I am stuck and cant upload to my arduino mini pro 5v 16Mhz.
I am using the USB/TTL from Robotshop that is working fine with my Arduino mini.
I have tried this :
My IDE is set at duemilanove 328 like Sparkfun is recommending and my com port is selected.
Pushing the reset button just before I upload. No result. Only one led is flashing dimmly for 3 times. no result
Modifying the IDE preference file and releasing reset after specific text appears : no text is appearing in the DOS window. no result
Using my Duemilanove and removing the Atmel328 and using it as a USB adapter like shown in the Arduino Mini guide. no result
My Arduino mini pro is doing a blink routine that last about 2 second and goes from slow to very fast. From my readings here this tells me that it is the factory sketch that is present on Arduino's when they get out of the box.
A red led is also on.
I have joined a film of it during the upload process. My next option will be to buy a Specific adapter for the Arduino Mini Pro from Sparkfun but I am wondering if I still can do something with what I have in hand ?
Yes I did start the Arduino with the bat file but nothing happened except 3 little blinks that you can see on the video.
I did soldered connectors to the board so it fits on the breadboard maybe I fried something. I did check my connection and the TX and RX line are good from one side to the other. I don't know if they are good up to the microchip, that would be my next step maybe something is wrong.I will try to find the chip layout and check tx and rx up to it...
Strange, I don't see the RX/TX LEDs on your USB adapter blink. Why ? Do they blink at all (with the breadboard circuit disconnected from it) ?
I'm just blind...
So you just wired RX/TX to the board, no reset line ?
Seems like this usb adapter doesn't have the DTR line available as a pin...
Still I wonder why you didn't see any output in the DOS (ugh) window. What exactly did you change in preferences.txt and was it in /arduino-0015/lib/ ?
But the pro mini needs to be reseted to activate the bootloader.
It seems you have an up to date version of the usb adapter. You need to connect its DTR pin to a special pin on the arduino mini pro. It seems the label on the board is wrong (at least on this image here):
Make a connection from the the pin in the bottom left corner, it is connected with a small capacitor to the reset line. It is the pin right above the label GRN.
Connect it to the DTR pin on your MINI USB board.
This should enable auto reset and uploads. Also make sure that RX/TX are not reversed.
I think I have exactly the same issue as you. I started by posting on the SF forums:
viewtopic.php?t=15792
(Sorry I can't post real links yet)
So I am interested in what is going on here.
Mine blinks like yours, so I'm guessing that it is functioning correctly, and I am assuming that it was preloaded with the sk bootloader.
I do see the blinking stop as soon as the serial starts, so I think it is safe to assume that the DTR - Reset function is working.
I don't know, but I think we have the same problem.
Didn't seem to make a difference. (The baud rate change)
However, if Addict says that this flashing sequence is indicative of it coming from the factory (does the factory put a bootloader on it?), then maybe SF did not put a bootloader on it in the first place and it will never program like this.
The next thing I guess it building a ISP programmer?
Well I guess factory here doesn't mean atmel, but the manufacturer of the arduino. All chips I got from the FACTORY didn't have anything flashed and were completely silent until I flashed some code into them.
Yes, if you're using these boards anyway, an ISP won't hurt at all
I contacted Robot shop support and they suggested to buy the SFE FTDI USB to Serial Basic Breakout Board (5V).
And like MadWorm suggested I tried to connect DTR to GRN and CTS to BLK without positive result.
Now I am waiting for my part to be shipped. In the mean time I am looking into ISP programming too.
Thanks for your help and I will post any progress on the subject for everyone to enjoy.
Ok I just fixed my issue, and hopefully someone else's.
My arduino's (or possibly my solder job on the header?) RXI pin on the 6pin header side was not connected to the same pin as the RXI on the other side of the board. It seems that there was no connectivity to that pin to anything else on the board.
I solved my problem by jumping my dead RXI pin (on the 6pin side) to the other RXI in to achieve full connectivity.
I'm having the same problem with a 5V Pro Mini from Gravitech with a FTDI usb basic breakout board. I've tried every possible combination of RX/TX/DTR/CTS pin connections, and tried pressing reset at a zillion different times while watching the code compile/upload. i've also tried different board selections in the processing ide (started with run.bat).
no luck: whenever i turn on the pro mini or release the reset button the green LED gives a sequence of flashes that starts slow and gets faster and faster. the bootloader seems to be ok because i get a single green flash after every reset before it goes into the sequence.
I had the same problem with my Arduino Mini Pro 8MHz/3.3v and found my/the answer.
The key is the bootloader that is on the Mini Pro:
If the default pattern of the led is (_ = off, * = on) : **__**** (simple slow pace blinking) ... you must choose in the Arduino software "Board = Arduino Mini Pro" (my first Mini Pro was like that and working)
**** BUT ****
if the pattern is *_____*_***** (like a drum rolling faster) you must choose "Board = Arduino Duemillanove w/ ATMega 328" ! And it started working just fine !
It took me a few hours to desperately try that, and it worked just fine I think the key is that the "older" generation came with a old bootloader with a specific signature, but the new ones come with another signature that match the Duemillanove 328.
Hope this helps. At least it saved me from throwing my 3 Mini Pro to the bin! And no need for any kind of rewiring the FTDI connector, the Sparfun 3.3v works just fine it you plug it the right way (not upside down).
AlanFromJapan...thank you for your post! I did as you suggested (just got my Pro mini 8mHz a couple of days back) and it worked. That is, I changed the board selection to the "Arduino Duemillanove w/ ATMega 328" and plugged the SparkFun 3.3v breakout board in the "right way"--not upside down as in the SparkFun photo. Now I'm one step further along the way....
Hey I'm reading all of these posts about Arduino Pro mini errors and I've been trying some of these solutions but it's still not working. I have the Pro mini 328 5V 16mHz and It does the slower to faster LED blinking routine as well. I downloaded the newest arduino software (0016 I think) but it has the arduino pro 328 and 168 at 3.3V 8mHz boards but not the 5V 16mHz versions. I tried changing the "board = Arduino Duemilanove 328", I attempted changing the baud rate (not sure if Im doing that entirely right) and I checked my header to the FTDI 5V breakout and still nothing is working. the bottom of the screen says "avrdude error bla bla not in sync bla bla". If anyone knows how I can fix this it would be much appreciated.
Hate to bump this old thread, but I just bought a Sparkfun 5v/16MHz pro mini and I can't program it with my FTDI cable no matter what I try. I'm using arduino 18 on linux and I know my FTDI cable works because I can program Boarduinos. I've tried selecting every board, I have verified that my RTI pins are connected together, and I basically am out of ideas. The board does the increasing LED flash code when I plug it in. Is this problem STILL out there? Is it a bug or what?
I found out that if I press the reset button on the Pro Mini at the exact moment after the Arduino window says "Binary sketch size...." then the sketch will upload. Clearly there is some kind of auto-reset functionality that doesn't work with the ladyada FTDI cable and the Sparkfun Arduino Pro Mini. I've been able to hit the reset button at the right time several times, but it's going to be hard to do when I get it installed in my project. Does anyone know if there's a way to restore proper auto-reset functionality when using the ladyada FTDI cable?
I think the key is that the "older" generation came with a old bootloader with a specific signature, but the new ones come with another signature that match the Duemillanove 328.