rubinoae, you are a god!
I followed your post, as I had the same issues, meaningless error and a 3.3v pro mini that won’t take any code!
I think that this wants pinning and / or a health warning given out with the mini pro boards.
Yours Simon M.
Hi,
is there any reason that would prevent me from trying to burn a new bootloader following exactly the steps of the 1st post on a Seeeduino Film?
I also use a 3.3V FTDI breakout from Sparkfun and have tried more or less what rubinoae had tried. The FTDI loopback test works fine in my case, too.
Is Seeeduino using a different bootloader maybe? Or does the ArduinoISP sketch need any modification before uploading it to an Arduino Uno?
Any ideas?
rubinoae:
SOLVED (skip down to the solution toward the bottom if you are in a hurry)I originally asked for help in this post:viewtopic.php?f=32&t=27105 but thought I should post my own solution since I was having a slightly different problem and what worked for those individuals did not work for me.
Symptoms:
When trying to upload a sketch, any sketch, to an Arduino Pro Mini 3.3v using an FTDI Breakout Board 3.3v I received the following errors from the IDE:
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp 0x00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect 0x14, resp 0x51
When connected to the FTDI board which was in turn connected to the computer via USB I would get eight blinks from the LED by pin 10 and the red LED would remain illuminated. I clicked upload on the IDE the Arduino Pro Mini would reset, LED by pin 10 would blink a couple times, then TX red LED on FTDI board would flash three times. The result would always be these errors.
Let me first describe what I was using and what I tried:
Hardware and Software:
- Arduino Pro Mini 3.3v w/ATmega328 (I actually have two of these and BOTH were failing) - FTDI Breakout Board 3.3v - Arduino Uno (not part of the original problem but used in the solution. I never had any issues uploading sketches to the Uno at any time) - Appropriate USB cables - Arduino IDE v0022 - FTDI VCP Drivers v2.08.14 - Windows 7 64-bit If you are like me then unfortunately you have spent about three weeks and countless hours sifting through forum posts on Sparkfun.com and Arduino.cc trying every possible solution to resolve this error. I tried all of the solutions listed below and many others, NONE resolved the problem:
- checking and rechecking, soldering and resoldering headers on the Arduino Pro Mini to ensure there isn't a faulty connection (according to most other posts this resolved most instances of these errors) - buying new USB cables - replacing the FTDI board (Since i never had issues uploading sketches to my Uno and both - considering replacing the Arduino Pro Mini - wired the FTDI to the Arduino without using the programming headers - checked, rechecked, and triple checked port and board setting in the Aduino IDE - tried different reset timing and sequences - uninistalled and reinstalled all drivers and IDE - changed port settings, numbers, baud rate, etc - turned off my firewall I quickly started to believe the problem was with my FTDI board, PC, or settings so I used the tests below to elliminate those variables.
FTDI loopback test:
- You can verify proper operation of the FTDI board by putting a jumper on the TX and RX pins - then connecting the FTDI via USB to you computer. - Then run the Arduino IDE and open the Serial Monitor. - Enter a character in the input textbox and click "send". If the FTDI board is working and drivers and settings are correct you should see your input echoed in the textbox below. Program another Arduino using the FTDI board:
So I happen to have an Arduino Uno handy and this really saved my behind. Since I never had any issues uploading sketches to the Uno at any point during this headache Sparkfun tech support suggested I attempt to upload a sketch to the Uno using my FTDI board. I was hesitant at first thinking the Uno required 5v and the FTDI board that I had only supplied 3.3v. To my surprise, it worked!
- You only really need to connect the RX, TX, VCC, and GND for the communication to work and this is how I did it: FTDI ----Arduino Uno
RX-------TX (pin 1)
TX-------RX (pin 0)
3v3------3.3V
GND-----GND
- connect the FTDI via USB to my computer - open the Arduino IDE and selected the correct COM port and Board (Uno in this case). - This next step is important because I did not connect the RESET between the FTDI and Uno. When I clicked on upload i watched the FTDI board intently, when the TX LED (the red one and may be rather dim) flashed the first time I pressed the RESET button on the Uno. - If all goes well you should successfully upload the sketch to the Uno. Both of the above tests proved my FTDI hardware, drivers, and settings were correct. That pretty much left me with the possibility of two faulty Arduino Pro Minis. Since the LED activity on the Arduino Pro Minis appeared to indicate the hardware was functioning correctly I turned toward troubleshooting the bootloader.
SOLUTION Reinstall the Arduino Pro Mini Bootloader using my Arduino Uno as an ISP Programmer!
To resolve the errors I burned the bootloader to the Arduino Pro Minis using my functioning Arduino Uno as an ISP. For the most part I followed the instructions here: http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/247 adhering to Option 1 but using the Arduino IDE to burn the bootloader. Here is what I did step by step:
Connect the Arduino Uno via USB to the PC
Open the Arduino IDE
Select the correct COM port and board (Arduino Uno)
Open the ArduinoISP sketch (File>Examples>ArduinoISP)
Upload the sketch. once complete your Arduino Uno is now programmed to be an ISP programmer. This is great because I really didn’t want to buy a seperate programmer.
Power the Uno off and wire the Uno to the Arduino Pro Mini in the following fashion:
Uno---------------Pro Mini
3.3v-----------------------VCC
GND------------------------GND
Digital Pin 11(MOSI)----pin 11 (MOSI)
Digital Pin 12(MISO)----pin 12 (MISO)
Digital Pin 13(SCK)-----pin 13 (SCK)
Digital Pin 10----------RST
Power on the Uno
Select the correct COM port
IMPORTANT: Select board Arduino Pro Mini 3.3v w/ATmega328 as the board we are uploading to
10.from the Tools menu, select Burn Bootloader > w/Aduino as ISP
This was a magical moment for me. All kinds of LEDS were blinking and flashing. After a few seconds the IDE said: Done burning bootloader, thank you. If this is also your result you have successfully reinstalled the bootloader on you Arduino Pro Mini. Next, connect the FTDI board to the Arduino Pro Mini and attempt to upload a sketch. I was so excited that this worked I let my wife sucker me into going to the arts and crafts store so she could buy some new sewing thread. Don’t fall for this. Every sketch I have uploaded to my Arduino Pro Minis has been successful form this point on. The end.
Why do you have to reprogram an Arduino Uno- to program the Arduino Pro Mini?
Wy can you not program the mini using the Arduino IDE?
cappy:
Why do you have to reprogram an Arduino Uno- to program the Arduino Pro Mini?Wy can you not program the mini using the Arduino IDE?
You would use the Arduino IDE to upload sketches to the arduino but my problem was with the bootloader. In order to reinstall the bootloader you have to have an ISP programmer. You can use the Arduino Uno as an ISP programmer using the ISP sketch and wiring it up correctly to the Arduino that needs the new bootloader.
You can use the Arduino Uno as an ISP programmer using the ISP sketch and wiring it up correctly to the Arduino that needs the new bootloader.
Can I also use a Duemilanove (328) as an ISP programmer, as long as it is connected correctly to the target board?
In my case, I need to re-bootload a few target 328s to run at 8Mhz.
Using your steps above, I’m trying to find out if I can do this…
-
Configure a Duemilanove (328) as an ISP programmer.
-
Wire up a Duemilanove (328) to a Diecimilia, with the target 328 in place of the original 168
-
Rebootload the target 328 on the Diecimilia board with a new bootloader so that it will run @ 3.3V & 8Mhz.
Can I also use a Duemilanove (328) as an ISP programmer
I’m almost positive you can. Follow the link to the ISP tutorial and be mindful of the different pins.
rubinoae:
Can I also use a Duemilanove (328) as an ISP programmer
I’m almost positive you can. Follow the link to the ISP tutorial and be mindful of the different pins.
I’ve looked at the schematic for the Duemilanove board as well as the Diecemilia board.
The ISP connector pinout is the same for both.
I’ve tried the board-board bootloader update, it didn’t work.
So I moved the target 328P to a breadboard, and wired it up using this reference
http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard
I get the same error as when I tried the board-board method
“avrdudude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x15”
Apparently, the Duemilanove isn’t able to talk to the target 328P chip.
(or at least that’s what my impression of what the error message means. I’m able
to download the ISP sketch to the Duemilanove)
I’ve verified my wiring several times.
I could use some help at this point.
I’m a little surprised to hear that…although I’m certainly not the subject matter expert. Did you work through the tutorial on arduino’s site?
I believe the issue here is the auto-reset doesn’t always work properly when you’re using an Arduino as an ISP.
I’m using a seeeduino which lets me switch off the auto-reset. When I did that, my 0x15 error went away.
[Now I have other problems… ]
Hi
Just found this board for exactly the question originally asked. I checked my FTDI loopback: fine.
I’d also seen a comment that some bootloaders don’t wait very long at all for you to start upload, so I tried this:
Press and hold the Arduino reset button
Start the compile/download
When the Adruino loader reports “Binary sketch size: xxxx bytes (of a xxxxx byte maximum)”, release the reset button.
Worked for me
Thankyou so much for this
I spent ages reinstalling the FTDI drivers and going mad until I found this,
I originally had a 3.3v 8MHz pro mini that had worked well , I then got 3 more (clones) that did not, only when I retried the working one did I realise that all 3 new ones were bad :(.
After updating the bootloader using an arduino uno with the ardino as isp method as described here , I was able to fix all 3 easily.
Now I have the pro mini’s all working with the latest FTDI driver (CDM_v2.12.00_WHQL_Certified) and can upload using arduino 1.6.4 IDE, on Windows 7 x64,
The clones had never been used except when try to upload for the first time, so I am sure I did not inadvertently set it to the wrong loader etc. My guess is that thy were possibly created with the wrong one (the 16Mhz 5v possibly ?).
So I guess the moral is don’t buy the cheap clones unless you have a lot of spare time to track down these sort of issues.
Sounds like the clones didn’t have a bootloader which tells you they were never tested. You got lucky that they worked at all.