Initial setup not working
Hi. I'm fairly new to this whole fun, and think I need some help.
I am using an ArduPilot with an R/C truck for learning. But I can't get the code to load at all, so learning the code side hasn't started yet.
My set up:
- ArduPilot (the red one).
- An Em-406A GPS
- 2 Ch radio/receiver with an ESC.
- FTDI Cable (and the Sparkfun FTDI 3.3V Breakout board)
I followed the user guide at http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddjmqgw3_43gm6gvggf with two exceptions. I do NOT have the sensor shield - I only want to get the basics running right now. And I have not yet soldered the wire for throttle control (need to get smaller wire). At this stage, I just trying to get the initial code in place.
I have the header pins soldered to the ArduPilot. I'm a little unclear what pins on the ESC to connect to the what pins on the ArduPilot. The guide indicates to connect to OUT-3. Trying that with the 3 wire pins from the ESC gives me power.
I have the Arduino IDE setup on a 64bit Ubuntu, and it works with my Freeduino (well, I can get the default led blinky program loaded... I'll do more with it sooner or later...)
So I power up the board via the ESC connection, connect the FTDI cable, and plug the other end into my computer. I run "dmesg" to confirm the cable has been detected. The GPS is not plugged in at this point. Then I boot up the IDE, load the default code (Easystar V23), make sure I have the right port selected and the right board (... w/ATmega328), and tell it to compile and load the code. I get this output:
Binary sketch size: 15510 bytes (of a 30720 byte maximum)
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
Looking through the site/forum/Google and this *seems* to indicate a problem when not using the "official" FTDI cable. So, I connect a friends official cable, and get the exact same results.
I can't seem to find any hints of what I'm doing wrong (cuz I'm sure it's me and not the hardware...)
Any tips/suggestions how to resolve this? Do I *NEED* the shield? Did I break something? I'll check over the solder joints, but I don't think I have any inadvertent connections. Thanks for any/all responses.
I am using an ArduPilot with an R/C truck for learning. But I can't get the code to load at all, so learning the code side hasn't started yet.
My set up:
- ArduPilot (the red one).
- An Em-406A GPS
- 2 Ch radio/receiver with an ESC.
- FTDI Cable (and the Sparkfun FTDI 3.3V Breakout board)
I followed the user guide at http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddjmqgw3_43gm6gvggf with two exceptions. I do NOT have the sensor shield - I only want to get the basics running right now. And I have not yet soldered the wire for throttle control (need to get smaller wire). At this stage, I just trying to get the initial code in place.
I have the header pins soldered to the ArduPilot. I'm a little unclear what pins on the ESC to connect to the what pins on the ArduPilot. The guide indicates to connect to OUT-3. Trying that with the 3 wire pins from the ESC gives me power.
I have the Arduino IDE setup on a 64bit Ubuntu, and it works with my Freeduino (well, I can get the default led blinky program loaded... I'll do more with it sooner or later...)
So I power up the board via the ESC connection, connect the FTDI cable, and plug the other end into my computer. I run "dmesg" to confirm the cable has been detected. The GPS is not plugged in at this point. Then I boot up the IDE, load the default code (Easystar V23), make sure I have the right port selected and the right board (... w/ATmega328), and tell it to compile and load the code. I get this output:
Binary sketch size: 15510 bytes (of a 30720 byte maximum)
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
Looking through the site/forum/Google and this *seems* to indicate a problem when not using the "official" FTDI cable. So, I connect a friends official cable, and get the exact same results.
I can't seem to find any hints of what I'm doing wrong (cuz I'm sure it's me and not the hardware...)
Any tips/suggestions how to resolve this? Do I *NEED* the shield? Did I break something? I'll check over the solder joints, but I don't think I have any inadvertent connections. Thanks for any/all responses.
Replies to This Discussion
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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on -
Have you tried all the debugging tips here, as described in the manual? If so, you might want to try on a Windows machine to see if that's the issue.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn on -
Thanks Chris. Yes I went through those steps (and read through the related comments). No joy.
I dug out a breadboard jumper wire and used that to connect the throttle control wire. Just so I could say I've done everything I *should*. Still no luck, and now the board only shows me the power LED - the stat and gps LEDs are not flashing like they were. My solder joints look fine...
I just happen to have a recently installed copy of Vista on one of my laptop drives (first windows install in 5+ years). I'll try things there before wiping that drive.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn on
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the lack of flashing LEDs seems to have been the result of a dead battery. Swapped in another, which *should* be fully charged, and I'm seeing the normal flashy bits. But still the same programmer not responding error.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn on
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Tried under Windows Vista. (wow that took a long time to get set up, compared to Linux) Again, the same setup try to upload the files. On Windows I get the "avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync" error.
I checked the debugging tips Chris referenced earlier and can cross off ALL of the steps (including changing the RTS value).
Do I have a faulty board? (likely caused by me if so...) But I *am* getting the correct LED sequences when power is applied...
I'm stumped.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn on
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Managed to get things working. It turned out to be a timing issue with the reset. I had tried hitting the reset button manually before, but guess I was missing the "sweet spot". A friend mentioned I should try hitting reset just before the "Binary Sketch size" message showed up (after compiling but *just* before transmitting to the board. That did the trick. I have a programmed board now.
Oh, and btw, that was using the SparkFun FTDI breakout board this time around...
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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on -
You should not have to manually reset. Did you try Vista with the DIY Drones or Adafruit FTDI? As mentioned, the SparkFun FTDI board has issues...
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