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Post by David Murray on Jan 13, 2008 11:06:41 GMT -5
I finally received my ATMega32 development board. Unfortunatly, it just came with a CD that has a dozen directories which make no sense to me:
8051 EDUCATION AT89S8252CONT ATMEGA8BRD ATMEGAEDUCBRD ATMELPROG PICISPPROG PSOCPROGH
And inside of each of these are more directories with more cryptic names. I have looked at every PDF file in there and none of the boards shown look anything like the one I got. I went to the website of the manufacturer and downloaded a PDF of the board I have, which is great.. but I'm still not able to program it. I bought an ISP which connects to the parallel port of my PC. It has has two LEDs and a ribbon cable comming out.
Now the trouble is figuring out which software works with it. I've installed about 5 different pieces of software off of their CD but each one of them says it can't find whatever board it is looking for.
Another problem is all of the documentation (as scarce at it is) is very poor because it was written by Thai people who don't speak fluent english. So most of the sentences make no sense and there are tons of discrepencies such as a sentence will be talking about connecting the device to your serial port, and selecting LPT1 in the software. Huh?!
So.. I'm pretty much screwed right now, but I think the main issue is not so much the board I got, rather the programmer. I am not even sure what kind it is as it has no markings on it, and I have no idea what software is supposed to work with it. Rather than burn a CD for each product, Futurelec must like to make one CD for everything and not even tell you which folder applies to your product.
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Post by gmoon on Jan 13, 2008 14:32:43 GMT -5
Ok...take a deep breath...
--First, the software can only be one (or two) of these three:
ATMEGA8BRD ATMEGAEDUCBRD ATMELPROG
I'd guess it's the first one (I thought maybe you'd also need ATMELPROG, but that's probably just a programmer board without the bells & whistles.)
--Second, parport ISP cables need to be short--so you're not connecting through a parallel-port switching box, right?
--Third, does the software you installed give you an option for setting the type of ISP cable? There are several kinds.
--Fourth, is the board powered? Some (many) ISP cables don't power the device.
If it's one of the standard ISP cable types, you don't need any special software, and can simply use AVR STUDIO from the Atmel site.
You should be able to connect from Studio with Tools->Program AVR->Auto Connect
(although honestly I usually use 'avrdude' from a Linux shell.)
Under no circumstances should you start messing with the fuse bits until you know what you're doing...
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Post by David Murray on Jan 14, 2008 0:26:17 GMT -5
Ok...take a deep breath... --Second, parport ISP cables need to be short--so you're not connecting through a parallel-port switching box, right? Yes, it is just a straight cable about 3 feet long from parallel right to the development board. Yes, I'm powering it with 5V as the board is designed for. One of the LED's on the parallel port attachment stays lit all the time, the other one never seems to do anything. They also included this little adapter board of some kind. It has the same socket on both sides as the ISP cable, and it came with its own ribbon cable that is about 6-inches long. The idea appears to be that you put this in-line between the board and the parallel port. However, the only thing this little adapter has on it is a 2-prong socket labeled "5V" but they didn't give me anything to plug into that. I was sort of assuming you would use that if your board didn't have power going to it already. But maybe I'm wrong. Unfortunatly, in the AVR studio (at least the one included on the CD) when I try to select the type of programmer, it only gives me the options of USB or several different COM ports. No LPT ports are listed.
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Post by gmoon on Jan 14, 2008 8:27:37 GMT -5
the only thing this little adapter has on it is a 2-prong socket labeled "5V" but they didn't give me anything to plug into that. I was sort of assuming you would use that if your board didn't have power going to it already.Sounds reasonable. it only gives me the options of USB or several different COM ports. No LPT ports are listed.Checking my own AVR Studio setup, it's the same. I have both an STK500 (serial) and a Dragon (USB), and the only one I've tested with XP is the Dragon, since I've done most dev work in Linux. So you might need to access avrdude via the shell (I don't know for a fact that you cannot do it from AVR Studio, however.) Avrdude should have been installed with AVR Studio. You can also find info specific to Windows use on the WinAVR website. I totally don't know if this stuff works with Vista; or if XP will let you access the parport without other setup. --------------------------- OK, I found this link which explains how to open ports in XP (it works, I just tried it.) Seems to have other info on using AVR Studio interface to trigger avrdude without shell... Open par port for avrdude with install_giveio.bat---------------------------- For starters, check the programmer connection by typing in the shell (for example, I don't know what cable type you have): avrdude -p avrisp -c m32 Where: -p is the programmer type (here it's a standard STK500) -c is the AVR type (here as ATmega32) If there's any information at all about the programming cable (ISP interface) that may help you to find the type. The avrdude command reference is here. Substitute the correct type (I don't know if testing with the incorrect type can damage anything--I doubt it.) This avrdude command won't program the device, but it will tell you if the connection is made....
Did you ever get my response RE: the voltage divider circuit?
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Post by gmoon on Jan 14, 2008 8:38:59 GMT -5
Based on the giveio link above, it looks like WinAVR expects you to set the programmer type with the Make utility...
Then issue a 'Make' cmd (with whatever options that includes.)
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Post by Jim Brain on Jan 14, 2008 12:51:44 GMT -5
I use avrdude and make for my work, so if you get stumped, ask away.
Some more information on the board name and developer would help.
Jim
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Post by Jeff Ledger on Jan 21, 2008 20:58:24 GMT -5
David,
Just curious how you are making out with your AVR kit?
Jeff
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Post by David Murray on Jan 22, 2008 9:03:54 GMT -5
Just curious how you are making out with your AVR kit? Not well. I've just about given up that I'll ever get this programmer to work. I managed to find some decent documentation on the actual board itself (though I found it elsewhere on the internet, not from Futurelec) However, it is the parallel port programmer that I can't get to work at all. I think I'm going to chunk it in the trash and buy one of those USB programmers and see if I have better luck with that.
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Post by gmoon on Jan 22, 2008 14:34:40 GMT -5
It is an ISP programmer, yes? If you have enough info to suss out the connector's pinouts, you can program chips on a breadboard with just a couple components (you don't even need the LED & resistor in the upper corner): An avrisp pinout would be different, but the signal lines themselves would be the same as this DAPA cable pinout. Then plug the programmed AVR into the controller board. At least the board wouldn't go to waste.... If it isn't a ATmega8, just find the SCK, MISO, MOSI and RESET pins.
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Post by Jim Brain on Jan 22, 2008 22:39:36 GMT -5
Before you go sink more money in this, mail the unit to me. I can see what is up, as I program AVRs all the time here.
Jim
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Post by David Murray on Jan 23, 2008 9:02:18 GMT -5
Before you go sink more money in this, mail the unit to me. I can see what is up, as I program AVRs all the time here. Okay, I think I'll do that. Send me a private message with your shipping address. Do you want the board and the programmer? If so, I'll send you the documentation I have on the board. EDIT: Maybe we should wait. I just ordered a new ISP that works on the serial port and says it is compatible with AVR Studio 4. It may be a week or two before I get it, though. Still, send me your address so I'll have it ready.
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Post by racob on Jan 23, 2008 13:00:19 GMT -5
Hi David,
I don't know if you already built the parallel programmer ...just to mention that I built one based on PonyProg's parallel AVR programmer from the site.
It has only few parts. I also used PonyProg isp program to program my Atmel32 when I was building my MMC2IEC project. My problem was the reverse logic that Ponyprog had...
However, Jim Brain may have better stuff for you. Just thought I'd like to throw some of my thoughts..
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Post by iamdenteddisk on May 6, 2008 21:54:18 GMT -5
this sounds like you have all you need and a problem with the port driver registered in your operateing system I have used many of these uControlers its there but the port driver is unrecognied as it is based on uropean driver.dll's "is the stream read left-to-right or right-to-left -I also figured out with the ti86 all I had to do was swap/splice two conecting wires to run the other version the thing is the company is geared toward export .--> when i got my ti86 link and programing studio I had this problem, then agian with the basicStamp link-studio, this is a common thing you need a simple question answered called port protocall "they sent you all it requires but it was programmed on a european computer"so you need to call customer suport they will say with your computer you can run "x-software useing x-dll and it can be an activeXcomponant or java something needs updated their software or your hardware *link* for"your computer" or or just try running the autodetect in your os -see if when you plug it in it says its name and new device found untill you got this you got "some cool new legos" only then will the editor open and give you access this might be part of a registry scheme or just big brother wanting to know whos interested in guidence computers.. I find it ironicly halarious but plauseable..DD..
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