Hello,
I ordered 2 SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic boards and one of them I can upload sketches to and the other I cannot (Order #5886678). The error I get for the board that is not working is:
Arduino: 1.8.10 (Windows 10), Board: “Arduino Uno”
Sketch uses 924 bytes (2%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32256 bytes.
Global variables use 9 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2039 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
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_recv(): programmer is not responding
the selected serial port avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
does not exist or your board is not connected
If you try programming a sketch does the sketch work with an error code still showing?
Do you still get the error code if you try other USB cables?
I have a new RedBoard also and I’m having trouble with the upload from Arduino. One out of maybe 5 times, if that frequent, the sketch will upload without a problem. Most times, avrdude gives error messages. most times the sketch runs on the board but sometimes not. Most uploads report failure. Just pressing Upload in Arduino again often will make the sketch upload and run, even with the errors reported. But, not always. This is not happening with my Arduino Uno or Metro boards. Only with the new RedBoard. I’m wondering if it’s a timing problem, or maybe a problem with the boot loader. The only thing attached to the RedBoard is a QWIIC LED switch. My Arduino setup is working fine for other Arduino boards.
That’s odd.
The times that you get errors, does the it appear the sketch actually made it to the board and is running? I know the USB to serial chip we use on this board sometimes will generate an error even though the upload worked OK.
Many times when an error is reported in the upload, the sketch appears to run, but that’s not always the case. Repeated uploads with no changes seem to report the same errors, but sometimes the sketch runs and sometimes it takes more than one try for the sketch to make it and run. Very hit and miss.
One thing I found strange is these errors don’t seem to show up when programming the same Arduino project from Atmel Studio 7 with the Arduino plugin. Never shows an error or fails from there. But fails at least 80% of the time from the Arduino IDE. Never a problem with other Arduino boards either, in either IDE.
Would running the serial port slower help? Not sure how to configure that. I also occasionally get garbage characters using the serial monitor in the middle of a data stream. this again leads me to wonder about a timing issue at the chip level decoding the serial stream. I don’t know what speed the programming happens at, but I run the serial monitor at 115,200.
It sounds like a timing issue where one boards CH340 chip is slightly faster or slower than Arduino is expecting.
You can’t change the speed that Arduino programs at, that’s fixed into the bootloader and can’t be changed. (Not without a lot of work anyway.)
I’ll PM you with a possible solution. 
To get started, all you need is a few things:
SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic - You’ll definitely need this; otherwise, you might be on the wrong tutorial (wink-wink).
USB micro-B Cable - 6 Foot - The USB interface serves two purposes: it powers the board and allows you to upload programs to it.
Computer with the Arduino IDE installed on it - That is how we will program the board and interface with it.