For this question I'm trying to connect a Kuman Uno R3 to Windows 11. If it is not appropriate to post on this Arduino forum please advise. I don't want to be inconsiderate.
I’m using several of the Uno R3 boards for my project because I need the solder holes after I install a display shield. First board works great.
With Windows 11:
Second and third boards fail to upload the sketch, giving errors:
avrdude: stk500_paged_load(): (a) protocol error, expect=0x10, resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_cmd(): programmer is out of sync
avr_read(): error reading address 0x0000
read operation not supported for memory "flash"
avrdude: failed to read all of flash memory, rc=-2
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x00
Installed new serial driver just in case.
Uno from Arduino uploads fine.
I tried the loopback test from the Arduino site (reset to gnd, Tx to Rx). Does not echo the serial port.
One time out of ten the sketch uploaded. Cannot get it to upload again.
On the time it did upload, it did not execute with the Adafruit paperwhite shield when powered by the USB connector. It ran perfectly when powered from the same source through the barrel connector.
Please tell us which USB to serial adapter chip your Arduino board has. This is a black chip near the USB socket.
The chip will usually be identified by writing on the top. This might say something like "Atmel MEGA16U2" or "WCH CH340G" or "SILABS CP2102" or "FTDI FT232RL".
If it isn't clear, alternatively you can provide the link to where you bought the board from and we'll see if we can determine the chip from the product listing.
Kuman UNO R3 Board ATmega328P with USB Cable for Arduino - Compatible With Arduino UNO R3 Mega 2560 Nano Robot for Arduino IDE AVR MCU Learner K53, Blue
OK, that is clear. The reason I asked this is because the loopback test is not valid on Arduino boards that use this WCH CH340 chip. The test will always fail even when done on a perfect board. So don't place any significance on the fact that the test failed. The CH340 might be perfect, or it might be defective. The test doesn't tell us either way.
Your intermittent results make me suspect the problem could be with your USB cable.
Make sure the USB cable is completely plugged into both the Arduino board and the PC.
If that doesn't help, you may have a damaged USB cable. Try a different cable.
Either of the above can result in the power connections being made (and thus LED lights on the board), but no data connections (and thus no port for the board).
If you have any external wiring, shields (including that display shield), circuitry, modules, etc. connected to your Uno board, disconnect them from the Uno board and try uploading to the Uno board by itself. If the upload starts working reliably, then you will know that the problem is caused by whatever circuitry you had connected before.
No worries. We always encourage people to find some way to contribute to the Arduino project, but we are happy to help everyone out no matter what hardware they are using.
Thank you. Had that idea. I took a brand new, unopened unit, with nothing added, plugged in the USB and got that error, straight out of the box.
Since writing this morning I've gone back at random times to upload. I've been successful three times out of about 12 tries.
Then when I'm successful, as I posted earlier, the project does not run when powered through USB. Runs fine through the barrel connector with 5v. Perhaps the voltage regulator (barrel connector) allows more current that the USB, and possibly the Adafruit "paperwhite" shield draws too much current for the USB to power.
At this point the project is running but it is difficult to debug since it won't execute when plugged into USB. It's also hit and miss as to whether any particular time the upload will complete.
Thank you for suggestions. This is all avoided with a "real" Arduino UNO but I need the solder holes to connect a LoRa radio because the Adafruit shield covers all the pins.
Tried brand new, shorter, USB cable. Same hit or miss on upload.
BUT: --
I tried uploading five different sketches doing other tasks, from other projects, and none failed to upload. Is it possible to have some condition in a sketch (too much memory used, something else) which would affect upload. Since the error references "flash" I'm wondering about a memory issue.
This should be my last update unless someone has more suggestions.
Reading other threads, I decided to plug the USB cable directly into my desktop computer. It had been connected to a USB hub for the duration of the project development. This never affected the "read" Arduino UNOs, but seems to be an issue with the Kuman version. Plugged directly into the desktop I've upload three times in succession with no failure.
Of course I have no idea if this is causation or coincidence.
Nothing that I know of. The configuration of the Uno board makes it very resilient to any possibility of the sketch code breaking the uploads. The only way you could do something to the flash is by uploading to the board 10000 or more times (the flash memory has a rated maximum write cycle lifetime). But by that time you would probably not mind so much retiring that board!
Great news! Thanks for taking the time to post an update with your solution.
