bootloader probleam due to programing error or possibly battery

[R.E.G.I.S. Mark V]

Hi I am having a bit of trouble tracking down the cause of my current bootloader issues

My bootloader was working fine and dandy tell I changed two things at once … first I was in the process of code writing … and second I change the battery I am using to power the axon
I will talk about the program first then the battery after


When I attempt to use the bootloader with my current code I receive this error
*************************************************************************
C:\DOCUME~1\ASH\Desktop\ROBO-T~1>FBOOT17.exe -b115200 -c2 -pfirsttry.hex -vfirst
try.hex
COM 2 at 115200 Baud: Connected
Bootloader V2.1
Target: 1E9608 C:\DOCUME~1\ASH\DESKTOP\ROBO-T~1\FBOOT17.DEF
Buffer: 7168 Byte
Size available: 64512 Byte
Program firsttry.hex: 00000 - 01C00 failed!
*************************************************************************

My first assumption was that I simply made a mistake with my coding (still quite possible). To see if this was in fact the error I tried to bootload the original source code program from the “getting started” tutorial that is downloadable from this site to see if the error persisted. Unfortunately it did. is it possible for code errors to carry over do to memory or missues of the bootloader?


I also did change the battery I am using to power it (I really should not have changed two things at once and likely wont in the future) I was originally using 4 AA batteries to power the axon but when they finally dropped below 5.35 volts they could no longer see the axon through . so I changed to an RC car battery I had laying around… the battery is a 6 volt NiCd … is it possible that my battery swap is not giving enough amps to power the axon? It seemed to be around  180 mA output during the process which was definitely under the danger zone upper limit but I could not find any documentation on weather a lower limit exists.


Any info would be most appreciated

Also I don’t want to post in the wrong location and am unsure if this is an electrical post or software post as both seem to be possible candidates

Thank you for your time

[Admin]

Not sure about this . . .

What is the measured voltage of your NiCad? How old is it?

Just in case, I recommend all the basic debugging like restarting your PC, etc.

I was originally using 4 AA batteries to power the axon but when they finally dropped below 5.35 volts they could no longer see the axon through

just an FYI - It's never a good idea to program an Atmega with a very low voltage, as on very very rare occasions it'll randomly cause a fuse corruption. A fuse corruption that affects the clock fuse will brick your Axon, a huge pain to fix.

[Joker94]

sometimes older batteries cells can be deteriorate. when this happens the battery may show a full charge but within seconds of plug in it into a device the power will drain almost immediately. this may be a reason for your problems.

especially a NiCd battery that may have encounter incorrect charging cycles, may have been over discharged, or possibly age(sitting un used for a long period of time.

all these things are worth checking