Did I damage my Sparkfun 7 Sement Display?

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hey,

I accidentally used the wrong bord settings in the arduino IDE to uploade example code to a new Sparkfun 7-Segment Display

The Board settings I used are:

Board: Arduino Nano
Processor: Atmega 328p
Programmer: AVRISP mkII

The display is connected over an FTDI Breakout board

I took care to not switch pins or short anything, but after uploading the display test example code, the display looks like this.

IMG_20221118_122930
IMG_20221118_1229302124×1182 227 KB

Any suggestions on how to fix this would be much appreciated :sweat_smile:

2

download GitHub - sparkfun/Serial7SegmentDisplay at v3.1_live
extract the zip
navigate to

I have some serious doubts that you are supposed to program the module. Was it intentional? You connect the module via Serial or I2C or SPI to e.g. an Uno. You program the Uno to communicate with the module.

I have no experience with the module but I think that you should be able to get the original code back using the FTDI adapter. As your module is currently not working, you can try the below; after all, you can't damage it more than you already did :smiley:

Step 1

  1. Download GitHub - sparkfun/Serial7SegmentDisplay at v3.1_live
  2. Extract it to a suitable location.
  3. Find the directory Serial7SegmentDisplay-3.1_live\firmware in the extracted zip. It contains a directory called hardware that you need to copy and paste in step 2.

Step 2 (for IDE2.0 on Windows)

  1. Close the IDE
  2. Create a directory with a unique name in C:\Users\yourUsername\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages; I used SparkFun S7S.
  3. Paste the copied hardware directory in C:\Users\yourUsername\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\SparkFun S7S.

Step 3

  1. Connect the FTDI adapter to the module
  2. Connect the FTDI to the PC via USB.
  3. Disconnect any other boards before you destroy those :wink:

Step 4

  1. Start the IDE
  2. You will now find a new board under tools -> boards. Select the new board.
  3. Open the sketch Serial7SegmentDisplay-3.1_live\firmware\Serial 7-Segment Display\Serial_7_Segment_Display_Firmware\Serial_7_Segment_Display_Firmware.ino in the extracted zip.
  4. Select the port of the FTDI adapter.
  5. Upload the sketch.

image
image1097×418 31.4 KB

Step 5 (optional)
Destroy the FTDI adapter so you don't make the same mistake again :rofl:

Step 6

  1. Change the board in the IDE to the one that you normally use for your project; e.g. Uno.
  2. Wire the board according to the SparkFun hookup guide.
  3. Load the relevant example and upload to the Arduino; not to your module.

Step 7
You can delete the directory C:\Users\yourUsername\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\SparkFun S7S

If you're using IDE 1.8.x on Windows, I can provide instructions tomorrow.

3

Hey sterretje,

thank you very much for your detailed instructions. I followed them exactly, but when compiling I get the following error message:

Warning: Board 7Seg:Serial7Seg:Serial7Seg doesn't define a 'build.board' preference. Auto-set to: SERIAL7SEG_SERIAL7SEG

recipe.preproc.macros pattern is missing

Compilation error: recipe.preproc.macros pattern is missing

I have some serious doubts that you are supposed to program the module. Was it intentional? You connect the module via Serial or I2C or SPI to e.g. an Uno. You program the Uno to communicate with the module.

EDIT: I just tried again with Arduino IDE 1.8.19, and it worked!

Yes it was intentional :smile:
I am trying to build this motor controller (French)

4

Great. If you want to compile and upload your code, you will need to keep the boards package so you can compile and upload with the specific settings for the board.

Note that the way the problem was solved is a hack; one would usually use board manager to add the package but I could not find a link for the additional URL that is needed for that.