Osepp ftdi with arduino pro mini - pin outs

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hi all,

I've got a Pro Mini that I'm trying to program. Our local electronic supplier only had OSEPP Ftdi breakout boxes, so I bought one. Then I found out that the order of the pins between the arduino Pro Mini and the breakout board are reversed.

Assuming the pin out order is not compatible to direct connect straight across, what alternatives can people suggest for me to hook them up? Really don't want to solder wires between them.

I guess I should have got the Sparkfun ftdi, but the shipping cost more than the board itself. :frowning:

Thanks for any advice.
Corey

2

Use female to female DuPont cable. We supply a CH340 which comes with some.

Also note that if you plug it into a Windows machine watch for bricking.

3

Thanks for the quick reply. What's the risk with bricking?

4

Well, it turns out that a lot of the FTDI serial to USB adaptors out there use fake FTDI chips and the latest drivers may cause issues by re writing the USB product ID. Don't panic too much if that happens there are plenty of threads on un bricking them. If you are on Linux or Mac it isn't an issue.

5

Great info. Thanks for helping me out. Is the bricking issue specific to OSEPP or is the Sparkfun FTDI any better?

I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to get through this without having to mail order anything.

The OSEPP board does not have the room to put on a female DuPont cable when the board is mounted on the breadboard, but a male to male DuPont, if it exists, would fit horizontally and have a solid, movable connection.

6

It isn't a problem with a specific board and normally happens to devices that were made in China. Sparkfun's are good, and the OSEPP probably are are well.

Have you got a link to the FDTI board you have?

7

http://osepp.com/products/breakout-board/osepp-ftdi-breakout-board/

It's got this weird, combined male/female header on the end that I thought I could use until I saw the reversed pin out.

Why osepp decided to reverse the pin out forcing you to use their accessories is really annoying.

8

It has the same pinout as a CH340G we sell, see here for how to connect it:

http://www.chillitronix.co.uk/index.php?page=ch340g-usage

So it is a direct connection to a standard pro mini, as far as I can tell, you just don't connect the CTS as it isn't needed.

Please double check the pin out on the board you have, their picture isn't clear (ours is).

9

I checked the OSEPP Pro Mini board and the pin out is reversed when compared to the Arduino Pro Mini. If both boards are aligned in 'portrait', the 'BLK' pin is in the upper left on the OSEPP board and it's on the upper right on the Arduino Pro Mini board. Similarly the rest of the pins are on opposite sides.

It appears the OSEPP FTDI board is meant to be placed adjacent to (their) Pro Mini on the breadboard and it will connect in directly - without any other connecting hardware. A nice feature, if you hve all OSEPP hardware.

So it likely I'm going to need to build a 6-pin cable (female-to-male) that I can use to jump between the two.

10

Oh dear. On ebay you can find 40 way male to female dupont leads. They come in a 40 way ribbon and you just rip off what you want.