RedBoard Quiic failing to upload due to "programmer not responding"

Development Boards Arduino
1

I received a RedBoard Quiic that my father had and wasn’t using. When I try uploading a sketch I would get a sync error. I tested the sketch and USB cable with a RedBoard I already had and that worked fine. I also tried a second USB cable with same problem.

I tried reloading the boot loader and that seemed to go fine. Programmed it as an Arduino UNO. I also reinstalled the CH340C driver.

The board shows up as COM10 when I plug it in. Since reloading the boot loader, I now get

Error: programmer is not responding
Error: programmer is not responding
*** failed
Error: unable to write flash (rc = -1)
Error: programmer is not responding

as the error message. Any more thoughts? Feel like I’ve been through all the initial troubleshooting (cable, port, boot loader).

Thanks,

Bryan

2

Is your working Redboard a regular non-qwiic version? If so, it uses a different driver (FTDI) and I’d suspect them being the issue…I’d wipe the old ones and use the CH341 file here https://www.wch.cn/products/CH340.html that supercedes/is inclusive of the CH340c

Also try reducing the baud rate to see if anything changes

Which bootloader & method did you use?

3

Yes, the working board is a non-Quiic RedBoard. For most of my work I have a mix of RedBoards and other third-party Arduino clones.

For reflashing the bootloader, I following this tutorial: Installing an Arduino Bootloader - SparkFun Learn using one of the non-SparkFun Uno boards I have. Process seemed to go fine.

I’ll try wiping out and reloading the CH340 driver and see if that helps. Thanks

4

I finally had a chance to reinstall the CH340 driver. Same problem.

The installer said it was version 09/16/2024, 3.9.2024.09.

I retested and the non-Quiic RedBoard uploaded fine.

5

To be sure: A regular reinstall usually doesn’t work; did you do the ‘uninstall’ step?

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6

I did uninstall, then the install. Is there a way in Windows to see if the correct version is installed?

7

To check the installed driver version in Windows:

  1. Open Device Manager
  2. Expand Ports (COM & LPT).
  3. Right-click USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM10) → Properties → Driver tab.
  4. Info shows Driver Provider, Date, and Version - which should match what the installer reported, unfortunately lol

I’m now wondering if the PC might have a duplicate driver that windows update installed at some point or something…you can check this by opening a command prompt (as Admin) and typing

pnputil /enum-drivers
this should list every CH340 driver package still in the Windows driver store if you want to rule that out

When attempting to burn the bootloader:

  1. Watch the RX/TX LEDs during an upload attempt If TX blinks (host sending) but RX never blinks at all, the board isn’t receiving/responding…this points to its auto-reset not firing (so probably not a baud/driver issue, if’n)
  2. Try a manual reset click Upload, and physically tap the board’s reset button right when the IDE status bar says “Uploading…” This should bypass the auto-reset (DTR/cap) path. If that suddenly makes it work, the auto-reset circuit is the problem
  3. Verify the bootloader & burn settings Double-check the correct board (“Arduino Uno”) was selected as the target in the IDE before attempting “Burn Bootloader” (not programmer)

If you’re comfortable with avrdude you can also try running it directly with verbose mode on, but I’d do the above stuff first

8

I’ve tried all three with no improvement.

  1. during an upload I see three or four flashes of pin 13 LED then one of TX followed by occasional flicker (short and weak) of RX. The RX flicker is associated with error messages of “programmer is not responding” in the Arduino IDE.
  2. No change in behavior when I trigger the reset.
  3. I verified and tried again. This time I did notice that pin 13 LED flashes a few times but nothing is happening with the TX/RX lights on the target board (TX/RX flash several times on the programmer board). I took a video if that might be helpful but I think I described everything.

I’m happy to try using avrdude, and I used to do command line compiling back in my programming days, but I would appreciate a link to a tutorial since I’ve never used it.

Bryan

9

Was it purchased from us? If so head over to Return Policy - SparkFun Electronics (contact vendor if purchased elsewhere) and we’ll get ya squared away