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Looking for feedback...

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:18 am
by mightyohm
For those of you who have purchased one of my AVR Rescue Shield kits, can you share your experiences on this forum?

Were you able to get the kit assembled and working? What was your target AVR? Any suggestions or improvements you would like to see?

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:53 pm
by Smerky
Hello,

I found building the rescue shield to be pretty easy. It didn't take me very long.

I've successfully flashed a attiny2313 using the RescueShield.

And my background is being a CS student who does electronics outside of course work. I haven't ever had any "formal" electronics class or anything of that sort.

Smerky

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:23 pm
by mightyohm
Smerky,

That is great to hear - thanks for the feedback and have fun with the kit! :D

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 8:16 pm
by OMERO
This project works and its great! ... Congratulations.
I'm in Brazil and why not buy a kit ... here is complicated.
Based on their information, which did a similar partial image in attachment (TOP LAYER).
Did the DC-DC convert with transistors ('http://www.romanblack.com/smps/conv.htm' page information) and it worked very well ... switching was also modified.
Do not put more detail because I do not know if it is possible or necessary.
Sorry for my English ... Eduardo.

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:05 am
by mightyohm
Nice work, Eduardo. Thanks for sharing your layout!

I would like to point out that I do in fact ship internationally and have sent HV Rescue Shields to many customers around the world.

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 3:51 pm
by matthewbeckler
Hey Jeff,

I'm working on a handful of projects based on the tiny13a, which has only 6 IO pins, so I really need to use them all, including the reset pin. I've read that if I change the config fuses to use the reset pin as an IO pin, then I'll be unable to use my usbtinyISP programmer to reprogram the part, and that I'll need a high voltage programmer to reprogram it. Your HV rescue shield certainly sounds like the right thing, but I wanted to check and see if my information matches what you know.

Have you found any good guides to the myraid of different programming methods for the AVR parts? It seems like there's ISP, JTAG, high-voltage, and possibly others. I'm rather confused on this all.

Thirdly, have you tried the HV rescue shield with any of the other AtTiny series chips?

Thanks for your help, and if it turns out my knowledge is correct, and that your shield can rescue attiny8's, then I'll definitely be placing an order!

--
Matthew Beckler
Wayne and Layne, LLC
http://wayneandlayne.com/

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:55 am
by mightyohm
Matthew,

The single best resource I have found is the datasheet for the part I am using. Towards the end of the datasheet there is a section on "Memory Programming" - read this and you should be able to figure out what modes your device supports.

I haven't tested the Rescue Shield with any ATtiny chips other than the 2313. Some of the smaller pincount parts (such as the ATtiny13A) don't support parallel mode programming, as they don't have enough pins. Instead, they support high voltage serial programming. This should be implementable on the Rescue Shield, but I haven't done it. By writing some new code and making an adapter to get the signals to the right pins on the ATtiny, it should be possible to program the part. The important thing electrically is to pull the RESET pin up to 12V to enter programming mode, and the built-in 12V DC-DC converter on the Rescue Shield does this for you.

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:40 am
by emo
Greetings! First off, I must say thank you for saving my bacon! :)

I just recently received the RescueShield 2.1 kit and put it together with no problems. I used it to recover an ATmega168 I had bricked. I had no spares, and I feeble attempts to replace it with a 328 had failed. I had seen a posting (Hack-A-Day, I think) and had my eye on it for quite a while before I finally bought a kit. Now, I can't imagine doing without one. I also recovered the 328 I had bricked attempting to fix that same project.

How can the HVRS2.1 be more awesome? I can only suggest some "deluxe" options:
ZIF sockets! (optional)
To allow the shield to rescue chips in a stand-alone mode:
- add a socket selection button
- add an led near each chip socket to indicate which one is selected

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:57 am
by mightyohm
emo -

Glad to help Rescue your 328! Thanks for the kind words!

Those are both excellent suggestions! I wanted to add ZIF as an option, but it is tricky to do because of the size (ZIF are usually much larger than regular sockets). Perhaps I need to reevaluate this!

Thank you!

Re: Looking for feedback...

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:21 pm
by jox
I just obtain HV Rescue Shield v2.1. I successfully make read/write fuses from ATtiny45 with Arduino Duemilanove 328. Thanks for making this HV Rescue shield.

Greetings from Slovakia