Support Forum Have had trouble since kit received!

Connected everything correctly, but lcd did not display the initial message; all that was visible was 1st and 3rd line that were darkened. Checked wiring B+ several times. I was never able to get unit to display the 1st meassage. Thought perhaps it lost this program, so tried to load the simple led_blink program. Still got error message!

Here is what it says:

avrdude -c avr109 -p m168 -b 115200 -P/COM6 -U flash:w:led_blink.hex:a

Connecting to programmer: . Found programmer: ID = "F ""; type = Software Version = . ; Hardware Version = . avrdude: error: buffered memory access not supported. Maybe it isn't a butterfly/AVR109 but a AVR910 device? make: ***[led_blink-upload] Error 1

Any suggestions on what the problem(s)may be? I have not been able to get ANYTHING to work with this kit 3-weeks.

Thanks

Your PC is not communicating with the bootloader on the chip. I think you need -P COM6 instead of -P/COM6 on the avrdude command line.

Dear Forum, Changed the com port as you suggested but got the same results. Disconnected Power supply from setup and still read 5 Volts +/- on Pins 7, 22 & 20 of MCU? Is this normal or is there something wrong with my MCU 168? Any other suggestions?

Disconnected Power supply from setup and still read 5 Volts +/- on Pins 7, 22 & 20 of MCU? Is this normal or is there something wrong with my MCU 168?

That is power from the yellow wire of the USB cable.

It is normal, sometimes it will hang-up the mcu in a zombie state. The remedy is to unplug your USB. Or put a switch (DPDT) on the yellow and green wire or better yet use Sask55's USB opto isolation circuit.

Ralph

If you have the same message then you still have a PC/ATmega communication problem. Could be caused by failed reset as Ralph said. It might be easier to install a switch to GND like Rick shows in this thread (scroll down a bit). http://www.nerdkits.com/forum/thread/320/ Then you reset after switching from run mode to program mode before you run make.

Otherwise probably there is a configuration problem with your comm port.

Thomas -

Can you post some pic's of your breadboard set up (see bottom of page for "how-to" details)? Make sure the pictures are from several angles so we can check the wiring. You still should have the original program on the chip since you did not erase anything as yet so getting the LCD to work should be step one. In the meantime, since you have a multimeter, check continuity for your connections. Also, make sure the switch connected to pin 14 is in the correct position (i.e. not program mode).

Finally got it--I am using the led_blink program. Some how I believe I got the Program sequence wrong (Do not really have programming experience).

1. Turn off Main Power Supply make USB plugged in computer.
2. Load Make file into Prog. Notepae and check Com # //mine was COM6
3. Bring up Command Promt window and "cd until you are at proper program file.
   //mine was--> led_blink
4. Set little black toggle to up--means PIN 14 connected to GND
5. type "make" into comnd Promt and press enter.
   Command Promt ---> "Connecting to Programmer"
6. Turn on Main Power Supply and see the Details of program loading.
7. I disconnected my Program cable after program loaded. (not sure if this necessary)
8. Moved little black toggle to down mode--means Pin 14 Not to Gnd
9. LED starts Blinking. 10 Yes this does FEEL Good, I guess the reason I bought this kit was to learn about these type things, I SURE AM!
   I will continue my experimenting and learning (yes even after 30+years in the electronics industry) and thanks for the support. Thomasawrobe.