DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

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rallen675
 
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DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by rallen675 »

I assembled a DC Boarduino according to the assembly instructions except that I soldered the headers before inserting the IC in the socket. The Green LED illuminates when I apply 9V battery power. The Red LED illuminates, flashes and then turns off when I press the Reset Button. A second LED installed off Pin 13 also illuminates, flashes and then turns off when I press the Reset Button. The same events happen when I use the FTDI Friend for power with the jumper correctly positioned.

I am using Arduino 1.0.6 which I have used successfully with another Arduino compatible board. I selected “Diecimila/Duemilanove with 328” for the Board and selected/verified COM4 for the Serial Port. I have checked all the solder joints under 4x magnification.

I selected the “Blink” sketch from the Arduino Examples. Every time (at least 30 attempts) I have tried to upload this sketch, I get the following error message “avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00” which according to Arduino Tutorial Lesson 1 indicates that the Arduino is not responding.

I have tried all the suggestions listed in the tutorial to resolve this problem except for the last one since the bootloader was preinstalled according to the product description. Additionally, I have tried uploading using 2 different computers (one with Windows 8.1 and another with Windows XP) and 2 different USB cables without success. My FTDI drivers are up to date.

I would appreciate any suggestions that you may have to resolve this issue.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Please post photos of the front and back of the board so we can check the assembly.

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rallen675
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by rallen675 »

The requested photos are attached. Thank you for you very fast response.
Attachments
BOARDUINO BOTTOM.jpg
BOARDUINO BOTTOM.jpg (613.33 KiB) Viewed 458 times
BOARDUINO TOP.jpg
BOARDUINO TOP.jpg (562.97 KiB) Viewed 458 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

From your description of the LED activity on reset, the bootloader appears to be running. The assembly looks good from what I can see. Can we get another photo of the solder side of the board from the FTDI end at about a 45 degree angle to the surface so we can see the solder joints from the side?

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rallen675
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by rallen675 »

I have attached some photos according to what I understand you want. If the images are not sharp enough, I will send additional ones when I can get a high resolution camera set up. Thank you for your assistance.
Attachments
BOARDUINO F.jpg
BOARDUINO F.jpg (132.37 KiB) Viewed 438 times
BOARDUINO E.jpg
BOARDUINO E.jpg (142.64 KiB) Viewed 438 times
BOARDUINO D.jpg
BOARDUINO D.jpg (141.08 KiB) Viewed 438 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks for the photos. When the solder forms a ball around the pin like that, very often it it because the surrounding pad was not hot enough and the solder does not 'wet' the pad to make good electrical contact. This guide has some tips on fixing problem solder joints: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guid ... n-problems

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rallen675
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by rallen675 »

I studied the Soldering Tutorial you sent and then applied the recommendations as best I could. I used a solder sucker to remove excess solder and reheated each connections making sure to both the pin and the pad in each case. However, I still cannot upload the Blink sketch. One of the FTDI pins got a little hot, but the board still gets USB power (the green LED illuminates as does the red LED when the reset button is pushed.
Attachments
BOARDUINO I.jpg
BOARDUINO I.jpg (515.37 KiB) Viewed 426 times
BOARDUINO H.jpg
BOARDUINO H.jpg (446.13 KiB) Viewed 426 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The shape of those joints looks much better. The burnt flux is usually not a problem, but you can clean it with some >90% isopropyl alcohol and an old toothbrush if you like.

Since it is still not responding, let's try replacing the processor. Please contact [email protected] with a link to this thread to arrange it.

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rallen675
 
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Re: DC BORDUINO PROBLEMS

Post by rallen675 »

I just received and installed the replacement IC. I have now uploaded the Blink sketch successfully so indeed the problem was in the processor. Thank you for all your help and patience.

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