Issue with Programmer

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
I received this yesterday and put it all together and now when trying to program a chip I'm having issues. Things that I know:

- I have it wired correctly
- The on-board power has 5V between the VCC and GND
- All Solder Joints appear to be good
- Using Windows 7 64bit
- Chip: ATmega328p

The issues (the same regardless of 10 pin or 6 pin)
- When connected using the on-board power i get the following:

avrdude: error: usbtiny_transmit: usb_control_msg: sending control message failed, win error: The I/O operation has been aborted because of either a thread exit or an application request.

avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override this check.

avrdude: error: usbtiny_transmit: usb_control_msg: sending control message failed, win error: The system cannot find the file specified.

avrdude done. Thank you.

- When using battery power it detects the chip correctly and uploaded the program but I alway get verification issues

I have read many forum posts and it seems that I may have a bad unit (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=26881&p=137853&hilit=verification+error#p137853).

Top of Board


Bottom of Board


Suggestions?

--James

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
Well we are getting somewhere now but still have 1 issue I can't resolve. I can now offically program the chip successfully (helps to have a program for the correct chip). The problem is I can only program the chip using 2AA batterys and can't use usbTiny on-board power. I remove the battery leads, put the jumper on, power up the unit. When I try to program the unit I get no red light and the green light blinks. Thoughts?

--James

[adafruit_support_bill]

From the solder-side photo, it looks as if you have a few solder joints that did not flow well onto the solder pad. Check here for examples & remedies: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/common-problems

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
Which point could cause this issue with the on-board power? as the rest of the unit is working now.

--James

[qbvbsite]

I re-soldered all the problem joints and i'm still seeing the same issue. Also to note about 1 in 15 time the program will fail verification.

--James

[adafruit_support_bill]

What exactly are you trying to program? The circuit may need more power than can be provided by the USBTinyISP .

Also to note about 1 in 15 time the program will fail verification.

Verification failures can occur for many reasons. It sounds like it succeeds most of the time, so the USBTinyISP itself is likely not the problem.

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
I'm trying to program a ATMega328p which accepts 1.5v-5.5v.... Like I said it works with 2AA but not the onboard power.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Check the soldering on the 6-pin ICSP connector. The pin closest to the power jumper is VCC. (You can follow the trace on the bottom of the board).

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
I have checked the soldering on both the 6 pin and 10 pin connector and followed it back and check any other connections related to them. they are all connected correctly.

--James

[adafruit_support_bill]

Then the problem is likely in your circuit. Check that the VCC from the ICSP is properly powering the chip.

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
Well i just checked the voltage coming off the VCC and GND and it seem to be 10V and not 5v... what would cause this?

--James

[qbvbsite]

I have even tried changing the USB port on my computer and still no change. is it possible that its a bad chip? or something? I really don't want to use batteries every time I want to program my chip.

--James

[adafruit_support_bill]

The only way it could be 10v is if your USB port is putting out 10v. If that were the case, it probably would have fried the USBTiny by now. Check your meter against a known voltage and measure again.

[qbvbsite]

nm about the 10v... i'm dumb an had the MM set to AC... its 5v coming out. seeing that we do have power what could be the issue of it not working? the battery pack that does work is 2.4 V...

[qbvbsite]

Hey,
well we are getting somewhere now... I applied a voltage divider to produce 3.3V and now its seeing a chip but it is still having some issues (this happens on batteries as well just not as often):

- fuses randomly change
- device signature is random
- validation error almost every result

This proves my solder is good as the device sort works... but why would I see these issues?

--James