Strange inputs when reading data over serial communication with ATTiny85

dan1994 · September 8, 2020, 5:01pm

I'm trying to get 2 way serial communication working over ATTiny85.

My setup:
The ATtiny85 is connected through an UNO which is tri-stated (RESET connected to GND). The connections between the UNO and ATTiny are VCC (5V), GND, TX to TX and RX to RX.
I'm using ATTinyCore, and its built-in Serial object.

I'm running the following code:

unsigned char *buffer = Serial._rx_buffer->buffer;
int *head = &Serial._rx_buffer->head;
int *tail = &Serial._rx_buffer->tail;

void setup() {
    Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {
    Serial.print(*head);
    Serial.print(",\t");
    Serial.print(*tail);
    Serial.print(",\t");
    for (size_t index = 0; index < SERIAL_BUFFER_SIZE; index++) {
        const size_t adjusted_index = (index + *tail) % SERIAL_BUFFER_SIZE;
        const unsigned int value = static_cast<unsigned int>(buffer[adjusted_index]);
        Serial.print(value);
        Serial.print("\t");
    }
    Serial.print(",\t");
    Serial.print(Serial.available());
    Serial.print(",\t");
    Serial.print(Serial.read());
    Serial.print("\n");
    delay(5000);
}

As can be seen, I'm inspecting the circular buffer used internally by the serial object. The circular buffer has the following structure:

struct soft_ring_buffer
{
  unsigned char buffer[SERIAL_BUFFER_SIZE];
  int head;
  int tail;
};

The tail points to the next byte to be read, while the head points after the last byte written. Both wrap around when reaching SERIAL_BUFFER_SIZE (32 in my case).

I've run the code and received the following output:

14,	1,	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	,	13,	248
14,	2,	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	,	12,	248
14,	3,	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	,	11,	168
14,	4,	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	,	10,	173
14,	5,	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	,	9,	22
14,	6,	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	,	8,	87
14,	7,	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	,	7,	229
14,	8,	206	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	,	6,	206
14,	9,	143	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	,	5,	143
14,	10,	184	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	,	4,	184
14,	11,	25	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	,	3,	25
14,	12,	215	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	,	2,	215
14,	13,	164	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	,	1,	164
14,	14,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	,	0,	-1
14,	14,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	,	0,	-1
17,	14,	152	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	,	3,	152 // Sent '0'
17,	15,	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	,	2,	67
17,	16,	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	,	1,	225
17,	17,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
17,	17,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
20,	17,	152	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	,	3,	152 // Sent '0'
20,	18,	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	,	2,	67
20,	19,	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	,	1,	225
20,	20,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
20,	20,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
23,	20,	152	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	3,	152 // Sent '0'
23,	21,	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	,	2,	67
23,	22,	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	,	1,	225
23,	23,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
23,	23,	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	0,	-1
26,	23,	153	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	,	3,	153 // Sent '1'
26,	24,	67	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	,	2,	67
26,	25,	225	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	,	1,	225
26,	26,	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	,	0,	-1
26,	26,	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	,	0,	-1
26,	26,	0	0	0	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	,	0,	-1
29,	26,	176	67	225	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	,	3,	176 // sent 'a'
29,	27,	67	225	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	176	,	2,	67
29,	28,	225	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	176	67	,	1,	225
29,	29,	0	0	0	240	248	248	168	173	22	87	229	206	143	184	25	215	164	152	67	225	152	67	225	152	67	225	153	67	225	176	67	225	,	0,	-1

Note the comments I added at the end of lines where I sent input.

To sum this up I see 2 strange behaviors:

The Serial is initialized with 14 bytes of data to be read which seem to be constant. Why is that? I'd expect it to have no data until someone actively writes to it. Might it be my serial monitor sending data when opening the channel?
Each time I send data I get 3 bytes which don't seem to correspond to the characters I've sent, and are not always consistent. From this example I got:
'0' -> 152, 67, 225
'1' -> 153, 67, 225
'a' -> 176, 67, 225

Let's assume I should just ignore the last 2 constant numbers. Even then, the first number is not an ascii representation, or even an offset one. How am I supposed to receive data reliably?

dan1994 · September 8, 2020, 5:27pm

I noticed another (probably) important detail:
The example output I showed above was captured through Visual Studio Code. I believe it uses the same serial monitor, but just to check I've tried to run it through the Arduino IDE and the output looked different.

Only 2 bytes were in the buffer (248, 248), and when writing, only 2 bytes were added at a time (e.g. '0' -> 152 225).

This is just baffling...

hzrnbgy · September 8, 2020, 6:27pm

TX to TX and RX to RX

Normally, in serial connections, TX from one device goes to RX of another device

dan1994 · September 9, 2020, 8:25pm

Yes, but in this case, the UNO is in reset so it's just passing the signals through.
I was able to compile a sketch that just prints and it works with TX to TX.
This is also the case here, as can be seen from the output I'm receiving.

groundFungus · September 10, 2020, 4:58am

I believe that the serial implementation in the tiny core is actually software serial and as such can not be expected to work, reliably, at more that 38400 baud.

dan1994 · September 11, 2020, 12:22pm

Thank you for your advice. I switched to 9600 and now get correct ASCII values.

My test still shows more than one byte written at a time (3 for VSCode and 2 for the Arduino IDE), but the first byte is the correct ASCII value, and the rest are constant (13, 10 for VSCode; 10 for Arduino IDE).

Also, readString() works correctly, so maybe it's responsible for dealing with the extra values.

Also, when using readString() I see that the first string printed is "��TestingOpen" in VScode which might explain the "junk bytes" I see when the connection is opened.

groundFungus · September 11, 2020, 2:14pm

My test still shows more than one byte written at a time (3 for VSCode and 2 for the Arduino IDE), but the first byte is the correct ASCII value, and the rest are constant (13, 10 for VSCode; 10 for Arduino IDE).

The ASCII code for line feed is 10 (0x0a) and the code for carriage return is 13 (ox0d). That is what you are seeing. I do not know VS but if you want to prevent those from being sent by serial monitor, turn off line endings.

system · May 6, 2021, 5:21pm