Problem with 328 boot loaders

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Problem with 328 boot loaders

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jcw

I've just received a note that the 328's shipped with the JeeNode kits may not have a properly working Arduino boot loader.

Symptom: the JN launches with the RF12demo, and works fine, but reprogramming it via the Arduino IDE fails.

This is the same problem I saw when testing the new JeeLinks - it looks like my procedure for flashing the 328's is causing the problem. I'll post here as soon as I figure out what the problem is and will contact everyone who I think may be affected by this problem.

The solution is probably to re-program the 328 boot loader using an ISP programmer (I use the USBtinyISP). As I said, I'll report here once I figure out what went wrong - please let me know if you're having any problems when uploading a sketch to your JeeNode.

Posted 09/09/2009 20:14:02
jcw

[i]Ok, I think I've figured it out - everyone who might have been affected by this problem has been notified by email.[/i]

Here's what happens: a JeeNode with the faulty chip will start up the RF12demo, as expected. The demo will in fact work just fine, but you will not be able to upload your own software because of an incorrect boot-loader.

There is a relatively easy fix for this, but it does require an ISP programmer (such as the USBtinyISP). The fix is to re-flash the boot loader, using the Arduino IDE or the "avrdude" program. The steps are:

connect the ISP programmer to your JeeNode (see below)
in the Arduino IDE, in the Tools -> Board menu, select:
Arduino Duemilanove or Nano w/ ATmega328
then, in the same Tools menu, select your programmer type from the Burn Bootloader menu:
I use "w/ USBtinyISP"
wait until the IDE reports that it's done

Now you can upload your own firmware/sketch, or the one that came with the JeeNode, i.e. RF12 -> RF12demo.

What happened is that I had flashed the bootloader (using the Arduin IDE) and then the RF12demo (using avrdude), but I did not know that this second step would erase the bootloader (I did not know about avrdude's "-D" flag). I will of course update my processing steps to make sure all future JeeNode kits contain a correctly flashed ATmega328!

Posted 09/09/2009 20:54:24
skobalczyk

I just received my JeeNode - one affected by this issue. But I was able to recover without using ISP programmer. Instead I used the Arduino Decimila board as described in here: http://www.geocities.jp/arduinodiecimila/bootloader/indexen.html

I blieve my JeeLink wasn't affected by this because I was able to upload some sketches just fine. Now both RF12demo and it works great :-)

Posted 14/09/2009 17:49:57