So, in my continued attempt to get the 16u2 into a state in which I can program the ATmega2560 with the USB cable I ran the following command at the cmd prompt:
avrdude -C avrdude.conf -p m16u2 -F -c avrisp
mkii -P COM8 -U flash:w:\arduino1\hardware\tools\avr\bin\Arduino-usbserial-atmeg
a16u2-Mega2560-Rev3.hex -U lfuse:w:0xFF:m -U hfuse:w:0xD9:m -U efuse:w:0xF4:m -
U lock:w:0x0F:m -v -v -v -v
=====> Here is an abbreviated response after two hours of just letting it run
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 "avrdude.conf"
Using Port : COM8
Using Programmer : avrispmkii
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [01] . [0e] . [01] . [14]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
AVR Part : ATmega16U2
Chip Erase delay : 9000 us
PAGEL : PD7
BS2 : PC6
RESET disposition : possible i/o
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 512 4 128 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 16384 128 128 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 AVR ISP mkII
Programmer Model: Unknown
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [02] . [0e] . [03] . [90] . [85]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [02] . [0e] . [03] . [90] . [85]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [01] . [0e] . [01] . [14]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): failed miserably to execute command 0x03
avrdude: stk500v2_getparm(): failed to get parameter 0x90
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [02] . [0e] . [03] . [91] . [84]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [01] . [0e] . [01] . [14]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): failed miserably to execute command 0x03
avrdude: stk500v2_getparm(): failed to get parameter 0x94
Vtarget : 25.5 V
SCK period : 129.2 us
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [0c] . [0e] . [10] . [c8] d [64] . [19][20] . [00] S [53] . [03] . [ac] S [53] . [00] . [00] 2 [32]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [01] . [0e] . [01] . [14]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): failed miserably to execute command 0x10
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
avrdude: Device signature = 0x000000
avrdude: Yikes! Invalid device signature.
avrdude: Expected signature for ATmega16U2 is 1E 94 89
avrdude: NOTE: FLASH memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: Send: . [1b] . [01] . [00] . [01] . [0e] . [01] . [14]
avrdude: Recv:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
avrdude: stk500v2_command(): failed miserably to execute command 0x11
avrdude: stk500v2_disable(): failed to leave programming mode
avrdude done. Thank you.
C:>
Any help would be appre3ciated...