Help Please!

[calla969]

Hello everyone. I really hope some can help me out. I received my USB programmer http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-ISP-USBASP- ... 792wt_1166 I soldered it to the main board and everything seemed to go great. I am very new to soldering, but I feel that I did a decent job and nothing got too hot. Soldering iron only touched for a second or two. After hooking everything up and installing the drivers I plugged it into the usb port on my computer with no battery installed and nothing happened. I am pretty sure the TX is supposed to power up at this point, but it didn't. I unplugged it from the computer, installed the battery and turned the TX on and it seemed to work normally. Then I tried plugging it back into the computer with the battery installed, but the TX still switched off. Still nothing. I opened up eePe and tried to read memory from TX. it seemed to do something, but when I tried to flash er9x, I get the error avrdude did not finish correctly with an exit code 1. It seems to imply an error with the drivers , so I uninstalled them and no matter what I do, the drivers are automatically reinstalled as soon as I plug it back in, so I can't try a different driver. Either way, my TX will not power up now. It seems completely dead. Can anyone help me? I'm freaking out. I was so excited to try ER9x and now my new TX is dead. Here is a link to a picture of my board with the wires soldered. https://www.dropbox.com/s/1x3pbl2k93xpqan/DSC02635.JPG

[rperkins]

Your soldering looked ok in the pic.

May I suggest changing the topic of your post to something more descriptive like 'tried to install usbasp and now my tx is dead' . You'll probably get more replies that way.

I cant help with the driver issue as dont use windows. Probably your first order of business is to get the tx to power up. Maybe remove everything you soldered in, verify your battery is charged and not installed backwards, and see if it comes on.

[calla969]

I desoldered everything. Battery is good and plugged in correctly. Still nothing. I'm really worried about this. I don't know how to change the subject. Maybe a Mod can change it or some can tell me how to do it?

[Kilrah]

Not all USBASPs supply power to the radio. Some need setting a jumper or soldering a bridge between pads, no idea about the one you got (not specified on the ebay page).

If you connected the usbasp and the radio didn't power up, but does with the battery, you might simply need to have the battery connected and radio powered on to flash it.
Do you have a voltmeter to see if the VCC pin of the usbasp's 10-pin connector actually has power on it when connected to USB?
Do you have the exact message avrdude gave upon failure? code 1 simply means there was a problem, but doesn't say what, that's in the text description given in the lines before.

[calla969]

I checked the VCC with the USBASP plugged into my computer and it is delivering just under 5v. Now, I have it connected with the battery and it won't power up. There are no visible signs of damage to the board. Just can't imagine what could have gone wrong. Does it look like I have teh wires going to the correct pads on the board? I really did my best to double check everything and didn't just rely on the diagrams I found online, even though I did seem to match them.

[Kilrah]

Does it look like I have teh wires going to the correct pads on the board?

Pads yes, but as we can't see the other side of your cable it's hard to know if connections are right.

But as your usbasp has markings on the connector pins you can easily use your multimeter to check continuity between each pad/soldered wire on the 9x side with the corresponding pin on the usbasp. The labels for the 9x are here:

[calla969]

After the kids go to bed I'll go over everything again. Your picture is the same as the one I used and I checked each wire with the markings on the usbasp. I need to figure out why it won't power on before I can go any further. Could I have wiped the firmware with eePe with the unit powered off. And if so, could that prevent the TX from powering up?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Kilrah]

Could I have wiped the firmware with eePe with the unit powered off. And if so, could that prevent the TX from powering up?

It's possible, yes. If avrdude managed to erase the chip but then failed while programming, you could be left with an empty chip that would obviously do nothing.

[calla969]

That seemed to be what happened. If that's the case, what's the fix?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Kilrah]

I'd check with the voltmeter if there's 5V and 3.3V where it should, and if yes flash again.

[rperkins]

Could I have wiped the firmware with eePe with the unit powered off. And if so, could that prevent the TX from powering up?

Thats what i was wondering. If a partial flash left it in an unbootable state. I forget, and I'm at work now, does the transmitter have an led that shows the power on ?

Dont get too freaked out. I really doubt you ruined it for good.

[rperkins]

I see i typed really slow and a couple posts beat me in.
If you do try to flash again, copy and paste the errors you get

[calla969]

When I try to flash, avrdude errors out. I'll get it soldered back together and post the errors in a while. I really appreciate the help! Thanks.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Kilrah]

Taking some advance, also post your settings in the avrdude configuration dialog

[calla969]

OK. I resoldered everything and checked every connection with a continuity meter and everything seems correct. Still the same results as before. Attached are the relevant screen captures. Any ideas? TX still does not power on.

[calla969]

I am getting power to the board.

[gohsthb]

Add into the 'extra arguments' box this "-B 100". Without the quote marks of course. Sometimes the capacitor on the reset line doesn't allow the uC into reset fast enough and the programmer doesn't get the response it is looking for. Adding that option tells the programmer to run slower which might help. Other that that make sure you have the connections in the right places and they are not also connected to adjacent pins. The error you are getting is because the programmer doesn't think it is connected to the chip.
-Gohst

[calla969]

I tried -B 100 and I still get the same errors. I also just noticed that if I unplug the USBASP from the computer and turn the TX on with the USBASP still connected to the TX, the light on the USBASP comes on. Seems to be powering the USBASP with the battery and the switch seems to be working. I have checked every connection with a continuity meter and every connection matches the way it is labeled on the programmer and the labels on the picture posted above. I even unsoldered everything and made a new cable with the same results. Very discouraging.

[calla969]

Here's the error if I run it with -F

[calla969]

-B100 errors

[calla969]

I came across this

I couldn’t flash my Turnigy 9X with Ladyada’s USBTinyISP (ver 2) until I found a solution

“I think you will find that your Device signature = 0×000000 problem is shared between the programmer and the Turnigy 9x. The Ladyada USB (known to avrdude as usbtiny) programmer schematic shows 1k5 short circuit protection resistors in the SCK and MOSI programming lines. I suspect that your programmer has the same circuit. The Turnigy 9X has 200R and .1uF capaitors on these lines to debounce the button inputs to the ATMega64. Unfortunately the debounce circuit slows down the programming pulses and prevents programming. Reducing the two 1k5 resistor values in the programmer to 100R fixes the problem, but so does choosing a different programmer!
I tried slowing down the programmer with -B option, but could not get the pulses slow enough.”

Source: http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/turni ... ng-problem

Changed those resistors to 100 ohm and flashing worked. However first write failed the read verification set but retry gave 100% correct.

Good source: http://code.google.com/p/th9x/wiki/inst ... e?wl=en-GB


Could this be my problem?

[gohsthb]

You would need to trace out the circuit in your programmer to know. I have heard there are some bum usbasp that just don't work.

*** Unless you are completely sure of what you are doing, don't ever add the -F option!!! Unless the programmer can pass all of it's checks it is not safe to program. This is one of the best ways to brick a uC. I really don't think avrdude should suggest using it either! ***

-Gohst

You don't happen to have access to an oscilloscope do you?

[calla969]

No. I wouldn't know what to do with an oscilloscope.

[calla969]

Well, I'm at a complete loss. I'm afraid I may have somehow managed to destroy my new TX. I flew it one time with the stock firmware and was very happy with the feel of it and was really excited to try the better firmware since just sitting on the couch learning how to program it, the stock firmware was making me crazy. I really can't figure out what I could have done wrong. Everything seemed to go so smoothly. I really expected everything to work right away. As of right now, it's a pile of spare parts and I can't afford to replace it. If anyone can tell me what I can check or try, I would greatly appreciate it. I have a multi-meter, but no other fancy electronics tools. Thanks again to all who have tried to help. I need to go to bed now. Hopefully I will have some new things to try in the morning.

[rperkins]

I came across this ..
The Turnigy 9X has 200R and .1uF capaitors on these lines to debounce the button inputs to the ATMega64. Unfortunately the debounce circuit slows down the programming pulses and prevents programming.

I had a similar issue with the capacitor on the reset line used for programming. However my programmer would work the first time I plugged it in, and it wasnt giving 0x00000 as it's signature. Here is my post about my problem which was resolved by removing a capacitor.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=705&p=10806#p10806

But the bottom line is my transmitter was turning on . And it was programming some of the time.

Are these the errors you were getting the first time you hooked it up. 'Bad signature' and 'target doesnt answer' If the answer is yes then I am doubting that you ever programmed your unit at all. That includes a bad programming which would make it dead. I'm leaning towards a solder short or something else that happened when you were initially installing the usbasp.

Your very first post says:
"After hooking everything up and installing the drivers I plugged it into the usb port on my computer with no battery installed and nothing happened. I am pretty sure the TX is supposed to power up at this point, but it didn't."

Yes it shoulda powered up . IMHO Your problem started here. And it didnt go away when you unsoldered your cable. So it is still in there.

Ya sure you never plugged the battery in backwards ? It's a common issue .

dont give up . Well if I get real discouraged I will sleep on it. let it go for the night. Things have a habit of surfacing overnight.

[ShowMaster]

More battery info please. Did you add your own lipo or other battery? Did you add or solder on a new tx battery connector? Are you sure the battery polarity was never reversed? Did you ever hear a loud pop?
When was the last time it powered up?
We need to determine the condition of your board. Reverse battery damage as stated is a very common first thing done to a newbe TX. If that's not the case then maybe soldering damage that can be reversed is next. A good picture of your board would help also as well as any oops, or oh oh's you've left out mentioning that may have happened.
I do know that a bad flash issue can make the board act dead until a good firmware is flashed back into it.
The HK $5-6 Usbasp programmer does work without issues as an option.
The SP board also is an option.
Their are still low cost repair options after a few more honest answers and pics.


ShowMaster
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[calla969]

For a battery, I use a AA pack. I do not use the one that came with the TX because it is complete junk. I replaced it with one from Radio Shack which is much better. The last time the unit powered up was some time after I completed the soldering and after I had tried to hook it up to the computer. I really had no issues what-so-ever during soldering. There have been no sounds, smells, and all the magic smoke is still inside. At some point, when messing with eePe, I tried to read memory from the TX resulting in this bin file https://www.dropbox.com/s/6594hef7jf352al/test.bin . My problems seemed to begin after this file was taken from the TX. That is why I feel like I had a bad flash. I was never able to write anything to the TX because of the avrdude errors, but it did seem to read from the TX and I suspect that it erased something in the process.

I have used a continuity meter to check my connections. I have been checking with the USBASP plugged into the TX going from the labeled pins on the USBASP to a point on the TX beyond my solder link (the corresponding pin on the chip, resistor connection downstream from my joint etc.). Everything seems perfect. I have checked for voltage on every point that I can find reference to and all seems normal with either batt. voltage, 5v, or 3.3 v in the correct places.

I am going to post Dropbox links so I can give you full size versions so you can zoom in if you need to. If there is anything else I can provide to make this make sense, please let me know.

Most of the pics are pretty much the same, I just tried to get shots from slightly different angles in case there was glare on an important detail. You will see small black marks next to the solder pads. These are dots form a Sharpie marker to help me identify the correct pads to solder to. Nothing ever got too hot. I used a 30 watt Weller soldering iron and only touched the board for a second or two. I tinned the wired and pads with a very small amount of solder which seemed to stick very well. Thanks again for all the help!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lvbb96t0we7sf ... 281%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8pysd70lxk16h ... 282%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6u91srjsrz1rs ... 283%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kyy07sdpa53un ... 284%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h91pi2x8z75ha ... 285%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y68olv5csvckv ... 286%29.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/74pshuyg6itsn ... 287%29.JPG

[jhsa]

Here comes the terrible question.. Could it be bricked??

[Kilrah]

If all connections are right there aren't many options left.
I'd firstly find another computer, install the driver on it freshly and try to flash from there. If that still doesn't do it, get another usbasp from a "known working" seller.

To actually render the AVR unflashable is a hard task - the only 2 ways are to physically destroy it (overvoltage, reverse voltage, overcurrent, static discharge), and to screw up and clear the SPIEN fuse that would disable the ability to program the chip with an ISP programmer (would need an expensive HV programmer).
The first reason doesn't seem to apply in your case from what you said, the second would have a very remote possibility in case a flashing error indeed happened and that fuse ended up being cleared.

[calla969]

I've tried 3 different computers, all get the same results. Unfortunately, all of them are on Windows 7, but I've tried on 32 bit and 64 bit systems. I think I have an old laptop with XP or maybe even 98 on it. I guess I could try that. I also have one of my computers dual booted with Ubuntu, but I'm not very familiar with the OS. My soldering iron is not a grounded type (I know I should use a grounded soldering iron, but almost all of the irons I've seen are ungrounded and based on everything I've read before I proceeded to use it suggested that most people are using ugrounded irons and have been for years without issue). I wonder if a static discharge could have screwed something up. The only thing is that my TX started up normally after soldering and the problems started after I tried to read memory using eePe. Can you tell form the Bin file that I linked to if it did indeed come from my radio? This would suggest that there was some sort of communication at some point.