Cannot upload: programmer is not responding

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

Hi everyone,

I got a Arduino starter pack as a birthday present yesterday, so please excuse my noobness!

It's some Freeduino that should be equivalent to Arduino Duemilanove with a ATmega168.

My first surprise was when I plugged it into my USB hub and not only did the green power LED light up, but the LED of Port 13 started to blink constantly. Is a brand new board supposed to do that? (From reading the Troubleshooting stuff, I think it is telling me that the boot loader is OK, right?)

Anyway, I tried to upload a first sketch, and the RX LED is blinking shortly, but the TX stays dark. A little bit later (I suppose after some timeout) the Arduino IDE reports this (under OSX):

Binary sketch size: 1018 bytes (of a 14336 byte maximum)
/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude -C/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf -v -v -v -v -patmega168 -cstk500v1 -P/dev/tty.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ -b19200 -D -Uflash:w:/var/folders/Ua/UajAKRV7Gf0CH0CwdrTzSk+++TI/-Tmp-/build5958980684931737838.tmp/Blink.cpp.hex:i

avrdude: Version 5.4-arduino, compiled on Oct 9 2007 at 11:20:31
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/

System wide configuration file is "/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
User configuration file is "/Users/holger/.avrduderc"
User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping

Using Port : /dev/tty.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ
Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: Send: Q [51] [20]
avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

I tried this on the same machine under Win7 as well, with same/similar results.

Using a different USB cable didn't work either.

Tools/Serial Port is working, I can send something and the RX LED blinks shortly. (Am I supposed to get something back? The TX LED is staying dark here as well.)

I tried to change the Baud rate to 9600, but somehow I didn't manage to. (Adding "serial.download_rate=9600" to preferences.txt didn't do it.)

Any more ideas/hints? Ot is the board broken? Should I return it?

Many thanks in advance!

Holger

2

I have se same problem , I thing the atmega328 is reprograming and the bootloader is auto-damage

3

@hdort: Which board do you have selected?

4

It's the entry including "Arduino Duemilanove", ending with "ATmega168"

5

Are you certain "/dev/tty.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ" is the correct serial port?

6

With the board unplugged, I only have Bluetooth devices listed; after pluggin in, I see two more devices: "/dev/tty.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ" and "/dev/cu.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ".

The results for the "cu" port are pretty much the same:

Binary sketch size: 1018 bytes (of a 14336 byte maximum)
/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude -C/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf -v -v -v -v -patmega168 -cstk500v1 -P/dev/cu.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ -b19200 -D -Uflash:w:/var/folders/Ua/UajAKRV7Gf0CH0CwdrTzSk+++TI/-Tmp-/build5780944342377085623.tmp/Blink.cpp.hex:i

avrdude: Version 5.4-arduino, compiled on Oct 9 2007 at 11:20:31
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/

System wide configuration file is "/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
User configuration file is "/Users/holger/.avrduderc"
User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping

Using Port : /dev/cu.usbserial-FTUHMFDZ
Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: Send: Q [51] [20]
avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

7

Try a "loop back" test...

8

I haven't had the time yet to do the loop back test, but I've just updated the FTDI Windows driver and did a new test, with unchanged results.

Here's the log:

Binary sketch size: 1018 bytes (of a 14336 byte maximum)
C:\temp\arduino-0022\hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude -CC:\temp\arduino-0022\hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf -v -v -v -v -patmega168 -cstk500v1 -P\.\COM8 -b19200 -D -Uflash:w:C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\build1714825568610888157.tmp\Blink.cpp.hex:i

avrdude: Version 5.4-arduino, compiled on Oct 11 2007 at 19:12:32
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/

System wide configuration file is "C:\temp\arduino-0022\hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf"

Using Port : \.\COM8
Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200
avrdude: ser_open(): setting dtr
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: Send: Q [51] [20]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x51

avrdude done. Thank you.

Is this giving any more hints?

9

try downloading arduino version 18

10

Using Arduino 18 makes no difference, neither under Mac OSX nor under Win7 :frowning:

11

OK, the loop-back test was successful, I got everything sent back that I entered.

What does this mean now? Is the processor kaput?

12

The next step is to try a manual-reset. The auto-reset may not be working. This is what I do...

• Hold the reset button

• Click Upload

• When the message "Binary sketch size:" is displayed, release the reset button

13

This is something I already tried a couple of times with various timings, but that never worked.

14

It's some Freeduino

Which one?

15

I don't know; it is included in this package: http://www.amazon.de/Lernpaket-Mikrocontroller-Technik-Arduino-Freeduino-Bauteilen/dp/3645650644/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311492616&sr=8-3

I guess it's custom made, there's even the companys name "Franzis" on the board.

16

The problem is that there are several bootloaders available. If the vendor really did build a "Freeduino" then, as far as I can tell, "Arduino Duemilanove / ATmega168" is the correct choice and these two settings are correct...

Using Programmer : stk500v1
Overriding Baud Rate : 19200

However, if the vendor decided to use a different bootloader, then either or both of those settings are wrong. I cannot find anything on that webpage about bootloader or board selection. I suggest asking the vendor to confirm that "Arduino Duemilanove / ATmega168" is the correct choice.

17

According to the accompanying book, you should select "Arduino Diecimila". And the screenshot there selects the entry that ends with "ATmega168", so it seems to be the correct setting.

18

Just to bring this story to an end: I sent the starter pack back and bought a Sparkfun Inventor's Kit instead -- and that didn't work either, same error. Weird!

I tested it on my wife's iMac, and connected it on its passive USB hub, it worked! So, I tried the free USB port of the Apple keyboard on my iMac, and lo and behold, it worked! (I tried a USB port at the back of the iMac with my first kit, which didn't work. Never thought of the keyboard port until recently...)

It still will not work on the active Belkin USB hub (although there's nothing wrong with it, I use it with USB sticks and my video cam just fine), but as long as it'll work with the keyboard's port, it'll do. (Although I'd prefer it working on a hub, if anything goes awry, the hub would be cheaper than the keyboard...)

If anything has any idea as to why the active hub isn't working, please let me know it I can test anything.

19

Thank you for the follow-up.