Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

USB AVR Programmer and SPI interface. Adafruit's USBtinyISP.

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WANG48188
 
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Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

I am a new Gemma user having the following system:
- 32-bit Win7 and XP in laptops
- Gemma with Arduino v1.0.3 software
- USBtinyISP is installed

Issues:
(1) Gemma's red LED kept blinking
(2) PC's Device Manager kept sensing new hardware device, even after the Gemma show up as an USBtinyISP AVR Programmer
(3) Arduino v1.0.3 failed to upload the code "Blink", and had the following error messages:
- Could not find USBtiny device (0x1781/0xc9f), or
- Got a lot of red text, errors and also a warning about Verification Failed

I pushed the reset PB before uploading the code and followed the instruction to change the avrdude.conf file in the hardware/tools/avr/etc folder.

Please help...

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The Gemma will only appear as a USBTinyISP while the bootloader is running. If the upload doesn't start in time, the bootloader will stop and the device will disappear from the Device Manager.

When you upload a sketch, it compiles it first before starting the upload. To make sure that the bootloader is running when the upload starts, hold the reset button down until just before the upload starts. It may take a few tries to get the timing right.

WANG48188
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

support_bill,

Thanks for the quick reply. I followed your instruction to push the reset PB right before upload started. The following the error message reported by Arduino software. I double checked the new avrdude.conf for Gemma, downloaded from Adafruit website, is in "C:\Program Files\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr\etc".

************** Error Message reported by Arduino software **************************
...
... (lots of red text)
(expected 4, got -5)

avrdude: error: usbtiny_receive: usb_control_msg: sending control message failed, win error: The device does not recognize the command.

(expected 4, got -5)
avrdude: verification error, first mismatch at byte 0x0000
0x22 != 0x00
avrdude: verification error; content mismatch

avrdude: error: usbtiny_transmit: usb_control_msg: sending control message failed, win error: The device does not recognize the command.
***********************************************************************************************************

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

(expected 4, got -5)
That error is usually due to a problem with avrdude.conf. Are you sure you changed it? If you have more than one version of the IDE installed, make sure you changed it in the right one.

Another possibility is to try the direct AVRDude approach:
http://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-t ... th-avrdude

WANG48188
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 8:49 pm

Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

Hi support_bill,

I removed the existing Arduino software and installed a new copy of v1.0.5 software using Windows's program installer. Therefore, I am sure that the avrdude.conf is in the directory "C:\Program Files\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr\etc\".

I followed the website's instructions using the command line "avrdude -v", and got a DOS error message in the attachment: "avrdude is not a recognized internal or external command"

I can feel I am getting closer to the problem.

Thanks for your help.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

"avrdude is not a recognized internal or external command"
If you don't have the avrdude install directory in your environment search path you will get that error. You can either edit your environment variables, or navigate to the avrdude folder before issuing the command.

WANG48188
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

hi support_bill,

After switching to the directory "C:\Adafruit_Arduino\hardware\tools\avr\etc', I got the same DOS error message: avrdude could not be recognized as a command (see the attachment).
Attachments
AVRdude_Error_Message.jpg
AVRdude_Error_Message.jpg (71.06 KiB) Viewed 1279 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

You need to run the .exe, not the .conf. The executable file is in: ... \hardware\tools\avr\bin

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phild13
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by phild13 »

Have you installed winAVR?
WinAVR (Windows) or Crosspack for AVR Development (Mac) software contains avrdude, which is needed! Installing WinAVR will install avrdude and add the correct path to the Windows Envirnonment Variables which enables avrdude use from the command prompt.

Your command window proves your path variable is not set or you have not installed avrdude.

WANG48188
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

support_bill and PhilD13,

I added the path to run the avrdude.exe and to access avrdude.conf, and got the attached response in the dos command line.

However, I still got error while uploading...


Mike
AVRdude_DOS_response.jpg
AVRdude_DOS_response.jpg (95.97 KiB) Viewed 1246 times
Upload_Error_MSG.jpg
Upload_Error_MSG.jpg (87.43 KiB) Viewed 1246 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

It is reporting the correct device signature for the ATTiny85, which is the processor in the Gemma. Try this command line:
avrdude -c usbtiny -p attiny85

WANG48188
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

support_bill,

I tried the command: avrdude -c usbtiny -p attiny85, and the dos responded "Device Signature = 0x1e930b, and Fuses OK".

The error message while uploading remained the same.
AVRdude_DOS_response.jpg
AVRdude_DOS_response.jpg (86.83 KiB) Viewed 1227 times
Upload_Error_MSG.jpg
Upload_Error_MSG.jpg (87.43 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

OK. Let's send you out a new one. Contact [email protected] with a link to this thread.

WANG48188
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by WANG48188 »

support_bill,

Thanks for your help. I have two Gemma's that were purchased at the same time not long ago, and they behave the same. One is as new, but the other one was applied solder to attach a NeoPixel ring.

May I de-solder the used Gemma and exchange both Gemma's for new ones?

Thanks.


Mike

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Gemma's red LED keeps blinking

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Hmmm - If you are seeing the same issue with two of them, a replacement may not help. Take a look through this thread to see if there is anything you haven't tried yet. http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=45541

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