Minimalist Arduino Discussion

[kiyoshigawa]

We've finally released the Minimalist Arduino Kits - Rev. 01. ^_^ We have a permanent page containing instructions for assembly and schematics, located at:

http://thetransistor.com/arduino/

This thread is for discussion of the Minimalist Arduino platform. If you have any comments or questions about the kit, how to use it, or corrections to any of our documentation, please post them here.

[Deven]

I think v2 of the programming / test board may incorporate the test circuit into the programming circuit. I would also like to improve on the test circuit. But this will work for now. Also, I would like to etch the next version.

[kiyoshigawa]

The kits are now officially released, and the first post has been updated to reflect this. Let the discussion begin!

[merlin13]

So awesome that you put these kits together. I was just getting ready to order some sockets and 328s online to do the same thing, no need anymore since you have the kits ready to go. Great idea!

[Deven]

Thanks! Hopefully I will get off my butt soon and add the online ordering option.

[ISO-B]

I tried to build Minimalistic Arduino, but It not blink. I double check everything and tested that Atmega328P works with Arduino Duemilanove. What might be wrong?

Power supply works, it gives 5V.

[utoxin]

My guesses would be: Connected to the wrong pins, or you have the LED backwards.

[ISO-B]

Led is right way. And I thinks I have connected the right pins. I took two pictures:

Top: http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/l/2167/32b...da4d6c.jpg
Bottom: http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/l/2167/eeb...7eba80.jpg

[kiyoshigawa]

It's difficult for me to follow the wire paths from pictures, but my suggestion would be to use a connectivity tester on a multimeter and check that none of the pins are connected to adjacent pins. It looks like some of your solder joints may be crossing onto pads they shouldn't be.

If that doesn't work, get a highlighter and go node-by-node through the schematic to make sure everything is connected correctly. I don't have a schematic on hand, so be sure to check that the Arduino is in facing the correct direction.

Another common problem is that the crystals in the first batch of kits were surface mount crystals, so bending the legs for insertion into breadboards has the potential of breaking them. If this happened, come to an Arduino Night some time (if possible) and we'll get you a through-hole model to replace the default one.

I also find it helps to walk away from it if I've been working on it for too long with no results. Coming back with a fresh mind helps make plain things you've been overlooking. If you can't get it figured out on your own, bring it down to an Arduino Night and we'd be happy to have a look at it.

Good luck.

[ISO-B]

I think arduino is correctly placed. I tested with connectivity tester and I think everything is like it should be. I marked paths and components to picture so if that helps you to help me. Is there any way to test that crystal? I don't have oscilloscope.

http://www.uploadgeek.com/share-95D4_4C1A099C.html

[kiyoshigawa]

It's hard to see where the legs of the crystal are sticking through the bottom of the board. It looks like it may not be connected correctly, but the red wire jumper may just be covering it. The crystal legs end up having a hole between them, and it doesn't look like it's spaced correctly, but again, it may just be that the red jumper is obscuring it. If you bent the legs so it would fit into two adjacent holes, that may have snapped a lead off of it. Again, it's hard for me to tell just from pictures.

Pay careful attention to the schematic and make sure that pin 8 goes to ground, but does not connect to either of the crystal legs directly. The more I look at your schematic, I can only see one of the crystal legs on the bottom (attached to pin 9, I believe), so that may be your problem, or I may be blind. It actually looks like your pin 10 is going straight from the Atmega to the capacitor and is not connected to a leg of the crystal. If this is the case, that is most likely where your problem lies.

[Deven]

Bring it in to Arduino Night this Saturday if you are local. Someone is sure to help you out.

If you do have one of the 'old' crystals I would be happy to swap it out (if you think that is the problem). If you are not local I would be happy to send it. (PM me your address if that is the case.)

Hope you get it working. Good luck.

[ISO-B]

I'd like take part to arduino night,but I live in finland. I bought Stripboard from local electronicstore and tried again and I work. I don't know why first feil, but parts cost couple of euros. So it wasn't realy big lose. I also tested to install new crystall to first minimalist arduino, but still not working. There must be something wrong with connections.

Anyway thanks to you guys.

[kiyoshigawa]

Glad you got everything worked out.

[Deven]

Just curious, where did you get the Arduino Kit? If it didn't come from us, you may not have the Arduino bootloader installed on the ATMEGA chip. In which case you would need a ISP programmer (not the $15 usb FTDI) to load the bootloader onto the chip first.

Good luck. If I get a little time I will go over your images. Keep us posted.

[ISO-B]

Yes I din't buy it from you. So I bought Atmega328 without bootloader from germany. Other parts I bought from local electronic store. I already had one arduino Duemilanove and Arduino Mega. But I cannot use my Duemilanove because it is in my rgb-led matrix table. So I "steal" my friend's Duemilanove.

I used Mega as master and Duemilanove with atmega328 without bootloader as slave. I wired them and used Burn bootloader using arduino as ISP. [ LINK ] After that I tested atmega with that Duemilanove.

[Deven]

Sounds like you got the bootloader on it ok. Hopefully someone else will have a second and be able to help diagnose your circuit a little more in-depth.