I hope you can help me with a little problem. I just received two of these cheap Chinese Arduino Pro Mini 3.3v clones. Im using this FTDI basic board to upload sketches. I managed to upload the blink sketch to the board. I got the onboard LED blinking and if I connect an external LED to pin 13 it blinks as well. However now I can't upload anything to either of the two boards. I get this error:
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
I tried selecting "Duamilanove w/ ATmega328" as the product description says I should. I also tried selecting "Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (3.3v, 8 MHz) w/ ATmega328 "
I also tried to select both serial port "/dev/tty.usbserial-A9E5PRRR" and "/dev/cu.usbserial-A9E5PRRR"
Nothing works. I thought it could be the boot loader but I read somewhere that because the LEDs are blinking this isn't the problem.
What to do?
Thanks a lot!
PS: Just to make it clear: Got a lot of original Arduinos - also Pro Minis. Im going to use these in a permanent project and don't want to use original expensive ones for that.
Are you sure you connected it properly? Pro Minis can be connected either way up. Look carefully at the markings on the boards to make sure Vcc goes to Vcc.
I managed to upload the blink sketch to the board. I got the onboard LED blinking
Are you sure about that? They generally come with "blink" already loaded.
fungus:
Are you sure you connected it properly? Pro Minis can be connected either way up. Look carefully at the markings on the boards to make sure Vcc goes to Vcc.
Well... It actually looks like some of the pins on the FTDI board and the Pro Mini doesn't line up - this can also be seen on the Pictures.. I just looked on the official parts from Sparkfun and the connecters are exactly the same.. The way I connect it up can be seen here.
fungus:
Are you sure about that? They generally come with "blink" already loaded.
Kaka:
Well... It actually looks like some of the pins on the FTDI board and the Pro Mini doesn't line up - this can also be seen on the Pictures.. I just looked on the official parts from Sparkfun and the connecters are exactly the same.. The way I connect it up can be seen here.
Riiiiight....but have you actually looked at the labels on the boards. 50% of Pro Minis need to be flipped over when you plug them in. The pin to look for is Vcc.
Kaka:
Well... It actually looks like some of the pins on the FTDI board and the Pro Mini doesn't line up - this can also be seen on the Pictures.. I just looked on the official parts from Sparkfun and the connecters are exactly the same.. The way I connect it up can be seen here.
Riiiiight....but have you actually looked at the labels on the boards. 50% of Pro Minis need to be flipped over when you plug them in. The pin to look for is Vcc.
Yea - the VCC on the FTDI board line up with the FTDI mark on the Pro Mini
Well.. This is weird. I decided to burn a new boot loader on the the board using my Uno. I succeeded doing this. I also succeeded in burning a sketch to the Pro Mini! I changed the pin in the blink sketch from 13 to 5 and it worked! But the second time i tried to upload a sketch to the board I got the same error message.. I tried uploading a sketch a couple of times with the same error. Then I decided to burn the boot loader again. Aaaaand the same thing happen again. I managed to upload one sketch. Then I get the error message again - with the same setup.
I can upload one sketch. The second I try to upload gives the error message:
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
Kaka:
Well.. This is weird. I decided to burn a new boot loader on the the board using my Uno. I succeeded doing this. I also succeeded in burning a sketch to the Pro Mini! I changed the pin in the blink sketch from 13 to 5 and it worked! But the second time i tried to upload a sketch to the board I got the same error message.. I tried uploading a sketch a couple of times with the same error. Then I decided to burn the boot loader again. Aaaaand the same thing happen again. I managed to upload one sketch. Then I get the error message again - with the same setup.
I can upload one sketch. The second I try to upload gives the error message:
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
What is going on?
Yes, it's the auto-reset circuit not working. Without an auto-reset circuit, on a fresh bootloader (no sketch loaded), the bootloader runs continuously. So you can get one upload. After that, the sketch is running continuously. When you try to upload again, since the auto-reset isn't working, it will never restart the bootloader. You can test this by manually pressing the reset button just before it uploads.
hiduino:
Yes, it's the auto-reset circuit not working. Without an auto-reset circuit, on a fresh bootloader (no sketch loaded), the bootloader runs continuously. So you can get one upload. After that, the sketch is running continuously. When you try to upload again, since the auto-reset isn't working, it will never restart the bootloader.
Thanks. Sounds like logic. Does this mean the board it self is broken - or can it be fixed?
hiduino:
You can test this by manually pressing the reset button just before it uploads.
Did this a couple if times. No success. The error still comes up?
Manually pressing the reset button at just the right time is a hit or miss. Or it could be just the reset circuit is faulty to begin with. You wouldn't happen to have an oscope around to capture the reset pin signal to verify operation?
hiduino:
Manually pressing the reset button at just the right time is a hit or miss. Or it could be just the reset circuit is faulty to begin with. You wouldn't happen to have an oscope around to capture the reset pin signal to verify operation?
Unfortunatly no I don't have an oscope.. If it is a factory faulty wouldn't it be strange that two boards got the same error? Or is it just what to expect from chinese clones?
I was having similar issue with a Seeeduino Development Ethernet Board, could see the preloaded blink, but would get time outs on my loads. After hour of trying this and that, plus searching the internet, I found that certain board made in China have up to a 60% failure rate. While I have bought over ten Italy boards (Arduino) and at least ten China boards (clones) I have found only they are all work very well with exception of that one board.
BUt as stated found that the one board is known for failures.
Look at your boards and make sure that there is only a single cap in the circuit.
There should be a single cap in series with the DTR signal from the FTDI chip to
the reset signal of the AVR.
The boards appear to be simple dual sided boards so you can see all the traces.
Just look at the boards and verify that there is only a single cap involved.
You have to look at the board to figure out the wiring & traces anyway since you
have to map out the other holes and jumpers for things like ADC6 and ADC7.
It's not hard and should only take a few minutes.
I couldn't tell from the photos but it looks like there is a cap on the DTR line
of the mini.
It also looks suspiciously like there is a cap on the DTR line on the FTDI adapter
which could cause issues.
Look at your boards and make sure that there is only a single cap in the circuit.
There should be a single cap in series with the DTR signal from the FTDI chip to
the reset signal of the AVR.
The boards appear to be simple dual sided boards so you can see all the traces.
Just look at the boards and verify that there is only a single cap involved.
You have to look at the board to figure out the wiring & traces anyway since you
have to map out the other holes and jumpers for things like ADC6 and ADC7.
It's not hard and should only take a few minutes.
I couldn't tell from the photos but it looks like there is a cap on the DTR line
of the mini.
It also looks suspiciously like there is a cap on the DTR line on the FTDI adapter
which could cause issues.
--- bill
Thanks. It sure does look like theres a cap on both FTDI and the board it self connected the the DTR line. If this is the issue - is there then any solutions without removing one of the caps?
