ArduinoISp bricked another µC - alternative explanations?

Hi,

In addition to my recent problem to program a working pro mini it looks like my ArduinoISP, a Nano v3 clone, has bricked an ATTiny13 and an ATMega328p on a breadboard :frowning: After failed upload, the ATMega on a breadboard has pin 8 high (previously it was low), maybe that matters.

As I read somewhere, the message provided by avrdude avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions indicates that not all is lost. Unfortunately, using "-F" (override) and "-B10" (lower frequency) did not help.

avrdude: verification error, first mismatch at byte 0x0000
         0x00 != 0x0c
avrdude: verification error; content mismatch

Programming failed.

I've used my Nano v3 ArduinoISP for months now to program a dozen devices.

Maybe someone can answer me these two questions:

  1. How is it possible that a ArduinoISP bricks a µC--assuming the board settings in Arduino IDE were correct?
  2. How to avoid bricking another µC? Is it possible to test in advance if the ArduinoISP works correctly?

Thanks & best

Probably missing clock on target MCU. The reason is setup for external clock/crystal use. Try to read this: Arduino as ISP - strange behavior (?) - IDE 1.x - Arduino Forum.

After failed upload, the ATMega on a breadboard has pin 8 high (previously it was low), maybe that matters.

Do you mean pin 8 on DIL package? It is GND.

Hi budvar10,

Thank you very much. Your link reads interesting, I'll give it a try!

In regards to pin 8 I meant digital pin 8 not the leg. :wink:

Best!

Don't use -F - fix the error so you don't get that message. Usually when it shows a message mentioning use of -F, it means there's a wiring problem (or no clock present) - and in those cases, you'll get nothing from forcing it, and you may make matters worse.

I've tried the solution mentioned here (Pin9 with 8 MHz to XTAL1 of ATMega) but with no success.

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x000000 (retrying)

Signature cannot be read. I suspect fuses got messed up with last ISP update. Unfortunately, I don't have a high voltage programmer to override the settings.

And due to the fact that I've change all wirings and the same wiring works with different MCUs, respectively, I doubt that the wiring is the problem. Looks like I'll buy some new MCUs. However, if anyone has another idea ... :slight_smile:

Thanks & best.

terraduino:
Unfortunately, I don't have a high voltage programmer to override the settings.

With an Arduino and very few other components you can make a HV programmer on a breadboard.

Thanks a lot for that instructable! I will give it a try.
I missed that although I already searched for a HV solution.

Thanks again and best!