Trinket - install drivers??

[hochschild]

ADDENDUM to my post dated 22 Jan 2015 16:49: After I plugged Trinket out and in after following your suggestions, USBtiny appeared under the category "libusb-win32 devices" in Device Manager. Progress! But in the IDE, neither the board nor its serial port appear, see attached screen photo.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Yeah - the Trinket will not show up under Ports, since it does not implement a serial port.

From your earlier posts, it kind of sounds like you got the USBtinyISP driver installed. I'm thinking you may have a bad USB cable. Can you try some different cables and different USB ports. Also, sometimes it helps to connect through a self-powered USB2.0 hub.

[hochschild]

In your last message, could you explain "Trinket will not show up under Ports, since it does not implement a serial port"? I'm confused. How can Trinket communicate without activating a COM port?

My cables are OK since my setup works well with other Arduino boards. Perhaps I blew the ProTrinket, so have ordered a replacement.

[adafruit_support_rick]

The Trinket emulates a USBtinyISP, not a Serial Port:
https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing- ... bootloader

My cables are OK since my setup works well with other Arduino boards. Perhaps I blew the ProTrinket, so have ordered a replacement.

Pro Trinket? I thought you had a Trinket. Anyway, the Pro Trinket operates the same way - it emulates a USBtinyISP. You can also use an FTDI Friend or FTDI Cable with the Pro Trinket - if you do that, then you will program over the COM port implemented by the FTDI.

[hochschild]

I remain unclear on this question: If I connect ProTrinket to my Windows desktop via the on-board COM connector, shouldn't ProTrinket or USBtiny appear in Device Manager under Ports with a COM port number assigned? Secondly, in the IDE, when I click Tools, shouldn't ProTrinket appear under Board, and the COM port number next to Serial Port? I get neither. I'm expecting a replacement board tomorrow. Thanks. Richard.

[adafruit_support_rick]

If I connect ProTrinket to my Windows desktop via the on-board COM connector,

Do you mean you are using an FTDI Friend or FTDI cable, rather than the USB connection? In that case, yes, the FTDI device should show up in Device Manager as a COM port. You would then select Pro Trinket (FTDI) in the Board menu, and the FTDI COM port in Serial Port.

If you're just connecting the Pro Trinket via USB, then it will not show up as a COM port. If you have the USBtinyISP driver installed, then the Trinket will show up as a USBtinyISP under LibUSB-Win32 Devices in Device Manager. In this mode, you ignore the serial ports in the IDE, but make sure you have USBtinyISP selected under Tools:Programmer

[hochschild]

I received a replacement ProTrinket but am having same problem as before. On compiling, the IDE gives the message "COM32 not found", etc. Yet everything you have mentioned seems right. My Windows 7 desktop USB is connected to the ProTrinket USB connector, green LED is on, red LED is fading on and off once a second, Device Manager shows "libusb-win32 devices" and under that "USBtiny" is listed. In the IDE, I have selected , "USBtinyISP" in Tools/Programmer. In Tools, I cannot select Trinket as a board nor can I select a Serial Port, which I assume is normal from your comments.

My sketch (e.g. Blink) compiles without error, but at the point where loading should start I get "COM32 not found" and a bunch of other error lines that have to do with loading. What should I do next? Thanks. Richard

[adafruit_support_rick]

That's very odd. What device do you have selected in Tools:Board?

[hochschild]

I arbitrarily selected either Sparkfun Pro Micro 3.3V 8MHz or Arduino Uno while running ProTrinket, thinking board choice didn't matter since I also chose Tools/Programmer/USBtinyISP per your instructions. Later, I successfully ran Sparkfun Pro Micro for awhile on the same setup - no errors. When I switched back to ProTrinket on the same USB cable, I now get the error message "Couldn't find a Leonardo on the selected port". Same Trinket setup as before. Error only occurs just before load. Richard.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Ah! That explains it. Those boards upload through serial ports. The Pro Trinket on USB does not upload through a serial port.
You need to download the Adafruit version of the Arduino IDE ("The Fast Way"), and select "Pro Trinket (USB)" from the Board menu
https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing- ... rduino-ide

[hochschild]

Thanks, Rick. I installed the Adafruit version of the IDE, and sure enough 4 options of Pro Trinket showed up under Tools/Board. I chose Pro Trinket 3v/12MHz (USB) and immediately ran into trouble. At the load stage of Blink (and another sketch), I got the error message: "avrdude: Error: Could not find USBtiny device (0x1781/0xc9f)". Does it matter that I still have "USBtinyISP" selected under Tools/Programmer? Also I have my Windows desktop connected to the Pro Trinket through COM ports on both units.

Because of my limited experience, I don't understand your statement "The Pro Trinket on USB does not upload through a serial port." Isn't a USB connector a COM port and also a serial port? Pro Trinket has a USB connector on it and I upload my sketch through it from a COM port on my desktop. I'm aware that I can do the same through an FTDI cable but as long as Adafruit provides a USB connector on board Pro Trinket why shouldn't I use it? Evidentally I am seriously missing something. Thanks for your help, Richard.

[adafruit_support_rick]

A USB connector is not a COM port. USB can be many things - keyboard, mouse, disk drive, etc. A COM port is only one of the many things that can be implemented through a USB connection.

The Pro Trinket implements a USBtinyISP connection through USB *instead* of a COM port.

So, it's correct to have the programmer set to USBtinyISP. And it's correct to set the board to "Pro Trinket 3v/12MHz (USB)",

Are you pressing the reset button on the Pro Trinket before the upload begins? Pressing reset starts the bootloader running on the Pro Trinket. It will run for 10 seconds. You can tell when the bootloader is running because the red LED will be pulsing. This is the only time the USB is active.

Regular Arduinos have a similar bootloader; however, the IDE can automatically start the bootloader on a regular Arduino by issuing a reset signal. The Pro Trinket does not support this reset signal, so that's why you have to press the reset button manually.

[hochschild]

Thanks for your very informative reply. Pressing reset early during compile and before load began allowed load to proceed without error.

Now that I have it working thanks to your help, I'm beginning to understand ProTrinket's quirks and limitations. The most serious limitation in my work is the inability, for lack of a COM port, to use the Serial Monitor. I have been trying to develop a product that stores several hours of data from about 5 sensors on a microSD for later review by transferring the SDcard to a desktop. Without the Serial Monitor, I can't check to see if my code is working. I'm forced to conclude that ProTrinket is not designed for my "special needs" application.

[adafruit_support_rick]

If you use an FTDI Friend or FTDI cable, you can get the Serial Monitor, just as with a regular Arduino. You can also program the Pro Trinket like a regular Arduino using FTDI:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/70
https://www.adafruit.com/products/284

You would use one of these instead of the Pro Trinket's USB connection

[hochschild]

I may try the FTDI approach. ProTrinket is attractive because it would produce a somewhat lower-cost product. But there are other limitations to consider. Again thanks for the help. Richard