ATMEGA 32U4 Bootloader burning problem! SOLVED but do read my story!

Other Hardware 3rd Party Boards
1

I am sure this came up before, but google didn't help me much in this case :frowning:

I get the following log when trying to burn the Leonardo bootloader on a standalone sytem.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude -CC:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf -v -v -v -v -patmega32u4 -cstk500v2 -Pusb -e -Ulock:w:0x3F:m -Uefuse:w:0xcb:m -Uhfuse:w:0xd8:m -Ulfuse:w:0xff:m

avrdude: Version 5.11, compiled on Sep 2 2011 at 19:38:36
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 : usb
Using Programmer : stk500v2
avrdude: usbdev_open(): Found AVRISP mkII, serno: 000200012345
avrdude: usbdev_open(): using read endpoint 0x83
avrdude: Sent: . [01]
avrdude: Recv: . [01] . [00] . [0a] A [41] V [56] R [52] I [49] S [53] P [50] _ [5f] M [4d] K [4b] 2 [32]
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): found AVRISP mkII programmer
AVR Part : ATmega32U4
Chip Erase delay : 9000 us
PAGEL : PD7
BS2 : PA0
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 10 8 0 no 1024 8 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

flash 65 6 128 0 yes 32768 128 256 4500 4500 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

lfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

hfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

efuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

lock 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

calibration 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00
Block Poll Page Polled
Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack

signature 0 0 0 0 no 3 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00

Programmer Type : STK500V2
Description : Atmel STK500 Version 2.x firmware
Programmer Model: AVRISP mkII
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [90]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] . [00]
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [91]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] . [01]
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [92]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] . [11]
Hardware Version: 0
Firmware Version Master : 1.17
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [94]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] ! [21]
Vtarget : 3.3 V
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [98]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] . [06]
SCK period : 8.00 us

avrdude: Sent: . [10] . [c8] d [64] . [19] [20] . [00] S [53] . [03] . [ac] S [53] . [00] . [00]
avrdude: Recv: . [10] . [c0]
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): command failed
avrdude: Sent: . [03] . [a1]
avrdude: Recv: . [03] . [00] . [00]
avrdude: stk500v2_program_enable(): bad AVRISPmkII connection status: Unknown status 0x00
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
this check.

avrdude: Sent: . [11] . [01] . [01]
avrdude: Recv: . [11] . [00]

avrdude done. Thank you.

Trying the same on a working Leonardo and comparing logs they seem to differ on

avrdude: Sent: . [10] . [c8] d [64] . [19] [20] . [00] S [53] . [03] . [ac] S [53] . [00] . [00]
avrdude: Recv: . [10] . [c0]

Vs

avrdude: Sent: . [10] . [c8] d [64] . [19] [20] . [00] S [53] . [03] . [ac] S [53] . [00] . [00]
avrdude: Recv: . [10] . [00]

Any ideas?

2

Update: since a message from Avrdude rc=-1 incicates that there is no comms with the target cpu, i did the following checks:

Target cpu is powered and the oscillator working
connections from icsp header are ok
voltages are ok on all vcc and avcc pins

Next i desolderred the chip, soldered it on another working leonardo pcb and was able to burn bootloader first time!

Then soldered a new 32u4 on the target pcb. Tried to burn bootloader and failed again!

Really lost now, no idea what else to try!

Any help appriciated!!

3

Update:

After one week of testing virtually everything, soldering and desoldering the 32u4 chip three times, checking every single pin for continuity, I managed to locate the problem. I even soldered a pre-programmed chip to eliminate the possibility of other problems!

The 0805 100nF decoupling caps bought from ebay as part of a set, were in fact 100pF!

Lesson : Everytime you solder an smd cap (they have no markings on their body) , measure it first!

I thought I d document this for the benefit of other users of the forum.

4

Usually you can tell 100pf apart from 100nf by the color. If you're soldering on decoupling caps and they're grey, that should make you concerned.

Measuring every cap - I'd go insane. I soldered (well, human pick and place'ed) 141 SMD caps tonight...