Atmel ICE passed away

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ixremedy
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Posted by ixremedy: Mon. Sep 28, 2015 - 04:24 PM
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Hi!

 

It's very common for us that our AVR Dragons die repeatedly but we've got the repair elements to fix them, so that's not a problem.

 

But a couple of days ago we've got an Atmel ICE dead and can't figure out what to do.

A six-pin power element gets a frying pan hot and the device doesn't get detected by the OS.

I've attached an image and highlighted the heating element with a red rectangle.

 

If you know what/why this happens and what elements we should replace to get it up and running, 

I would be very thankful to get to know from you.

 

Thanks a million!

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Image icon IMG497_mod.jpg

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Tools, In-System Debuggers and Programmers
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meslomp
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Posted by meslomp: Wed. Sep 30, 2015 - 05:47 AM
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for a start.

have you build a dragon liar lair to protect the dragon? or are you using them as is?

building the liar should keep teh dragons up and running better in harsh conditions.

 

on the ice....

judging on the trackwork going into and comming out of that chippy in combination with surrounding components it looks like a SMPS regulator.

normally these things do not die easy. My first guess would be that something else has died and now the current drain is so high that this regulator gets to its boiling point.

are you sure no other components get hot in the process?

I would expect the inductor to also get hot as that is also then handling a lot of current.

 

 

EDIT: typo fixed

Last Edited: Thu. Oct 1, 2015 - 06:54 AM
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ixremedy
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Posted by ixremedy: Thu. Oct 1, 2015 - 06:27 AM
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Hi!

 

Thank you for the response. We are using AVR Dragons as they come, but that's less embarrassing since we've found out what to do when they die. Years of expertise of fixing them in 10 minutes :) We always take care that we have replacement components. And they don't die more frequently than once in 3 months or so. And that's with several guys heavily using them for work each an every day for programming and debugging :)

More embarrassing is the situation with Atmel ICE because we don't have proper schematics for them and can't trace what to fix. If we find the source of problem, that would be fine. Atmel ICE can upload the firmware (which in our case for one of the projects that we make is huge) in one tens of seconds, whereas with AVR dragon you would wait for several minutes.

 

May it be that someone has schematics for Atmel ICE? We would trace what's wrong with it.

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 01:44 PM (Reply to #3)
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Hi!

I have the same problem with Atmel ICE! Element that you colored on board is heated highly( Want to ask, did you solve the problem? If you did, can help pls. Don't know what to do(

Thanks!

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jgmdesign
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Posted by jgmdesign: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 02:05 PM
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MY first question is your ICE a bare bones board only, or is it in a case?

 

I have a couple of ICE units - In cases, and I have yet to kill one(now I jinxed myself).  I would question what you are doing that would cause these units to pop.

 

Jim

I would rather attempt something great and fail, than attempt nothing and succeed - Fortune Cookie

 

"The critical shortage here is not stuff, but time." - Johan Ekdahl

 

"Step N is required before you can do step N+1!" - ka7ehk

 

"If you want a career with a known path - become an undertaker. Dead people don't sue!" - Kartman

"Why is there a "Highway to Hell" and only a "Stairway to Heaven"? A prediction of the expected traffic load?"  - Lee "theusch"

 

Speak sweetly. It makes your words easier to digest when at a later date you have to eat them ;-)  - Source Unknown

Please Read: Code-of-Conduct

Atmel Studio6.2/AS7, DipTrace, Quartus, MPLAB, RSLogix user

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 02:14 PM (Reply to #5)
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It is in case. Measured temperatur with thermal imager, it was above 150'C. It worked normally, suddenly began burning without unnecessary movements(

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jgmdesign
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Posted by jgmdesign: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 03:08 PM
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What else is plugged into your USB ports on your PC.  What did you have it connected to for programming?  Were you using the ICE to power your board?(thats a big no no)

 

Just telling us "MY ICE DIED" is not going to get you much help.  Regardless if we know what the part number is, it would help to know what your setup is for others that may run into your problem.

 

JIm

I would rather attempt something great and fail, than attempt nothing and succeed - Fortune Cookie

 

"The critical shortage here is not stuff, but time." - Johan Ekdahl

 

"Step N is required before you can do step N+1!" - ka7ehk

 

"If you want a career with a known path - become an undertaker. Dead people don't sue!" - Kartman

"Why is there a "Highway to Hell" and only a "Stairway to Heaven"? A prediction of the expected traffic load?"  - Lee "theusch"

 

Speak sweetly. It makes your words easier to digest when at a later date you have to eat them ;-)  - Source Unknown

Please Read: Code-of-Conduct

Atmel Studio6.2/AS7, DipTrace, Quartus, MPLAB, RSLogix user

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ki0bk
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Posted by ki0bk: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 05:50 PM
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Could you post your solutions for the dragon! 

 

(Possum Lodge oath) Quando omni flunkus, moritati.

"I thought growing old would take longer"

 

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jgmdesign
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Posted by jgmdesign: Mon. Nov 14, 2016 - 06:14 PM
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ki0bk wrote:

Could you post your solutions for the dragon! 

This is a thread resurrected from a year ago.  If you search the site (use Google) there are many threads on fixes.

 

JIm

I would rather attempt something great and fail, than attempt nothing and succeed - Fortune Cookie

 

"The critical shortage here is not stuff, but time." - Johan Ekdahl

 

"Step N is required before you can do step N+1!" - ka7ehk

 

"If you want a career with a known path - become an undertaker. Dead people don't sue!" - Kartman

"Why is there a "Highway to Hell" and only a "Stairway to Heaven"? A prediction of the expected traffic load?"  - Lee "theusch"

 

Speak sweetly. It makes your words easier to digest when at a later date you have to eat them ;-)  - Source Unknown

Please Read: Code-of-Conduct

Atmel Studio6.2/AS7, DipTrace, Quartus, MPLAB, RSLogix user

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 06:57 AM
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jgmdesign wrote:

What else is plugged into your USB ports on your PC.  What did you have it connected to for programming?  Were you using the ICE to power your board?(thats a big no no)

 

Just telling us "MY ICE DIED" is not going to get you much help.  Regardless if we know what the part number is, it would help to know what your setup is for others that may run into your problem.

 

JIm

 

Ok! Just keyboard and mouse are plugged into ports. Using my ICE for programming ATTiny44, board is powered separately from power supply 24V. Board converts 24V to 5V for working with proc. So when i used spi  mode for programming,  target voltage was 5,8V, and atmel studio prints warning: voltage above 4,8 and 5,5V, do you want to continue? But if continue, ICE works normally, it programms board and in debug mode no errors occur. Before i did not notice that it heated, yesterday i discovered it. Heats exaxtly that element on picture colored red. So what i have to do?( Thanks!

P.S. Sorry for my english. I'm working on it)

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Image icon IMG497_mod.jpg
Last Edited: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 06:58 AM
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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 08:33 AM
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target voltage was 5,8V, and atmel studio prints warning: voltage above 4,8 and 5,5V, do you want to continue? But if continue, ICE works normally​....

.... until the component dissipating the power gets very hot and fails.  Your regulator is not producing 5V and that is causing the problem.  You were warned about the problem and you seem surprised that the ICE has died.  What more could have been done to stop you blowing up your ICE?

 

David  

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 09:12 AM (Reply to #11)
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Thanks for answer! But the thing is that ICE works and didn't die. I found the problem which can cause complete breakdown. Now i don't touch it, so came here for help to solve problem before it'll die)

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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 09:24 AM
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I found the problem which can cause complete breakdown.

So what was the problem and how have you resolved it?

 

David 

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 09:36 AM
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DAFlippers wrote:

I found the problem which can cause complete breakdown.

So what was the problem and how have you resolved it?

 

David 

Atmel ICE heated highly(abnormally) - problem!

So don't know what to do(

 

My english is terrible, sorry that misled you)

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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 10:01 AM
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Check what your '5v' rail actually is with a meter.  The ICE thinks it is 5.8v which is likely to be the problem.

 

David  

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 10:21 AM
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DAFlippers wrote:

Check what your '5v' rail actually is with a meter.  The ICE thinks it is 5.8v which is likely to be the problem.

 

David  

 

Checked on proc voltage, it is 5V. The ICE heated always even it is not connected to board.  When just connect ICE to the PC it starts to warm up.

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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 12:28 PM
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Are you saying it gets too hot to touch with just a USB connection?  Do you see the same effect if you try a different PC? 

 

David

 

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 01:39 PM (Reply to #17)
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Exactly! I tried 5 different PCs, all the same( 

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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 01:49 PM
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In that case, it sounds like the ICE might be faulty. 

 

David

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DAFlippers
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Posted by DAFlippers: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 01:53 PM
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Just to be clear when I said 'just a USB connection​' that means only USB and no ribbon cables. 

 

David

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M_Bek
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Posted by M_Bek: Tue. Nov 15, 2016 - 02:04 PM
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DAFlippers wrote:

Just to be clear when I said 'just a USB connection​' that means only USB and no ribbon cables. 

 

David

 

Yeap, just usb connection! So just change in store? Or try to fix it up?

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