 guys at a huge parts counter with rows of sleeves behind them.  The sales floor was filled with surprisingly modern stuff of much more of a geeky nature than say a BB.

It would seem like this idea would work - one big store in the city and let the others sell their door chimes and walkie talkies.
It would  seem, but I guess it didn't to corporate. They closed the store after about a year.

Too bad. It was our only hope, Obi-Wan.

Oh (x2) "Arduino Duexxx or Nano w/ATmega328"

Oh, - it was just just the standard bootloader loaded from Tools in the IDE. I think the bootloader loaded fine. Got the flashing LED. Just couldn't uplaod a sketch after that. Same as your problem. If it was only one chip I'd just say it was a fluke. But 2 & yours - it's a pattern!
John

Jack,
Looked over your post and yes it sounds very similar. I didn't give the crystal part a real close read - my proto board uses 22pF caps and I have the same problem if I put the chip in the Arduino. I don't have the inclination to spend the time trying to get 2 out of 30 chips working by futtizing around and loading sketches with the ISP. If they not going to work like all the rest, I don't want to deal with them. Good luck on getting your going, however. 

Here's a little history on RadioShack - in case someone finds it interesting.

Once upon a time, there was a company called Allied Electronics. They were the largest electronic parts supplier in the world. They had a consumer electronics division called Allied Radio. They also had a division called Knight that sold kits and assembled items.

In 1968 (when I was working there) they were bought out by Ling-Temco-Vought who, at that time, made everything from jet planes to steel, to basketballs.

Within a month or two LTV re-sold Allied to Tandy Corp. who had a chain a stores for leather-work hobbyists and a chain for bubble pack electronic parts called RadioShack. Allied was merged with RadioShack and became known as Allied-RadioShack. RadioShack continued to be the disappointing parts supplier that it is today.

Somewhere along the line a little bit of Allied Electronics was left partially in tact.

Having worked at Allied in Chicago during it's glory days, I'd admit to having a very bad attitude about RadioSh**. I do go there when I absolutely have to, but have trouble getting through the door due to the enormous chip on my shoulder.

Thanks CB,
I loaded the bootloader several times on these chips and even checked them with Avrdude. The fuses look fine.
They just won't accept an upload. Must be a problem with the UART or something.

Hi you all,
Twice now I've had the problem where I can burn the bootloader on a chip but it won't accept an upload. My situation is this:

I made a little board with a ZIF socket with ISP and FTDI connections. When I need to program a batch of chips, I burn the bootloader from the IDE with a USBtinyISP, then switch to a FTDI cable and upload the program with the IDE. This works great, but in two batches of chips now, I found one that would take the bootloader but not upload the program (resp = 0 IIRC). Putting the chip in the Arduino = same.

Does anyone know of something to try to bring these two chips to life? (They were brand new - one from DigiKey and one from Sparkfun.)  I guess it's possible that the Rx & Tx pins are not working, but I want to make sure before I toss them. (They are, after all, the soul of the Arduino.)

Thanks
John

This?

It's about time I got an an answer! It was almost 5 minutes.  (2 no less!)
Thank you both. That makes sense.
John

Is it possible to use a 5V Nano only as an FTDI to load an ATmega328 that is on a breadboard?

I know you can use the FTDI chip on an Arduino that has a removable chip, but does having the ATmega328 soldered in on the Nano prohibit this? (i.e Would you be trying to load 2 uCs at the same time?)

If anyone has experience with this, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks,
John

Not at all, click the link under the picture.

Rigol 50MHz scope Works great.

next goal is to get ATtiny Arduino running as an I2C slave.

There has been some discussion on the forum.  But, I've not done anything I2C so I won't be much help.  If you do get something working, please take the time to report about your success.  Even something as simple as "I got I2C slave working" is helpful to someone considering it as a solution.  At least they know it is possible.

Kinda makes me wonder why I bother . . .
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/USIi2c

or am I missing something?

2¢