Can't upload sketch to PapaSoundie

Sensors Sound & Audio
1

Hey all,

I’m brand new with this, so bear with me. I’m trying to create an audio player that would immediately start an audio file at powerup, and loop the file indefinitely.

I’ve got my PapaSoundie and my FTDI board working together, and both have power. They are recognized by the Arduino software.

When I go to Tools>Get Board Info, I get the following response:

BN: Unknown board
VID: 0403
PID: 6001
SN: Upload any sketch to obtain it

When I try to upload the example sketch from the PapaSoundie page, I get the following:

Sketch uses 2724 bytes (8%) of program storage space. Maximum is 30720 bytes.
Global variables use 212 bytes (10%) of dynamic memory, leaving 1836 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00

It runs through 10 attempts and fails out. I’ve read online to try unplugging everything and plugging it back in which I’ve done to no avail. I’ve rebooted the computer and I’ve tried a different USB cable, but neither of those options have worked either.

I know the USB connection is functioning, because I can see the FTDI on my iMac’s System Information>USB device manager (plus the PapaSoundie red LEDs are lighting up that say “VLSI RDY” and “RDY” from USB bus power).

I can see that I have power to the board from the USB cable plugged in, but do I also need to supply 3.3v from a walwart power supply? I can’t imagine I do, because I can see the board is getting power via the LEDs being lit, but maybe I’m wrong? If that’s the case, would a 3.3v/1amp center positive power supply suffice? And would it connect to the GND and VIN through holes at the top right of the board (upper right from where the board says “PapaSoundie”?

I know I’m choosing the right port because if I choose the only other USBSerial Port, when I click “Get Board Info” it returns an error. Additionally, the FTDI serial number matches the port that is selected, and it’s the only port that has that serial number in its name.

I’ve also gone down the list and chosen every programmer option to see if a different programmer would work, but the only two that don’t error out immediately are AVRISP and AVRISP mkII.

Not totally sure where to go from here, but once I get this sorted out, I’ll probably be buying and putting together like 50 of these, so it would be huge for me to be able to resolve this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dan

2

Additional testing info:

If I have just the USB cable plugged in from the computer to the FTDI, the FTDI RX and TX LEDs light up for a quick blip as I plug in. The PapaSoundie’s two red RDY and VLSI RDY LEDs stay lit.

As I try to upload the sketch, the TX light on the FTDI intermittently blinks and the PapaSoundie’s two red LEDs stay lit.

If I have the 3.3v wall-wart plugged in, it doesn’t seem to make any difference to the sketch being uploaded.

If I don’t have the USB cable plugged in and instead just use the 3.3v wall-wart, I get the FTDI LED blip, then the two red LEDs lit on the PapaSoundie.

3

When using the USB slot for power the board is prepped for mass storage/file transfer - try powering the soundie using the barrel jack, then connect the usb cable and see if that (or the opposite, usb then barrel-jack) changes the state of things

Also be sure to select "Board: Arduino Pro or Pro Mini

Processor: ATmega328P (3.3V, 8 MHz)" where applicable, and update to the latest firmware here http://www.vlsi.fi/en/support/software/vside.html and check back if it’s still giving issues!

PS: is an SD card present?

4

Hi Dan.

Can you provide some photos showing how you have things connected? Also, where are you connecting power from your barrel jack power supply?

5

TS-Russell:
When using the USB slot for power the board is prepped for mass storage/file transfer - try powering the soundie using the barrel jack, then connect the usb cable and see if that (or the opposite, usb then barrel-jack) changes the state of things

Also be sure to select "Board: Arduino Pro or Pro Mini

Processor: ATmega328P (3.3V, 8 MHz)" where applicable, and update to the latest firmware here http://www.vlsi.fi/en/support/software/vside.html and check back if it’s still giving issues!

PS: is an SD card present?

I tried both the suggestions (USB first, then barrel jack… then barrel jack first, then USB), but had the same results both ways with the sync error.

I double checked that I do have the appropriate items selected as you noted.

I tried both with and without an SD card present.

I used the VSIDE link you provided to install VSIDE to my Windows VM and I was able to get that fired up. I downloaded the software package with the latest firmware but I can’t figure out how I apply it to the V1000D. It says to decompress the source code into my Solutions directory, but I can’t seem to track down a directory by that name. It says to program the module with the Prommer/Flasher utility, which again, I’m not sure where I might find that.

I guess I made the faulty assumption that the steps for doing this would be as simple as connecting over the Arduino software, applying a sketch that said to play the track on power up and loop it, and that would be that.

6

TS-Chris:
Hi Dan.

Can you provide some photos showing how you have things connected? Also, where are you connecting power from your barrel jack power supply?

Not really much to show here. There are only two items connected (a barrel jack and the FTDI).

Barrel jack is fed from VIN and GND on the top right of the PapaSoundie board. When power is connected to the barrel jack I get power at the board (RDY led lights up), so I think we’re good there.

The FTDI is connected via pin headers soldered onto the PapaSoundie. I can see the board over USB and I get power when only the USB cable is connected, so I think we’re good there as well. The soldering work is clean and there are no bridged pads.

That’s all of the connections on the board.

7

Go ahead and fill out this form https://www.sparkfun.com/returns and we’ll ship a replacement out ASAP

8

Hi Russell, here’s some additional info in the hopes you can steer me in the right direction.

  1. I don’t believe it’s the PapaSoundie unit. I purchased 3 of them, and all 3 have this issue.

  2. I only purchased a single FTDI unit, so is it possible that this is caused by that unit? In which case, I’d be happy to send it back for replacement.

  3. Is it possible that this is all software related, and I don’t have the correct drivers/environmental stuff installed? If so, is there some form of support I can go through to confirm what exactly I would need in my environment (Mac OSX 10.15.7 and a Windows 10 VM)?

  4. I’ve tested on both a Macbook Pro and an iMac and receive the same issue on both. I’ve been able to successfully upload sketches to an Arduino Mega without issues from the Macbook Pro, so it seems like something specific with this PapaSoundie/FTDI environment.

  5. Am I even looking at the right solution here? My goal is an audio device that I could turn on and have it immediately start playing a single track on a loop indefinitely. The PapaSoundie seems like the right choice for this, but maybe you have something else I could try that is reasonable priced?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Dan Bieranowski

9

A quick test to see if the FTDI serial port is working is to disconnect it from your circuit and use a jumper to connect TX and RX on the FTDI board. Then connect to it with a terminal program (baud rate isn’t important) and see if it will echo back what you type. If it doesn’t, the issue is with the FTDI board or drivers.

/mike

10

I can do the first part of that (disconnect it from the PapaSoundie and jump to connect TX and RX on the FTDI board, but I wouldn’t know how to connect to it with a terminal program or determine if it is echoing back what I type. It seems like I’m just out of my depth here, and what I thought would be an easy project has proven to be much more difficult. It seems that the MP3 Trigger will be a better fit for what I need (although it is pricier). The barrier of entry seems lower, and it still does all the things I need. I’m going to give that a shot.