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Atmega bootloader programmer

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Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,102 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Sun 06 May 2012 09:52 PM (UTC)

Amended on Mon 02 Apr 2018 10:13 PM (UTC) by Nick Gammon

Message
This page can be quickly reached from the link: http://www.gammon.com.au/bootloader


This sketch was inspired by the Optiloader sketch written for the Arduino. However it is a total rewrite, in order to accomodate the Mega2560 board, which the original one did not handle, due to the larger address space.

Supported bootloaders


The code for the following bootloaders is incorporated in the sketch, and will be downloaded depending on which signature is detected:


  • Atmega8 (1024 bytes)
  • Atmega168 Optiboot (512 bytes)
  • Atmega328 Optiboot (for Uno etc. at 16 MHz) (512 bytes)
  • Atmega328 (8 MHz) for Lilypad etc. (2048 bytes)
  • Atmega32U4 for Leonardo (4096 bytes)
  • Atmega1280 Optiboot (1024 bytes)
  • Atmega1284 Optiboot (1024 bytes)
  • Atmega2560 with fixes for watchdog timer problem (8192 bytes)
  • Atmega16U2 - the bootloader on the USB interface chip of the Uno
  • Atmega256RFR2 - the bootloader on the Pinoccio Scout board


You have the option of programming (writing) the bootloader or verifying (checking) the existing bootloader.

[EDIT] Changed on 26 November 2014 to allow you to optionally omit some of the above bootloaders to save space in the programming board (eg. for the Arduino Micro).

Code


Source on GitHub

The latest version will be available on GitHub:

https://github.com/nickgammon/arduino_sketches

You can see from that what recent changes were.

This particular sketch is in the "Atmega_Board_Programmer" subdirectory.

Decoupling capacitors



Tip

If you are programming your own board, or using a breadboard, then decoupling capacitors are required! Decoupling capacitors are typically ceramic capacitors, 0.1 µF (100 nF) between Vcc and Gnd (and also AVcc and Gnd if applicable), close to the chip.

If you don't use them you may find that the chip is recognized, but cannot be programmed. They are not an optional extra.

If you are just programming one Arduino board from another, then they will already have decoupling capacitors on the board, so you don't need to worry about them.


Programming cable


For boards which have an ICSP header, it helps to make up a programming cable (although not essential). You can do this by getting a 6-pin IDC cable, and cutting the 5th wire out of circuit and soldering a pin onto it, like this:



This wire (the reset signal) gets plugged into D10 on the Arduino with the programming sketch on it, as in the images below.

If you don't have such a cable, just connect together the pins as described below.

Programming a board


Upload above sketch to the "programming" Uno. Connect programming cable as shown.

Wiring for Uno and similar




(Ruggeduino depicted with programming cable)



(Uno depicted with "manual" programming cable)


Arduino Uno      Target Uno

D10 (SS)            Reset
D11 (MOSI)          D11
D12 (MISO)          D12
D13 (SCK)           D13

Gnd                 Gnd
+5V                 +5V


Example output for Uno



Atmega chip programmer.
Written by Nick Gammon.
Entered programming mode OK.
Signature = 0x1E 0x95 0x0F 
Processor = ATmega328P
Flash memory size = 32768 bytes.
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDE 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Bootloader address = 0x7E00
Bootloader length = 512 bytes.
Type 'G' to program the chip with the bootloader ...


Once you see the above, type "G" into the serial monitor to commence programming ...


Erasing chip ...
Writing bootloader ...
Committing page starting at 0x7E00
Committing page starting at 0x7E80
Committing page starting at 0x7F00
Committing page starting at 0x7F80
Written.
Verifying ...
No errors found.
Writing fuses ...
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDE 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Done.
Type 'C' when ready to continue with another chip ...


This takes one second.

[EDIT] The more recent versions of the sketch ask this question:


Type 'L' to use Lilypad (8 MHz) loader, or 'U' for Uno (16 MHz) loader ...


Type "U" if you are using a Uno (or any board running at 16 MHz) or "L" if you are using an 8 MHz board.

[EDIT] (23 December 2013) Sketch version 1.21 onwards automatically clears the "divide clock by 8" fuse bit before programming.

Wiring for Mega2560 and similar





Arduino Uno      Target Mega2560

D10 (SS)            Reset
D11 (MOSI)          D51
D12 (MISO)          D50
D13 (SCK)           D52

Gnd                 Gnd
+5V                 +5V


Example output for Mega2560



Atmega chip programmer.
Written by Nick Gammon.
Entered programming mode OK.
Signature = 0x1E 0x98 0x01 
Processor = ATmega2560
Flash memory size = 262144 bytes.
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xD8 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Bootloader address = 0x3E000
Bootloader length = 8192 bytes.
Type 'G' to program the chip with the bootloader ...


Once you see the above, type "G" into the serial monitor to commence programming ...


Erasing chip ...
Writing bootloader ...
Committing page starting at 0x3E000
Committing page starting at 0x3E100
Committing page starting at 0x3E200
Committing page starting at 0x3E300
Committing page starting at 0x3E400
Committing page starting at 0x3E500
Committing page starting at 0x3E600
Committing page starting at 0x3E700
Committing page starting at 0x3E800
Committing page starting at 0x3E900
Committing page starting at 0x3EA00
Committing page starting at 0x3EB00
Committing page starting at 0x3EC00
Committing page starting at 0x3ED00
Committing page starting at 0x3EE00
Committing page starting at 0x3EF00
Committing page starting at 0x3F000
Committing page starting at 0x3F100
Committing page starting at 0x3F200
Committing page starting at 0x3F300
Committing page starting at 0x3F400
Committing page starting at 0x3F500
Committing page starting at 0x3F600
Committing page starting at 0x3F700
Committing page starting at 0x3F800
Committing page starting at 0x3F900
Committing page starting at 0x3FA00
Committing page starting at 0x3FB00
Committing page starting at 0x3FC00
Committing page starting at 0x3FD00
Committing page starting at 0x3FE00
Committing page starting at 0x3FF00
Written.
Verifying ...
No errors found.
Writing fuses ...
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xD8 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Done.
Type 'C' when ready to continue with another chip ...


This takes three seconds.

Programming a "bare bones" board





Atmega chip programmer.
Written by Nick Gammon.
Entered programming mode OK.
Signature = 0x1E 0x95 0x0F 
Processor = ATmega328P
Flash memory size = 32768 bytes.
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDA 
EFuse = 0xFC 
Lock byte = 0xFF 
Bootloader address = 0x7E00
Bootloader length = 512 bytes.
Type 'G' to program the chip with the bootloader ...
Erasing chip ...
Writing bootloader ...
Committing page starting at 0x7E00
Committing page starting at 0x7E80
Committing page starting at 0x7F00
Committing page starting at 0x7F80
Written.
Verifying ...
No errors found.
Writing fuses ...
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDE 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Done.
Type 'C' when ready to continue with another chip ...


Note that the fuses were changed after the board was programmed.

Programming a RBB (really bare bones board)





Atmega chip programmer.
Written by Nick Gammon.
Entered programming mode OK.
Signature = 0x1E 0x95 0x0F 
Processor = ATmega328P
Flash memory size = 32768 bytes.
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDA 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Bootloader address = 0x7E00
Bootloader length = 512 bytes.
Type 'G' to program the chip with the bootloader ...
Erasing chip ...
Writing bootloader ...
Committing page starting at 0x7E00
Committing page starting at 0x7E80
Committing page starting at 0x7F00
Committing page starting at 0x7F80
Written.
Verifying ...
No errors found.
Writing fuses ...
LFuse = 0xFF 
HFuse = 0xDE 
EFuse = 0xFD 
Lock byte = 0xCF 
Done.
Type 'C' when ready to continue with another chip ...


Wiring for Leonardo


The Leonardo does not expose the ICSP pins on the board "header" pins so you either have to use the IDC programming cable described earlier, or connect the ICSP pins of both boards together using female-to-female hookup wire, like this:



You connect pin 1 of the ICSP header (the one with the dot) on one board to pin 1 on the other board. And connect pin 2 of each board together, and so on, omitting pin 5 which is Reset.

Reset on the Leonardo is connected to Pin 10 of the programming board, as shown.

Close-up of the wiring:



Pay attention to the pin numbers if you have the boards end-to-end because pin 1 on one board is not adjacent to pin 1 on the other board (because they are turned 180°).

You can use one Leonardo to program another Leonardo (or a Uno) providing you use this wiring method - use the ICSP headers as shown and connect them as shown.

Top-down view of the ICSP header. Notice the dot (which is printed on the board next to pin 1).



Adding other bootloaders


In order to convert the .hex bootloader files on disk for use with this sketch I ran this Lua script:


--[[
  Do MD5 sumcheck of Arduino bootloader .hex file
  Nick Gammon
  5 May 2012
  Amended 10 October 2014, to get PROGMEM line right for IDE 1.5.8

  To use:

  1. Download MUSHclient from: http://www.gammon.com.au/downloads/dlmushclient.htm
     MUSHclient is free and open source.
     Source code at: https://github.com/nickgammon/mushclient
     You are not required to enter any personal information to obtain the download.

  2. Install MUSHclient (requires Windows, or Wine on Linx and OS/X)

  3. Run MUSHclient (click past all the introductory screens)

  4. Make a "new world" in MUSHclient (File menu -> New World)

  5. Fill in the fields: 
     World name:     Arduino  (doesn't really matter what it is)
     TCP/IP address: 0.0.0.0
     Port:           4000     (doesn't really matter what it is)

  6. A window will open with various messages about the version number, etc.

  7. Open an Immediate scripting window (Game menu -> Immediate).
     Pressing Ctrl+I is a shortcut for this.

  8. Copy this script and paste it into the Immediate window (RH-click to do this)

  9. Click the Run button.

 10. Navigate to the bootloader .hex file that you want to process.

 11. Click "Open".

 12. Assuming no errors, close the Immediate window.

 13. In the output window you should see a whole lot of hex codes.

 14. Scroll back to the line of hyphens, and copy from the line below that, eg.
     ------------------------------------------------------------
     // File =  Arduino-COMBINED-dfu-usbserial-atmega16u2-Uno-Rev3.hex
     // Loader start: 3000, length: 4096
     // MD5 sum = D8 8C 70 6D FE 1F DC 38 82 1E CE AE 23 B2 E6 E7 
     const byte Arduino_COMBINED_dfu_usbserial_atmega16u2_Uno_Rev3_hex [] PROGMEM = {
      0x4B, 0xC0, 0x00, 0x00, 0x64, 0xC0, 0x00, 0x00, 0x62, 0xC0, 0x00, 0x00, 0x60, 0xC0, 0x00, 0x00, 
     ...
     }; // end of <whatever your file name was>
 
  That stuff is your bootloader as an array of bytes.

--]]


require "getlines"

loader = nil
adder = 0

-- given a start address, deduce where the bootloader ends
end_addresses = {
  [0x1000] = 0x2000,
  [0x1C00] = 0x2000,
  [0x1D00] = 0x2000,
  [0x1E00] = 0x2000,
  [0x3000] = 0x4000,
  [0x3800] = 0x4000,
  [0x3E00] = 0x4000,
  [0x7000] = 0x8000,
  [0x7800] = 0x8000,
  [0x7E00] = 0x8000,
  [0xF800] = 0x10000,
  [0x1F000] = 0x20000,
  [0x1FC00] = 0x20000,
  [0x3E000] = 0x40000,
  }

function process (size, address, rectype, data)

  size = tonumber (size, 16)
  address = tonumber (address, 16) + adder
  rectype = tonumber (rectype)
  local binarydata = utils.fromhex (data)

  if rectype == 2 then  -- Extended Segment Address Record
    adder = tonumber (data, 16) * 16  -- high order address byte    
  elseif rectype == 0 then -- data record
    if loader == nil then
      start_address = address
      end_address = end_addresses [address]
      if end_address == nil then
        ColourNote ("red", "", "Don't know end address for " .. bit.tostring (address, 16))
        ColourNote ("red", "", "Please add to table: end_addresses")
        error "Cannot continue"
      end -- if end address not found

      -- work out loader length
      length = end_address - address
      -- pre-fill with 0xFF in case not every byte supplied
      loader = string.rep ("\255", length)
      print (string.format ("// Loader start: %X, length: %i", address, length))
    end -- no loader yet

    -- insert data over where the 0xFF was
    if address >= start_address and (address + size) <= end_address then
      loader = loader:sub (1, address - start_address) .. 
               binarydata .. 
               loader:sub (address - start_address + size + 1, length)
    else
      ColourNote ("red", "", "Address " .. bit.tostring (address, 16) .. " out of expected range.")
    end  -- if in range
  end -- if

end -- function process

print (string.rep ("-", 60))

-- get bootloader file
filename = utils.filepicker ("Choose a bootloader", nil, "hex", { hex = "Hex files" })

-- none chosen, give up
if not filename then return end

-- show file
local fn = string.match (filename, "\\([^\\]+)$")
print ("// File = ", fn)

-- process each line
for line in io.lines (filename) do
  size, address, rectype, data = string.match (line, "^:(%x%x)(%x%x%x%x)(%x%x)(%x+)%s*$")
  if size then 
    process (size, address, rectype, data:sub (1, -3))
  else
    ColourNote ("red", "", "Discarded line: " .. line)
  end -- if
end -- for loop

--print (utils.tohex (loader))

-- sumcheck it
Tell ("// MD5 sum = ")
md5sum = utils.tohex (utils.md5 (loader))
print ((string.gsub (md5sum, "(%x%x)", "%1 ")))

print ""

--     show bootloader in hex

-- convert into C array
print (string.format ("const byte %s [] PROGMEM = {",
       string.gsub (fn, "[^%a%d]", "_")))
for i = 1, #loader do
  Tell (string.format ("0x%02X, ", loader:sub (i, i):byte ()))
  if (i - 1) % 16 == 15 then print "" end
end -- of for each byte
print (string.format ("}; // end of %s", string.gsub (fn, "[^%a%d]", "_")))


Because it uses a few special features (like a file picker, MD5 sum calculator etc.) you need to run this from within MUSHclient ... a MUD game client available for free download from this site.

Just download MUSHclient (see the downloads page) and install. Then make a "dummy" world file (File menu -> New World) and type in "Arduino" as the world name and "0.0.0.0" as the TCP/IP address, as shown:



Close the world configuration, and then type Ctrl+I to open the Immediate programming window (Game menu -> Immediate) and paste the above script into it, then hit Run, as shown:



A file-picker will open, you can navigate to the bootloader .hex file that you want to process, and then (all being well) the appropriate hex codes will be shown in the main window. Close the Immediate window, and then just copy and paste into your bootloader sketch (make a separate xxxx.h tab like I did for the other bootloaders).

You will then need to fill in the appropriate figures into the signatures table, such as the bootloader start address, size, programming page size (see the datasheet) and the correct fuse and lock bits. The fuse bytes will probably be the ones mentioned in the boards.txt file in the Arduino environment, for the chip in question.

The above script is now part of the download from GitHub in the file named: bootloader_converter.lua

Checking what bootloader is installed


The thread below describes a sketch that does a MD5 sumcheck of your bootloader, so you can see what bootloader you have installed:

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11633


Alternate clock source


As an alternative to a crystal or resonator, the sketch also outputs an 8 MHz clock on pin D9 of the programming board (using Timer 1). Thus you just need to connect D9 on the programming board to XTAL1 of the target board and this will provide a clock signal, enabling this sketch to run.

Atmega1280


Updated on 9 September 2013 to use the Optiboot loader for the Atmega1280. This is smaller and avoids certain issues like the inability to upload a sketch with "!!!" in it.

However please note that if you burn a bootloader for the 1280 chip you need to add this to the end of the boards.txt in the Arduino distribution folder:


##############################################################

megao.name=Arduino Mega1280 Optiboot
megao.upload.protocol=arduino
megao.upload.maximum_size=130048
megao.upload.speed=115200
megao.bootloader.low_fuses=0xff
megao.bootloader.high_fuses=0xdc
megao.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xf5
megao.bootloader.path=optiboot
megao.bootloader.file=optiboot_atmega1280.hex
megao.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
megao.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F
megao.build.mcu=atmega1280
megao.build.f_cpu=16000000L
megao.build.core=arduino
megao.build.variant=mega


In my case the file was in:


/Applications/Arduino_1.0.5.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/arduino/boards.txt


However you would need to find where it is in your distribution.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
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Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,102 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #1 on Mon 28 Oct 2013 11:50 PM (UTC)
Message
Using a Mega2560 as the programmer


The sketch above will also run on a Mega2560 board. However since it uses hardware SPI the wiring will be different.

Programming with custom cable


Simplest is to use the custom cable described above.



As for the Uno, you just connect the SPI headers together, except that pin 10 on the "programming" board is connected to Reset on the target board.

Programming a Uno with a Mega2560





Mega2560      Target Arduino Uno    
                 
  D10         Reset      
  D51         D11 (MOSI)     
  D50         D12 (MISO)     
  D52         D13 (SCK)      
                 
  Gnd         Gnd            
  +5V         +5V            


Programming a breadboard Atmega328P


See this link for making a breadboard Atmega328P:

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11637

You can program your breadboard "Arduino" with the following wiring, using a Mega2560:




Mega2560      Target Atmega328P   
                 
  D10         Pin  1 (Reset)      
  D51         Pin 17 (MOSI)     
  D50         Pin 18 (MISO)     
  D52         Pin 19 (SCK)      
                 
  Gnd         Gnd            
  +5V         +5V   

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
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Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,102 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #2 on Mon 03 Nov 2014 05:58 AM (UTC)

Amended on Wed 12 Nov 2014 01:07 AM (UTC) by Nick Gammon

Message
How to flash the USB chip on the Arduino Uno


Version 1.24 of the bootloader programmer sketch (available on GitHub) will now flash the bootloader of the Atmega16U2 chip on the Arduino Uno board. The Rev3 Uno boards have an SPI header for programming that chip as shown here:



This is the header labelled "ICSP for USB interface".

Note the location of pin 1 (marked).



Connect the ICSP pins together as shown (Connect 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6). However connect pin 5 (reset) on the target board to pin D10 on the programming board. This is so that the programming board can keep the target board in reset, so that it can be programmed.

Close-up of the wiring:



Once you have run the bootloader programming sketch (and typed "G" to upload the bootloader) it will erase the chip and replace the DFU bootloader with a copy identical to that which ships with the Uno. However since the chip is erased it no longer has the non-bootloader part of the code, which actually implements the serial interface with your computer.

To complete the process you have to enter DFU mode and then upload the serial interface code.

If you have just flashed the bootloader using the bootloader programmer sketch then it should enter DFU mode, visible because the pin 13 LED flashes rapidly.

If not, enter DFU mode by shorting together Reset and Ground briefly with a screwdriver or similar. They are the two left-most pins visible in the image above, nearest to the Reset button and below the hole on the board.

(Don't keep them shorted, just a brief touch should do it).




Once in DFU mode, you should see it appear as an Atmel USB device, if you type lsusb:


$ lsusb
...
Bus 003 Device 092: ID 03eb:2fef Atmel Corp. 
...


A Uno which is not in USB mode might look like this:


$ lsusb
...
Bus 003 Device 090: ID 2341:0043 Arduino SA Uno R3 (CDC ACM)
...


(or not appear at all if there is no firmware on it).




If you are using Ubuntu or similar you can obtain the DFU programmer as follows:


 sudo apt-get install dfu-programmer


You can obtain the code for the firmware from here:

http://gammon.com.au/Arduino/Arduino-atmega16u2-Uno-firmware-Rev3.hex

(RH-click and "save as" to put a copy on your hard disk).

Assuming you place that firmware in the current directory of your terminal window, you can now flash the code as follows:


sudo dfu-programmer atmega16u2 flash Arduino-atmega16u2-Uno-firmware-Rev3.hex


You should see a message like:


Validating...
4034 bytes used (32.83%)


Now you can unplug the USB cable, plug it back in, and the USB interface should be back to factory settings.

For other operating systems, such as Windows, you should be able to get a copy of the DFU programmer from:

https://github.com/dfu-programmer/dfu-programmer and http://dfu-programmer.github.io/

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
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Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,102 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #3 on Tue 21 Apr 2015 02:24 AM (UTC)

Amended on Tue 21 Apr 2015 02:25 AM (UTC) by Nick Gammon

Message
Update for Pinoccio Scout


Since 21 April 2015 (Version 1.33) this sketch also supports Atmega256rfr2-based boards, like the Pinoccio Scout. This board can be used as the programmer or target board.

When using the Pinoccio Scout board, take special care about the operating voltage. The Scout runs at 3.3V, so you cannot use it together with a board running at 5V (like most Arduinos) without using a voltage converter. Using two Scouts together, or a Scout and a 3.3V Arduino (like the Fio or an Arduino Pro at 3.3V) should be possible.

Since the Pinoccio Scout does not have a pin 10 available, the SS pin is used instead. On the target device, the reset (RST) pin is used as normal.

In the image below, the target is powered by connecting the VUSB pins together. Alternatively, you can just power the target board through USB as well (but still connect GND in this case). Remember that you cannot power a pinoccio board through the 3V3 pin, which is output only (and not enabled when running this sketch).

Note that the Atmega256rfr2 bootloader is not enabled by default. To enable it, modify the Atmega_Board_Programmer.ino file before compiling and uploading the sketch.



More details about the Scout at https://pinocc.io/

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
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