Menta with FTDI Friend

[asgard]

I recently constructed a Menta board, which worked (for a while). For some reason, recently, the FTDI friend seems to not like to talk to the Menta board, even though I know the bootloader is functioning (the LED is doing its blinky thing). I did have a custom shield connected while I was programming the MCU, so I was wondering if anybody else have observed the Menta appearing to be (mostly) bricked because of a bunch of LED's drawing power from the shield connectors while the FTDI friend is trying to talk. Maybe it is the FTDI friend that is bricked. The avrdude error code is the infamous 500 code (not in sync). Is there a maximum current draw while downloading the sketch which does something (wonderful/unexpected) with the fuses etc? Is the situation recoverable or do I start from scratch?

J.R.

[adafruit_support_bill]

How many leds and how do you have them connected? Do you have current limiting resistors on leds driven from Menta pins?

If you post clear photos of your setup it will give us a better idea of where the problem might be.

[asgard]

Well, here is the schematic of the shield, fyi:

[img]<img%20src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8482/8231097104_64a199c082.jpg">[/img]

And here is what the board looks like:

[img]<img%20src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8230033759_1493be348e.jpg">[/img]

[asgard]

Probably bad form to follow up my own post, but it is what it is. The transistors are 2N3904's.

J.R.

[adafruit_support_bill]

You are driving leds with the Rx/Tx pins (D0/D1). These are the pins used by FTDI for communication.

[asgard]

Fair enough, I suppose. The FTDI Friend is no longer talking to the Menta now, even with the custom shield removed.

J.R.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Do you see any led activity during the upload attempt?
Double-check your board-type and COM port selections (should be Duemilanove w/328)