Programming the Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V

[sj44k]

Being new to the whole Arduino world, I seem to make a few dumb assumptions and I really am not able to easily find an answer on google. So sorry for bothering you but I am having a nasty issue.

Trying to minimize my sensors I recently bought a 5v and 3,3v arduino pro mini (both one as an experiment)
Programming the 5v version works like a charm using my PL2303 USB To RS232 TTL Converter Adapter which I used for some other project I did.

As this little baby has a 3,3v I asumed (here we go :) ) connecting the 3,3v Arduino pro mini to this when using the 3,3v Pin instead of the 5v pin I normaly use should work.

But it does not, the 3,3v Arduino powers on just fine and starts running the blink example it got shipped with. But using the same procedure as the 5v Arduino pro mini to program its (which works fine) this little thing is just not getting the communication on.

So can someone tell me if I am just unlucky and the procedure I use should work and I might have an deffective 3,3v Arduino or that I really need to buy the FTDI Basic Breakout USB-TTL 6 PIN 3.3/5V to get this baby programmed.

Thanks for helping me out.

[ceech]

Did you try and select the 3.3V version of the Pro mini in the boards menu of the Arduino IDE?

[sj44k]

Yes I did

[ceech]

It should work nevertheless.

[sj44k]

So with my USB to Serial converter it should work ? So the Arduino Module is defect ?

[ceech]

I can not say. Probably not. All I can tell you is that the ATmega chip is the same on both versions and that voltage levels shouldn't matter in this case.
I just tried what you did and it worked.

[grzegorzc]

I see that your converter does not have a DTR line. Did you press at the right time the reset button when uploading sketch?

[sj44k]

@grzegorzc
You are correct I need to do the manual reset I tried (at least 30 times) , but as stated above unsuccessful.

I use the same procedure for the 5v version and I have a success rate of 95%. So I do not get it.

I will get my hands on an FDTI with DTR Line this week hope this will solve my issue but current setup seems unsuccessful with the 3,3v Pro Mini.
[update]

I worked yesterday with this FTDI USB to TTL Serial Adapter Module for Arduino Mini Port 3.3V 5V and still no luck.

Same behavior all over, my 5v arduino pro mini boards worked like a charm, but when I changed the arduino boards to this 3,3v Arduino pro mini board no luck what so ever.
Jumper is on 3,3v and Arduino runs the pre programmed BLINK sketch fine, but no way on earth I am getting it programmed with another (not even an empty) sketch.

Anyone ?

[sj44k]

Well so far no luck, and someone I know has exact the same issues, bought the boards from another seller (batch of 10) but the boards look 100% alike as fare my naked eye can tell.

We did a lot of different experiments, which where all 100% successful on the 5v version, even with the FDTI on 3,3 volts (fluke multimeter checked) the 5v versions behaves perfect, the 3,3volts no luck whatsoever.

My guess is that it's either a bad batch or completely fake.
Took me too much time so might experiment a bit with it.

Will order a different type to see if this a bad batch.

If anyone has a supplier (link) they received working 3,3v Pro Mini board from ? This would be very valuable information

[Sparkman]

@sj44k I recently bought these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131091305008 and have been able to program them successfully with this programmer: http://www.ebay.com/itm/320907184616.

Cheers
Al

[sj44k]

@Sparkman Thanks !

[tejo]

You have an Arduino Uno? Try with this. Arduino is ISP.

[sj44k]

@tejo
What do you propose exactly ? An ISP is needed to do the bootloader burn. But as the BLINK sketch the supplier loaded the bootloader is working right otherwise the system would not be able to run the BLINK sketch.

Could you be a bit more specific ? I would still love to get this to work :)

[tejo]

I understood that you can not make new uploads at 3.3V Arduino with your converter. the fact that the pre-loaded program work does not mean much because you only this feeding the Arduino. if the question is about having bought Arduino defective, and recording using another Arduino as ISP, this will show for you. if record, the problem is the pair converter / Arduino 3.3v. use another Arduino as a recorder. look in the Arduino sketch the ISP and you will understand the interconnection pins.
if I get it wrong, forgive me, it is the difficulty with the language.