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Author Topic: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4  (Read 4686 times)

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Offline GertlexTopic starter

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Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« on: December 02, 2011, 09:21:25 PM »
I'm trying to use my Pololu programmer for the first time (with Win7 x64) with my Mote, and AVR Studio 4.19.

In the programmer dialog's main tab, ATmega128rfa is not available in the drop down menu.  The FAQ has a pic where this has evidently been accomplished (per window's titlebar).  Any idea?  The guide I'm following for using hardware programmer is the one in Pololu's manual

Thanks!
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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2011, 09:38:56 PM »
I checked with AVR Studio 4.19, and I definitely see ATMega128RFA1 in the drop down list on the Main tab . . . (I checked using Disconnected mode, AVR ISP II).

Are you sure it's not there?

Offline GertlexTopic starter

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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2011, 09:53:12 PM »
I'll have to try rebooting and checking the laptop as well :/  WinAVR is up to date, too (well, it's the version you link in the setup guide)
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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2011, 10:02:21 PM »
WinAVR is up to date, too (well, it's the version you link in the setup guide)
The one I link, despite how old it is, is the latest version out. But it's not related to the issue.

(just a thought . . . probably not relevant . . . did you have v4.18 installed before you upgraded to v4.19?)

Offline GertlexTopic starter

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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2011, 10:05:28 PM »
Yes, had 4.18 installed before, which is especially why I might want to reboot.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2011, 10:16:18 PM by Gertlex »
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Offline GertlexTopic starter

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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2011, 12:37:26 PM »
Achieved success!

One problem seems to be that following Pololu's aforementioned guide, pg 15, step 5, tells me to select AVRISP as the Platform.  Connecting in this mode, neither the Atmega128RFA1 or Atmega640 show up in the "Device and Signature Bytes" listing.  I'm not sure what to say about this.

If instead I select STK500, these are both available.  I can then try Read Signature.  This worked for the Axon (Atmega640) but not for the Axon Mote.

This lead me to Section 8 of Pololu's manual (troubleshooting!).  It notes:
Quote
If the target AVR is running at a voltage lower than 5 V, you may need to decrease the minimum allowed
target VDD setting using the configuration utility (Section 3.d). The default minimum allowed target VDD
setting is too high to allow the programmer to program at low voltages. Please note that you might need to
take additional special steps to safely program an AVR that is running off of a voltage below VUSB-0.5 V.
The configuration utility for this programmer is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Pololu\USB AVR Programmer\pgm03a_config.exe or similar.

In the config utility's Target VDD Monitor section, I set the minimum allowed to 3264 mV (# is from measurements section).  Clicked Refresh, then Apply, and then Disconnect or OK.  Back in AVR Studio, Read Signature now works with the Mote.

From there it was straightforward with the instructions to put a new program on the Mote :)

(I also ended up reinstalling AVR Studio... which was a PITA itself - had to follow stuff in this thread to get around a problem with the installer (both 4.18 and 4.19...) hanging)

(I also tried with WinXP SP2... I don't think the Pololu programmer is working, unfortunately, despite applying the USB patch, as in this thread.  I can't connect to the programmer in AVR Studio 4 on XP SP2.)
« Last Edit: December 03, 2011, 12:41:25 PM by Gertlex »
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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2011, 10:05:36 PM »
Awesome detective work. I've added it here:
http://societyofrobots.com/axon_mote/axon_mote_FAQ.shtml#pololu_prog


Quote
(I also ended up reinstalling AVR Studio... which was a PITA itself - had to follow stuff in this thread to get around a problem with the installer (both 4.18 and 4.19...) hanging)
I had a different issue when installing on XP SP2 . . . during installation it gave me an error like 'fatal error: 4.19 failed to install' (or something like that). I ignored the error, and 4.19 still worked just fine . . . Sometimes ignoring problems makes them go away :)

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Re: Hardware Programming Axon Mote in AVR Studio 4
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2013, 10:04:14 PM »
Correction to my post of a long time ago, a "bin" was missing from the path noted above. It should be: C:\Program Files (x86)\Pololu\USB AVR Programmer\bin\pgm03a_config.exe

The other thing I missed when skimming the instructions is that the Mote needs to be powered on for programming and "read signature" to work, d'oh.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2013, 10:15:03 PM by Gertlex »
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