Arduino Mini Pro upload error

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hello guys!
I just bought an Arduino Mini Pro for a school project.
I tried to upload to it and I get errors, this is the Blink example:

avrdude: Version 6.0.1, compiled on Apr 15 2015 at 19:59:58
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch

System wide configuration file is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr/etc/avrdude.conf"

Using Port : COM5
Using Programmer : arduino
Overriding Baud Rate : 57600
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x37

avrdude done. Thank you.

The error code do differ on each run.
I do have the drivers installed, on windows 8 and ubuntu 14 (I've tried on both OSes)
Can you please help me debug this.

Thank you very much.

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2

I think your wiring is mixed up. Detach as re-attach. It should go like this:

DTR on USB converter to DTR on Pro Mini
RX on USB converter to TX on Pro Mini
TX on USB converter to RX on Pro Mini
VCC on USB converter to VCC on Pro Mini
GND on USB converter to GND on Pro Mini

3

GND & CTS on Promini are connected together. That should be okay.
The board on the right - looks like CH430 based? Do you have driver for it?

4

Thanks all for the answers. I will try your suggestions and come back and let you know if it worked or not.
@CrossRoads: windows 8 does recognize the board (no yellow question mark in device manager) so I guess it found a driver for it.

5

@dmjlambert it didn't work. I've tried your suggestion but I get the same error.
I've also searched all over the internet with no avail.

With this setup,

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the red led on arduino is bright and the green one is flashing every second. But still I get an error when trying to upload.

Also windows 8 seems to recognize the hardware.
Can you please recommend me a tutorial that can make this less painfull?

Thank you.

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6

That USB-to-serial adapter is designed to plug right into the header of the Pro Mini, except it has male pins instead of female sockets. With that in mind, hook up all 6 pins straight from the USB-to-serial adapter to the Pro Mini. Like this:

adapter pro mini
DTR DTR (or GRN on some Pro Minis)
RX TX
TX RX
VCC VCC
CTS GND
GND GND (or BLK on some Pro Minis)

Attach a picture of your wiring.

7

Thanks, I will try and come back with the result.