Can no longer upload anything via IDE

cgeorgia · PostMay 08, 2018#12018-05-08T21:05+00:00

Hello,

I am using already 4 whisper nodes. I was testing the 5th and I was able to upload sketches via arduino IDE up until yesterday.
Since then, whenever I try to upload anything I get the following

avrdude: Version 6.3, compiled on Jan 17 2017 at 12:00:53
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch

System wide configuration file is "C:\Users\userid\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\tools\avrdude\6.3.0-arduino9/etc/avrdude.conf"

Using Port : COM8
Using Programmer : arduino
Overriding Baud Rate : 115200
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x54
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x61
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x73
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6b
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x52
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x75
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6e
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6e
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x69
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6e

avrdude done. Thank you.

An error occurred while uploading the sketch

I did the following
-- changed usb cable
-- changed the ftdi connector (usb to serial). The same connector works fine for other whisper nodes
-- Reinstalled arduino IDE
-- Factory reset does not work. Tried multiple times but the blue led is not blinking fast as documented

I am using a 5V ftdi as per the documentation.
I also noticed that when the problem happened, the default blink script is loaded on the node (blinking LED) and I am sure that I have not uploaded it myself.
I can still open the serial monitor connection and I can see the serialprint output of the sketch

I am not sure what is going on.
How can I bring this node back into a functional state ?

regards,
cgeorgia

Talk2 · PostMay 09, 2018#22018-05-09T22:15+00:00

Hi,

Could pls post details about your FTDI device? It sounds it's able to use the TX but maybe the RX and the DTR/RTS is not working.

Can you still program the other boards?

How about the factory reset, what happens when you hold BT1 and power the board while keeping holding BT1? Does anything blinks?

Finally, do you have an ISP programmer? You might try to re program the bootloader.

xnih13 · PostMay 10, 2018#32018-05-10T21:29+00:00

Typically when I've run into this issue I've done a factory reset on the board and then been able to flash it fine.

cgeorgia · PostMay 10, 2018#42018-05-10T21:44+00:00

Hello,

As I mentioned the factory reset process does not work. The leds are not blinking fast as mentioned in the documentation. Nothing seems to happen and I have tried this more than a dozen times

I can still program other whisper nodes with the same FTDI programmer
I am using this

Yesterday I have tried uploading using another arduino as a ISP programmer and it worked like a charm. I will try to have a look again one of these days and hopefully i can gather more info

Talk2 · PostMay 29, 2018#52018-05-29T13:09+00:00

Hi cgeorgia,

Have a look at your Bootloader version. This will appear on the "Splash Screen" when factory reset. Make sure you have a version >= 2.2 (major.minor)

Ee found an issue related to the low-power usage on an old batch which causes trouble when re-programming via Serial (FTDI). This has been fixed since but this specifically batch needs requires a bootloader upgrade to fix it.

Regards,