DC Boarduino

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AfDS49vU8cK
 
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DC Boarduino

Post by AfDS49vU8cK »

To whom it may concern,

A short while back I purchased the DC Boarduino (Product ID 72). Yesterday I assembled it for the first time and ran into a problem at the end of the assembly process. When I got to the step that says to apply power, press the reset button, and the red LED should blink a few times. Mine does not. I went through an extensive troubleshooting process. Here are my details:

* Removed uP from socket and verified no bent pins. Then performed the following:
• Power check during early part of build is okay. +5V power is available and green LED lights.
• Inspected both sides of the board for solder bridges..there are none.
• According to schematic, verified +5V power at all locations on the board (uP, connectors, etc)
• Green LED lights but red does not blink
• Red LED installed properly and power is available at the 1k resistor feeding it. As a matter of fact, while I was running continuity checks on the board with my ohmmeter, at one point the red led lit up which indicated it is good and installed correctly.
• Verified all pins on uP socket are connected to all the places indicated on the schematic
• There are no short circuits or open circuits on the board

Conclusion: Due to process of elimination, it appears the uP (AtMega) chip is either bad or there is no program loaded on it.

If you would like me to send it back to you, I will gladly oblige.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Please advise.

Don

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

One other quick thing to check that I don't see in the above list - uP orientation. Did you get Pin 1 in the right place?

And so we can look for anything obvious with the hardware, can you post a photo of your build showing both sides.

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AfDS49vU8cK
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by AfDS49vU8cK »

Sorry, forgot to mention that, yes, the chip was inserted correctly. I'm including 3 photos. 2 are topside, 1 bottomside.

If there is anything else I can provide, please let me know. Again, I will be more than happy to send the entire board back to you if necessary.

[img]
WIN_20190323_13_58_33_Pro_med.jpg
WIN_20190323_13_58_33_Pro_med.jpg (278.69 KiB) Viewed 257 times
[/img]
[img]
WIN_20190323_13_59_37_Pro_med.jpg
WIN_20190323_13_59_37_Pro_med.jpg (99.14 KiB) Viewed 257 times
[/img]
[img]
WIN_20190323_13_59_58_Pro_med.jpg
WIN_20190323_13_59_58_Pro_med.jpg (104.2 KiB) Viewed 257 times
[/img]


Don

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Thanks for the photos. Everything looks generally OK. There are a couple of pins that look like they might be undersoldered. See below. For good measure, try reflowing those a bit, and any other pins that may look similarly thin.
soldering.jpg
soldering.jpg (64.66 KiB) Viewed 248 times

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AfDS49vU8cK
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by AfDS49vU8cK »

Thank-you for your feedback.

On your last message, you identified pins 19, 20, and 21 on the IC. As I indicated in my original post, and without the chip in place and before applying power to the board at final assembly stage, I verified continuity on every pin of the IC as well as all of the connector pins, looking for short or open circuits. I found none. And I also verified that every pin of the IC and all connector pins go where they should. Hence, there are no problems with connectivity, open, or short circuits on the board. The original power check at early assembly worked fine, and at final test the green LED still lit properly. But, I never saw the red LED blink after pressing the reset button like the instructions said it should.


One more thing, I used an FTDI USB cable to power it up and verified the chip was non-operational

I went ahead and reflowed a few of the solder connections, adding more solder to make them more robust.

I am still left with my original problem that the IC fails to respond. I suspect it must be a bad part, or missing its bootloader program.

Can you please advise??

Thanks

Don

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adafruit2
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by adafruit2 »

ok lets try replacing the chip
email support@adafruit for a new https://www.adafruit.com/product/123 with a link here

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AfDS49vU8cK
 
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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by AfDS49vU8cK »

Wanted to provide closure: The replacement chip arrived today. I inserted it onto the board and the red LED blinked upon power-up. I then used the FTDI cable, uploaded and executed a program. The DB Boarduino works great. Thanks for your help!
Don

T

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Re: DC Boarduino

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Woot! Thanks for letting us know. Have fun!

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