Support: Unable to write flash with bootloader on ATmega8

[gauravahuja]

I burned the bootloader urboot/atmega8/watchdog_1_s/autobaud/uart0_rxd0_txd1/led+b5/urboot_atmega8_pr_ee_ce.hex with lock and fuses as lock:0xFF hfuse:0xC5 lfuse:0xBF

The bootloader is running and I can enter into terminal mode as shown from my terminal session below. However, the bootloader fails to write to flash. I am not sure what the issue is. I am using a Apple M1 Pro with Sonoma 14.4.1.

Please help. Thanks

avrdude -xdelay=100 -v -p atmega8 -C /Users/gaurav/.platformio/packages/tool-avrdude/avrdude.conf -c urclock -xnometadata -b 9600 -D -P /dev/cu.usbserial-1110 -t

avrdude: Version 7.3-20240428 (37ac6eba)
         Copyright the AVRDUDE authors;
         see https://github.com/avrdudes/avrdude/blob/main/AUTHORS

         System wide configuration file is /Users/gaurav/.platformio/packages/tool-avrdude/avrdude.conf
avrdude avr_get_mem_type() warning: avr_mem_order[] does not know data; add to array and recompile
         User configuration file is /Users/gaurav/.avrduderc
         User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping
avrdude main() warning: System wide configuration file version ()
        does not match Avrdude build version (7.3-20240428 (37ac6eba))

         Using port            : /dev/cu.usbserial-1110
         Using programmer      : urclock
         Setting baud rate     : 9600
         AVR Part              : ATmega8
         Programming modes     : ISP, HVPP, SPM
         Programmer Type       : Urclock
         Description           : Urclock programmer for urboot bootloaders using urprotocol
         Urboot protocol for ATmega8
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
avrdude: device signature = 0x1e9307 (probably m8)
avrdude> dump eeprom 0 16
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.06 s
0000  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  |................|
avrdude> dump flash 0 32
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00 s
0000  3f cf 64 c0 63 c0 62 c0  61 c0 60 c0 5f c0 5e c0  |?.d.c.b.a.`._.^.|
0010  5d c0 f1 c1 5b c0 5b c2  35 c2 58 c0 57 c0 56 c0  |]...[.[.5.X.W.V.|
avrdude> write flash .pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex
Caching |                                                    | 0% 0.00 s
avrdude cmd_write() warning: (write) programmer write protects flash address 0x0000
avrdude cmd_write() warning: (write) programmer write protects flash address 0x0001
Caching | #                                                  | 1% 0.00 s
avrdude cmd_write() warning: (write) programmer write protects flash address 0x0024
Caching | ################################################## | 100% 1.97 s
avrdude> quit
avrdude: synching cache to device ...
Writing |                                                    | 0% 0.00 s
avrdude urclock_recv() warning: programmer is not responding
Writing | -------------------------------------------------- | 0% 0.50 s
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash
avrdude writeCachePage() error: flash access error at addr 0x00c0
avrdude: synching cache to device ...
Writing | -------------------------------------------------- | 0% 0.33 s
avrdude urclock_res_check() error: protocol expects sync byte 0xa0 but got 0x00 in urclock_paged_write()
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash
avrdude writeCachePage() error: flash access error at addr 0x00c0
avrdude urclock_recv() warning: programmer is not responding

avrdude done.  Thank you.

[stefanrueger]

AVRDUDE should be given the conf file that matches its version. An older conf file is no good.

If you want to upload a hex file to the target, it's better to use -U and not the terminal. Have you tried sth like

avrdude -xdelay=100 -v -p atmega8  -c urclock -xnometadata -b 9600 -D -P /dev/cu.usbserial-1110 -U .pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex

The reason being that vector bootloaders need to patch the uploaded application, which is done on -U.

[gauravahuja]

@stefanrueger I tried the following command as you suggested. I am also using the avrdude that was installed along with platformio instead of the one I had installed with homebrew, so the config file should match the version. Unfortunately it still fails to write.

/Users/gaurav/.platformio/packages/tool-avrdude/avrdude -xdelay=100 -v -p atmega8 -C /Users/gaurav/.platformio/packages/tool-avrdude/avrdude.conf -c urclock -xnometadata -b 9600 -D -P /dev/cu.usbserial-110 -U flash:w:.pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex:i

avrdude: Version 7.2-arduino.1
         Copyright the AVRDUDE authors;
         see https://github.com/avrdudes/avrdude/blob/main/AUTHORS

         System wide configuration file is /Users/gaurav/.platformio/packages/tool-avrdude/avrdude.conf
         User configuration file is /Users/gaurav/.avrduderc
         User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping

         Using Port                    : /dev/cu.usbserial-110
         Using Programmer              : urclock
         Overriding Baud Rate          : 9600
         AVR Part                      : ATmega8
         Chip Erase delay              : 9000 us
         PAGEL                         : PD7
         BS2                           : PC2
         RESET disposition             : possible i/o
         RETRY pulse                   : SCK
         Serial program mode           : yes
         Parallel program mode         : yes
         Timeout                       : 200
         StabDelay                     : 100
         CmdexeDelay                   : 25
         SyncLoops                     : 32
         PollIndex                     : 3
         PollValue                     : 0x53
         Memory Detail                 :

                                           Block Poll               Page                       Polled
           Memory Type Alias    Mode Delay Size  Indx Paged  Size   Size #Pages MinW  MaxW   ReadBack
           ----------- -------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
           eeprom                  4    20   128    0 no        512    4      0  9000  9000 0xff 0xff
           flash                  33    10    64    0 yes      8192   64    128  4500  4500 0xff 0x00
           lfuse                   0     0     0    0 no          1    1      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           hfuse                   0     0     0    0 no          1    1      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           lock                    0     0     0    0 no          1    1      0  4500  4500 0x00 0x00
           signature               0     0     0    0 no          3    1      0     0     0 0x00 0x00
           calibration             0     0     0    0 no          4    1      0     0     0 0x00 0x00

         Programmer Type : Urclock
         Description     : Urclock programmer for urboot bootloaders using urprotocol
         Urboot protocol for ATmega8
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
avrdude: device signature = 0x1e9307 (probably m8)

avrdude: processing -U flash:w:.pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex:i
avrdude: reading input file .pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex for flash
         with 1862 bytes in 1 section within [0, 0x745]
         using 30 pages and 58 pad bytes
avrdude: preparing flash input for device bootloader
avrdude: writing 1862 bytes flash ...
Writing | 
avrdude urclock_recv() warning: programmer is not responding
#------------------------------------------------- | 3% 0.50s
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
.
. Same error about 4000 times
.
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude urclock_write_byte() error: bootloader does not implement bytewise write to flash 
 ***failed;
avrdude: 1862 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against .pio/build/Upload_UART/firmware.hex
Reading | -------------------------------------------------- | 0% 0.21s
avrdude urclock_res_check() error: protocol expects sync byte 0xa0 but got 0x00 in urclock_paged_load()
avrdude urclock_recv() warning: programmer is not responding
avrdude avr_read_mem() error: unable to read byte at address 0x0000
avrdude avr_read_mem() error: read operation not supported for memory flash
avrdude do_op() error: unable to read all of flash memory, rc=-2
avrdude urclock_recv() warning: programmer is not responding
avrdude ser_close() OS error: cannot reset attributes for device: Invalid argument

avrdude done.  Thank you.

[stefanrueger]

Beats me. Fuses are OK. You can communicate with the b/loader. I predict avrdude -c urclock -xshowall will say something sensible. Maybe try higher/lower baudrates? Your fuses indicate an external full-rail-to-rail, high-frequency XTAL, so this autobaud b/loader should be able to deal with much higher baud rates. Maybe try a new urboot v8.0 bootloader? This one should be the equivalent version of yours:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stefanrueger/urboot.hex/main/mcus/atmega8/watchdog_1_s/autobaud/uart0_rxd0_txd1/led%2Bb5/urboot_m8_1s_autobaud_uart0_rxd0_txd1_led%2Bb5_pr_ee_ce.hex

It should be the penultimate one of the table in this directory

v8.0 bootloaders have been tested on related parts ATmega16 and ATmega32A. Other than the trouble shooting list of the urboot project (scroll down) I have no idea what could have gone wrong. I did have problems in the past with some MCUs, which were cheapo knock-off versions of the real thing but with subtle differences. I don't expect this to happen frequently, though.

[stefanrueger]

@gauravahuja Have you made progress with your issue? Let me know once you've solved this.

I don't have the ATmega8, but I've just tested urboot v8.0 myself with the bigger sibling ATmega16A and it worked just fine.

[gauravahuja]

@stefanrueger, I was trying to source a different computer to test the setup. I was able to use a Linux machine and the hex file was successfully flashed to the ATmega8 with my existing setup. For some reason it always fails with my 14'' M1 MacBook Pro.

[stefanrueger]

For some reason it always fails with my 14'' M1 MacBook Pro

Maybe try the build tips for Mac here? If you are unable to get AVRDUDE to work with your urboot bootloader on your Mac, please raise an issue at the avrdude project.

Seeing this does not appear to be an urboot problem, I'm closing the issue.

Out of interest, so I can record a report of urboot working on this chip: is your ATmega8 bootloader v7.7 or v8.0? And is the actual chip an ATmega8 or an ATmega8A?

[gauravahuja]

The chip is ATmega8L with urboot v7.7.1