RAMBo ver 1.2 Firmware Upload Timeout

[Adam Greene]

I just got my viki LCD in the mail from MakerGear today, and after plugging everything in (following the instructions on the makergear wikidot page), I tried to update the firmware via the Arduino IDE (ver 10.0.5). 

Marlin.pde compiles correctly and the uploading progress bar jumps to 90%, but then it just stays there indefinitely until I get this timeout error:

Binary sketch size: 109,900 bytes (of a 258,048 byte maximum)

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout

avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer

I've tried it on different ports, quadruple-checked the pins on the RAMBo (mine's a version 1.2, shipped December of 2013), with and without the power brick plugged in, and even with the LCD unplugged from the board. Still nothing.

I've since realized that I can't even re-upload the basic Marlin firmware, or any firmware for that matter. It always times out during the upload phase.

(I have the 24v power supply)


This is super frustrating. I just want to play with my new screen. Any ideas?

[Adam Greene]

I've done some research, and according to this disappointing thread:

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?PHPSESSID=n1mu8hotgv3i8u8dnp0i9nt7j2&topic=83079.75

 apparently this error is horrifyingly common with the Mega2560, which the RAMBo is based on, and is most likely a hardware issue.
Come to think of it, I don't recall ever having successfully uploaded new firmware to my board..

[Adam Greene]

OK, after about 12 hours of searching, I found a very strange solution. Oddly enough, I got the firmware to upload fine just by pressing the reset button every few seconds during the upload. It's completely ridiculous, but the new firmware is running and my LCD is working just fine now.

So if anyone runs into this problem in the future, I'd recommend angrily pressing the reset button over and over during the upload. It worked for me!

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 10:01:03 PM UTC-4, Adam Greene wrote: