Arduino Mini wont load sketch

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

I am testing my Arduino mini 4 (328) by uploading Blink, but the upload stalls after the compiling step and says the following:

"Uploading...
Binary sketch size: 1,084 bytes (of 28,672 byte maximum)"

I am using the Arduino 1.0.1 software with "Arduino Mini w/ ATmega328" selected for the Board and COM5 selected for the Serial Port.

Trouble Shooting steps I have taken:

  1. I checked that COM5 does match the port that is listed in the device manager.
  2. I have made sure that the board was reset before I loaded the sketch.
  3. Also I checked that the connections between the Arduino mini and the Arduino mini usb adapter are correct and the TX, RX, +5V, and Ground is attached.
  4. I re-installed the drivers for the Arduino chips and then restarted my computer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2

8 or 16MHz?

3

I believe that my mini is a 16MHz. I am using the following Arduino parts

Mouser Part #: 782-A000014
Manufacturer Part #: A000014
Manufacturer: Arduino
Description: Sockets & Adapters USB / SERIAL CONVERTER

Mouser Part #: 782-A000003
Manufacturer Part #: A000003
Manufacturer: Arduino
Description: Development Boards & Kits - AVR ARDUINO BOARD MINI

4

Gotcha.

I suspect that the DTR pin is not hooked up. Even if you are going to reset manually without a 0.1uF capacitor, you need to hook that one to your RESET or RST of the Arduino.

If you do not use the "Auto-Reset" cap, you are going to have to wait till the "Uploading..." appears in the monitor and press the reset on the Mini then watch the USB2TTL's Tx LED for two quick blinks, then release the reset button of the Mini. If it goes three, it will be too late.

5

I did not put in a capacitor. What am I missing? Here is a pick of my wiring setup.

2012-09-18_00-39-21_919.jpg
2012-09-18_00-39-21_919.jpg1836×3264 1.3 MB

6

I apologize. I just disconnected the DTR on one of my projects and it did load, but only with a reset button.

I am looking, but I can not find a reset button on your Arduino. You could bridge pin 22 and 23 on the Mini and that should reset it.

Other than that, you are going to need a 0.1uF cap in series from the USB2TTL pin 4 (on the right hand side and without a header pin) to pin 22 (above the 5v Vcc). I suppose you could get a piece of wire into the hole to connect the pad and plug the other end into the breadboard. Then, see if a 0.1uF leads will span the distance.

Either way, you have got to catch the bootloader in the middle of booting or the sketch will not load.

7

since there is no reset button on the board I have been connecting pin 22 directly to the ground to preform a reset.

8

Are you sure your Mini is bootloaded?

9

I am not sure if the Mini is bootloaded. What does that mean (I am new to this). Also what does the 0.1uF capacitor in series from the USB2TTL pin 4 to pin 22 do? I will put in the capacitor tonight when I get home from work. Thanks for all of the help.

10

Bootloader are a setup program that allows sketches to be loaded through the serial UART on the ATMEGA. A loose concept is the bootloader being the operating system and the sketches as files that you can only can load one at a time. If your mini has an LED hooked up to D13 of the Arduino, you should see a it blink rapidly 4-5 times when you plug it in.

The cap just allows you upload without having to manually reset the Arduino. The Data Terminal Read or DTR will send a signal to the reset pin when it is ready for uploading. The bootloader will then direct the sketch to the appropriate section of flash memory, reset and start the sketch running. Without all this, you just get the error you stated in the OP.

11

Putting in the capacitor fixed the problem. Thanks!!!

12

Excellent. Sometime you might consider trying one of the "bigger" Arduino board platforms :wink: They have a few more aminities :stuck_out_tongue:

Have fun!