Arduino nano - No flashing led after reset or powerup + "avrdude: programmer is not responding"

Development Tools Uploading
1

(please suggest a better category if you know one)

Hello,
i have an arduino nano clone that worked fine for a while (using the old bootloader option), but now i can't upload sketches anymore, also it seems to do nothing on powerup or when the reset button is pressed.

-The power led is on when it has power.

-Other than that, no LED is flashing on power up or if i press the reset button.

-I get an reeor message when i try to upload a sketch (right port, board and bootloader are selected)

-The rx led is blinking a bit if i try to upload something.

-It shows up in the com ports in the IDE and windows makes a sound if i connect/disconnect it.

-Nothing is connected to the board, nothing is shorted.

-I have tried standard fixes like restarting the pc, changing usb ports and cables...

I have pasted the avrdude error message down below.
What would you suggest trying?

My main question would be, if it is definitely the bootloader, or if those signs could have another reason.

How can I find out if the entire board is broken?

my ideas what could have caused it:

  1. It is unlikely, but i could have accidentally connected 14V to the Vin of the arduino, i did it before on a pro micro :frowning: and it was quite spectacular with smoke and smell and visibly burned parts.
    But i don't think that i did it, i was more careful this time and nothing like this seemed to have happened, no smoke, no smell, power led is on, windows and the IDE recognize the device.

  2. i tried something where i had a button that would give power to the arduino if pressed,
    could quickly powering it on, off, on... during the booting process somehow damage the bootloader or the board?

Thanks for reading!

Arduino: 1.8.10 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino Nano, ATmega328P (Old Bootloader)"

Sketch uses 4028 bytes (13%) of program storage space. Maximum is 30720 bytes.
Global variables use 1006 bytes (49%) of dynamic memory, leaving 1042 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/bin/avrdude -CC:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -carduino -PCOM8 -b57600 -D -Uflash:w:C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\arduino_build_755619/battery_board_ohne_lcd.ino.hex:i 

avrdude: Version 6.3-20190619
         Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
         Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch

         System wide configuration file is "C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf"

         Using Port                    : COM8
         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=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x50

avrdude done.  Thank you.

Problem uploading to board.  See http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions.

This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation"
option enabled in File -> Preferences.
2

Are you using ICSP now - or what?

3

No, i am using the usb cable.
for the nano, you can chose "ATmega328P" or "ATmega328P (Old Bootloader)"
I had to use the second option: ATmega328P (Old Bootloader) because it was a board from china.
I mentioned it in order to rule it out as a possible solution.

4

OK - the IDE 'thinks' that nothing is there.

5

It shows up in the IDE as COM8, it appears when i connect the board and disappears when i disconnect it.
But when i try to upload something to it, i get the error message i've pasted in the post.

6

That a COM# shows up indicates that the UART is OK.
The UART is between the PC and the microprocessor.

7

Does the UART have its own chip? or is it a programm on the ATmega328P?
The latter would probably mean, that i didn't damage it intirely?

Now i also just tried to burn the bootloader (first i had to find out how it is done), i double checked the wiring and the settings and i got this error message:

Arduino: 1.8.10 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino Nano, ATmega328P (Old Bootloader)"

C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/bin/avrdude -CC:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -cstk500v1 -PCOM6 -b19200 -e -Ulock:w:0x3F:m -Uefuse:w:0xFD:m -Uhfuse:w:0xDA:m -Ulfuse:w:0xFF:m 

avrdude: Version 6.3-20190619
         Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
         Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch

         System wide configuration file is "C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf"

         Using Port                    : COM6
         Using Programmer              : stk500v1
         Overriding Baud Rate          : 19200
         AVR Part                      : ATmega328P
         Chip Erase delay              : 9000 us
         PAGEL                         : PD7
         BS2                           : PC2
         RESET disposition             : dedicated
         RETRY pulse                   : SCK
         serial program mode           : yes
         parallel program mode         : yes
         Timeout                       : 200
         StabDelay                     : 100
         CmdexeDelay                   : 25
         SyncLoops                     : 32
         ByteDelay                     : 0
         PollIndex                     : 3
         PollValue                     : 0x53
         Memory Detail                 :

                                  Block Poll               Page                       Polled
           Memory Type Mode Delay Size  Indx Paged  Size   Size #Pages MinW  MaxW   ReadBack
           ----------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
           eeprom        65    20     4    0 no       1024    4      0  3600  3600 0xff 0xff
           flash         65     6   128    0 yes     32768  128    256  4500  4500 0xff 0xff
           lfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           hfuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           efuse          0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           lock           0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           calibration    0     0     0    0 no          1    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           signature      0     0     0    0 no          3    0      0     0     0 0x00 0x00

         Programmer Type : STK500
         Description     : Atmel STK500 Version 1.x firmware
         Hardware Version: 2
         Firmware Version: 1.18
         Topcard         : Unknown
         Vtarget         : 0.0 V
         Varef           : 0.0 V
         Oscillator      : Off
         SCK period      : 0.1 us

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Error while burning bootloader.
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s

avrdude: Device signature = 0xff00ff
avrdude: Expected signature for ATmega328P is 1E 95 0F
         Double check chip, or use -F to override this check.

avrdude done.  Thank you.

This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation"
option enabled in File -> Preferences.
8

Yes.

No.

9

You may have inadvertently used the new bootloader. I've done it, thought I'd fried three clones. Then I was pointed to this:

I reprogrammed all my clones to the new bootloader, no issues.
Hope this helps
C

10

Thank you, but i already tried to follow this exact tutorial.
i always get this error, no matter if i select the old or the new bootloader.
how do you even breake a working bootloader? which of my actions could have caused it to fail?

11

It's more likely that you damaged the 328P.

What was the project that you were working on when it failed?

12

It is a very simple project (my first real one), a protection and step down circuit for a 4s li ion pack.

The + side of the battery goes through a bistable switching relay into a 5V and a 12V step down converter.

The 5V converter is there to power the arduino and also goes into a USB power output.

The 12V converter is just there as a 12V output.

The arduino reads the battery voltage using a voltage divider and if it gets too low, it cuts the power off for itself and everything else by switching the relay. This way there is absolutely no battery drain after it shuts off.

Then there is a button that is used to give power to the 5V converter temporarily, so the arduino can turn on and switch the relay back to the on state (when the battery has been charged).

That is the whole setup, later I would like to add an LCD display in order to display the input and output voltage.

Originally I used my arduino pro micro for it, but I regrettably used the same wire color for the ~14V battery output and the 5V supply voltage for the arduino. I connected it the wrong way around and a chip on the arduino went up in flames...
This time I was more careful and I don't think it happened again. Obviously I can't rule it out entirely, but the nano shows no signs of physical damage, that is what the original post is about.

By now i have also tried to freshly burn the bootloader of the nano but i get an error that ends like this:


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x03

avrdude done.  Thank you.

Error while burning bootloader.
13

Hi i have an arduino uno with the same problem. resetting it does nothing and i get the same error with not much differece:Sketch uses 924 bytes (2%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32256 bytes.

Global variables use 9 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2039 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: Access is denied.


avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x1e
avrdude: ser_drain(): read error: Access is denied.

I do not really know what the problem is but i believe that one of the parts are faulty.Today is the second day that my arduino broke and yesterday it gave me a different errror saying something about flash memory.

14

@tnthacker1234 has started his/her own topic here: Arduino uno not receiving upload.

15

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.