Hi,

I got that message this morning. Context:

• Atmel Studio 6.1
• VisualMicro latest official version
• Programmer USBTinyISP
• the board is Sparkfun Mega Pro Mini 3.3 V

I came across this post of the same subject http://www.visualmicro.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1375386337

I tried with the Arduino IDE: no complaint from the IDE, but has been running for 5 minutes, and still running  .

I found this page http://learn.adafruit.com/usbtinyisp/avrdude tried this command avrdude -c usbtiny -p m8 and got that:

Quote:
Looks like that -p is to identify the board, I don't know.

The Mega Pro mini 3.3 V does not need a reflash of the bootloader, but I practice with this one because I will get my own boards that are clones of the Mega Pro Mini 3.3 V.

Thanks

Arduino version 1.0.5.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino 1.0\hardware\mega-pro-3.3V\boards.txt:

# beerware, SparkFun Electronics 2011
# This file adds the Mega Pro 3.3V board to Arduino device list
# compatible with the Mega Pro 3.3V  and Mega Pro Mini 3.3V

###################################################################
mega2560v.name=Mega Pro 2560V 3.3V

mega2560v.upload.protocol=stk500v2
mega2560v.upload.maximum_size=258048
mega2560v.upload.speed=57600

mega2560v.bootloader.low_fuses=0xE2
mega2560v.bootloader.high_fuses=0xD4
mega2560v.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xFD
mega2560v.bootloader.path=
mega2560v.bootloader.file=MegaPro3.3V-8MHz-57600.hex
mega2560v.bootloader.lock_bits=0xCF

mega2560v.build.mcu=atmega2560
mega2560v.build.f_cpu=8000000L
mega2560v.build.core=arduino
mega2560v.build.variant=mega
################################################################### 

The .hex file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino 1.0\hardware\mega-pro-3.3V\bootloaders\MegaPro3.3V-8MHz-57600.hex

Haha, mega2560v.bootloader.path= is empty  Is bootloader.tool needed.

I tried burning the bootloader from Arduinos's IDE, the board looks bricked  .

Thanks

Thanks Giles this is fixed in the next release. There is a workaround if you want it but it really only applies to the sparkfun board as far as I am aware.

The workaround is as follows and will work with the arduino ide:-

1) create a sub folder below \hardware\mega-pro-3.3V\bootloaders. call it anything, for example \hardware\mega-pro-3.3V\bootloaders\megapro

2) copy the MegaPro3.3V-8MHz-57600.hex bootloader into the new megapro sub folder

3) change this board property from

mega2560v.bootloader.path= 

to

mega2560v.bootloader.path=megapro 

This is how the directories are organised for the core Arduino boards so it makes sense anyway. but the next version of vm will support the sparkfun default.

Re-start the ide or click tools>visual micro>reload tools chains

Tim

Yes you are right the path just specified the sub folder below bootloaders in both 1.0.x and 1.5.x. 

I'll add support for wiring sometime because it supports boards like this but it's confusing for users when Wiring also includes support Arduino boards but with an older static tool chain.

I hope your board isn't bricked. Was your programmer able to upload previous to burning the bootloader?

Switch on tools>options>vm>compiler>verbose that should give a more detailed output after upload attempt. 

If the upload tool (avrdude) hangs Visual Micro will force it to timeout after 95 seconds.

Hmm, sparkfun docs say it is compatible with Arduino 1.0x so they should help you fix it or replace it. 

In a way I am pleased that Visual Micro refused to burn the bootloader because it uses the same tool as the arduino ide and in theory will produce the same result. 

It would have been more difficult when you speak with sparkfun if you had said you used Visual Micro to burn the bootloader. This is because sparkfun don't know that Visual Micro does what the Arduino ide does. I know this doesn't help but an interesting observation to keep in mind in the future 

Thanks for all the recent forum help.

I finally was able to edit the boards.txt file... but got the same result: the IDE hangs and nothing is written in the bottom window.

Looks like something is wrong either with the IDE or with the USBTinyISP ?!?

Tim,

About the Beta version, I prefer to install a new version once it's officially released. I will contact SparkFun and look at the Arduino forums.

Thanks

Hi Tim,

I finally got it to work.. well sort of. I had an issue with the driver, but it's now solved.

So I tried again this morning, and got this from avrdude:

avrdude: Expected signature for ATmega32U4 is 1E 95 87
         Double check chip, or use -F to override this check. 

I think it comes from the definition of the board which is included with the IDE:

promicro8.build.mcu=atmega32u4

Looks lile the IDE uses it's definition, but VisualMicro uses the definition that was added under hardware, and my opinion is that your way is the right one !

I tried again with VisualMicro (AtmelStudio) and this time got:

System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary.
   at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key)
   at processing.app.debug.AvrdudeUploader.burnBootloader(Board boardPreferences, String programmerName) 

Looks like for now my only way would be to use Arduino's IDE till the new version of VisualMicro is published. I will contact SparkFun about that problem.

Thanks

Tim,

Yesterday I picked the wrong board, wich has a ATmega32U4  .

So I tried with the right one, which is the Mega Pro 2560V 3.3V. I am getting closer, but after a while I get

avrdude: verification error, first mismatch at byte 0x3f800
         0x11 != 0xff
avrdude: verification error; content mismatch 

I tried with an old Arduino Mega, I get the same error message, but with a different address. What's interesting is that the number to the right of = is 0xff again. I will contact adafruit.

Thanks

This is the question I asked adafruit  .