Hello all, sadly my first post on the boards is for help, embarassing to say the least. So I purchased myself and freeduino and made several nice led projects, it was late and time for a ride to the store.. i figured what the heck, I'll bring it along and see how bright the LEDs I have are. Not taking the time to read into powering the board without using the USB cable, I....
I grabbed up a 9volt batttery and stuck it to the 5v pin and grn pin on the chip, the sketch started to run and quickly started fading, so i removed power. I noticed that the presoldered boardmount USB chip was extremely hot on the bottom. When I plug the USB cable into the board, it gets power and the pin13 led flashes, however the computer does not detect the devie.
I've been searching for info with little luck, probably not choosing the right things to search for. Any help at all would be appreciated, any chance I could convert this board to serial or did I fry the whole thing and have to start fresh with a new board? Thanks in advance!
Applying 9 volts to the 5 volt buss is very bad and mostly likely took out the micro-controller chip as well as the USB chip. You can buy a replacement AVR chip pretty cheap but the USB chip is very difficult to replace because of it being a SMD device and hard to unsolder and re solder without the proper tools and experience. Your probably better off just getting a new one. Your 9 vdc should have connected to the Vin pin or through the external power jack.
Thanks lefty! I knew replaing it would be a task, thats why i figured i'd ask about conveting to serial but if I blew the AVR too, I'll just snag up another board entirely, maybe one day I can come back and repair this one..
Your welcome. And don't feel too bad about your recent learning experience. We have all been there and done that. It's why the expression RTFM carries so much emotion at times.
We all know we should but sometimes we get in a hurry or have a brainfart that has to be released and go without referencing the manual. One of the best things about the Arduino project is the fact that the basic controller board is so affordable that small setbacks like frying the board are not all that dramatic. Good thing you didn't have an expensive shield board attached as that too would have probably damaged all the chips on it also.
Don't throw your board just yet!
If you program AVR on your new Arduino board, you could probally transfert the AVR on the old one and use as a devlopement board
Just a idea like that!
I definately wont throw it out thats for sure, all my disasters will be kept and eventually make up a video of my progression with electronics.
Once programmed and finished, can't the AVR be removed and transplanted onto a permanent board, never to be changed again? Wouldnt it just need the power circut and the rest diretly to the pins?
I still have a LOT of reading to do no doubt. Thanks again for all the help and advie, I'm diggin this place already!
