Xplained Yourself

Description

mEDBG debuggers are able to program and debug SPI/dWire, UPDI, SWD, TP interfaces. They also include build-in clock and UART. Pretty neat! It's heart is ATmega32U4!
This clone is based on schematics and software provided by Microchip. Original mEDBG is tight to only one type of MCU, but I hacked it's memory. Xplained Yourself isn't tied to one MCU type. It can program and debug all MCUs with corresponding interface. When changing from one interface to another eg. from ISP/dW to SWD, you'll have to change firmware. Fortunately it is very simple, just boot into bootloader: press RST and HWB, than release RST and wait till your PC sees 32U4, then release HWB. In atmel studio go to programming, select appropriate firmware files, program and reset Xplained Yourself board, and you're ready to debugging.

Please consider some donation for the time and effort I used to develop his project. I included PayPal link in the links area-under gallery and team on the left

Details

It is Microchip/Atmel Xplained mini/nano mEDBG debugger with some additional features:

level translation,
USB 5V VBUS Schottky diode protection,
build in 3.3V LDO,
target voltage jumper selector: 5V (4.7V actually), 3.3V, external/other,
power, programming and target power sensing LEDs,
hacked code responsible for MCU selection: it is possible to program and debug all MCUs with compatible interface : ISP/dWire (most megaAVR and tinyAVR), SWD (all Atmel's ARMs), UPDI (new megaAVR and tinyAVR: called "0" and "1" series), TPI (some small tinyAVR)

(a little bit outdated) table showing interfaces in AVR / SAM families:

Files

XYS_1.1.1c_all.zip board, schematic in graphic and Eagle formats, gerbers Xplained Yourseld rev.1.1.1c for SPI/dW/UPDI/SWD/TPI minor changes compared to the previous version - final version application/x-zip-compressed - 835.51 kB - 12/02/2018 at 15:49		Download
XYS_1.1.1c_gerber.zip gerbers Xplained Yourseld rev.1.1.1c for SPI/dW/UPDI/SWD/TPI application/x-zip-compressed - 317.03 kB - 12/02/2018 at 15:49		Download
XYS_1.1.1b.zip board and schematic in graphic and Eagle formats Xplained Yourseld rev.1.1.1b for SPI/dW/UPDI/SWD/TPI semifinal version (with minor mistakes) x-zip-compressed - 316.43 kB - 11/19/2018 at 17:11		Download
XplainedYourself_1.0.zip Board and schematic picture and Eagle Xplained Yourseld rev.1.0 for SPI/dW/UPDI/SWD only x-zip-compressed - 136.65 kB - 11/18/2018 at 20:42		Download
XplainedYourself_1.1.0.zip Schematic only: picture and Eagle Xplained Yourseld rev.1.1.0 for SPI/dW/UPDI/SWD/TPI design not finished, no board file yet, have to change generic Chinese lever converters to something integrated x-zip-compressed - 202.77 kB - 11/18/2018 at 20:40		Download

View all 6 files

Components

1 × ATmega32U4 Microprocessors, Microcontrollers, DSPs / ARM, RISC-Based Microcontrollers
2 × Resistor 100k 0805 footprint
3 × Resistor 330 0805 footprint
2 × Resistor 22R 0805 footprint
1 × ISP 3x2 Header

View all 22 components

Project Logs

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Tindie store for Xplained Yourself PCBs
vidmo • 04/11/2019 at 19:09 • 0 comments

Hi, I decided to open Tindie store for selling some spare boards I have. They aren't populated, but I can make a few to order, just contact me. I don't have to solder them, I might as well sell them as DIY kit...
rev. 1.1.1b review and rev. 1.1.1c
vidmo • 12/02/2018 at 16:07 • 0 comments
This is how ready Xplained Yourself rev. 1.1.1b looks like:
It works great. I tested it with ATmega328P and ATtiny1616 as far. It can program and debug, no surprise here :)
I didn't have ferrite bead so I replaced it with piece of wire, also I didn;t have one 47u capacitor, so I replaced 1117's output cap with 1u ceramic one. I'll order them when I'll have more parts to buy.

I made few minor mistakes:
- LED name - is programming indicator not power. (I added power LED with it's resistor across C4)
- Few ground vias are not connected.
- No via is tinted.
- Few names are hidden beneath footprints.
I changed that in 1.1.1c. I also added some improvements:
- More ground fields for better screening signals.
- Power LED.
- Target voltage sensing LED.
- Test point for ATmega's reset (external programmer is needed to set clock out fuse, which is necessary for routing clock signal to CLKO pin).
- 5V protection Schottky diode. Schottky diodes have low drop - 0.3V. That means, output voltage is 4.7V, which is safe for 16MHZ and 20MHz AVRs, and should be enough.
- Signal names on silkscreen.
- I moved few traces I was afraid could touch others.
Rev. 1.1.1b
vidmo • 11/19/2018 at 17:32 • 0 comments

I made semifinal version. It includes MOSFET level translators. (It might become final after successful tests)
I wanted to include integrated level translator, but they are expensive (MAX3002) or hard to find (GTL2003) or reported faulty (74245 with AVRISP mkII). There might be some conspiracy: none of the above have pinout compatible with another!
I chose BSS138 MOSFETs because I inspired myself with Sparkfun's level converter tutorial. I believe, that generic level converters, I have, have the same transistors (or something with worse parameters) and they work properly, so it's worth a shoot.
New board is bigger than 1.0, but still pretty small ~45x90mm (something like ~1.8"x3.6").
I ordered few PCBs from Chinese manufacturer. They should arrive this week, I'll test them ASAP.
Oh! The "b" in reversion means, that there was 1.1.1 in the process. In 1.1.1 I used autorouter, which did the job I wasn't satisfied with. Then I saved it with different name, rip up that mess and routed it manually.

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Build Instructions

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1

Components and board

Rev. 1.0 was designed for ISP/dW only (mostly as a proof of concept). By coincidence it can be used with UPDI and SWD also. It lacks level converter, so be careful.
Rev. 1.1.0 was designed to program and debug all 4 interfaces: SPI/dW / SWD / UPDI / TPI. I also want to include level converter in debugger itself for simplicity and safety.
Rev. 1.1.1b is 1.1.0 with MOSFET level converters included into schematic. I chose MOSFETS, because i tested those generic Chinese converters with SWD, and they worked good. Second reason was problems with IC converter: it's hard to get GTL2003, MAX3002 is more expensive, than 32U4, 74245 was reported faulty with AVRISP mkII.

Rev. 1.0 can be build around Arduino Micro (or others with suitable pins exposed)
Rev. 1.1.0 could use Arduino, but TPI needs pin connected to RxD LED (it would involve some hardware hacking).
Arduinos with 32U4 have different bootloader, than stock 32U4s. You should be able to program them with avrdude or reprogram bootloader with different programmer. DFU bootloader is avaliable at the very bottom of 32U4's page

Bom of Rev. 1.0:

C1,2,4,5 100n 0805
C3,6 1u 0805
C7,8 12p 0805
ISP1 6 pin AVR ISP 3x2 HEADER
J1 USB_MICRO-B_FEMALE-SMT
J2 4x1 HEADER
Q1 CRYSTALSM49 SM49 16MHz
R1,2 22 0805
R3,4 100k 0805
R5 330 0805
R6 3k3 0805
S1,2 MOMENTARY-SWITCH-SPST-2-SMD-5.2MM
U$1 ATMEGA32U4-AU TQFP44

Rev. 1.1.0 uses all above and additionally:

1x 1117 3V3 LDO
2x 4u7 polarized capacitor
2x generic Chinese lever converter (will be replaced with something integrated)
2x 6x1 header
1x 3x1 header with jumper
1x LED 0805
1x 330 0805 resistor
Rev. 1.1.1b uses all 1.0 components and additionally:

1x 1117 3V3 LDO
2x 4u7 polarized capacitor
2x 6x1 header
1x 5x1 header with jumper
1x LED 0805
1x 330 0805 resistor
16x 10k 0805 resistor
8x SSB138 MOSFET
There's BOM generated by Eagle in Rev. 1.1.1b package (use it for orders, I might skipped something).
You can etch or get PCBs done by some fab. It's your choice. I made Rev. 1.0 with few jumpers on bottom side, so it can be made as one sided. It's fairly easy to solder 0805s and ATmega with iron.
2

(re)programming ATmega 32U4

You'll need Atmel Studio.
For new board goto 1a, and for reprogramming goto 1b.
1a. Connect Xplained Yourself board to USB, Atmel Studio should show new tool (View>Available Atmel Tools): Atmel Mega DFU. (if not goto 1b and check continuity in your board).
1b. Turn bootloader on by: press HWB button, press RST button, release RST, wait few seconds, release HWB.
2. Go into programming mode (RMB click on DFU), Select ATmega 32U4, and read signature.
3. Program Flash and EEPROM (in Memories tab) with the same protocol.
4. Reset board with RST button.
5. Here's your fresh, new debugger!

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Discussions

rbruno96 wrote 08/31/2019 at 18:13

Hi! Been looking for AVRICE, dragon, etc. clones for a long time without any success. Finally I came across this great hack! I developed an entire project prototype without any proper debugging, just UART-read variables and LEDs as ok/not ok and trust me it took much longer because of lack of a debugger (dWire in my case, for ATmega328). I will try to bulid your debugger from a hacked Arduino Pro Micro (cannot get Arduino Micro where I live), which has not one necessary pin exposed and I will have to work it out.
Maybe I'll make a breakout board and try it in breadboard, if I cannot get it to work at first attempts.

Thank you!

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André Neves wrote 03/12/2019 at 19:04

Hello Vidmo.

Thank you for your great job.

I am trying to use avrdude and arduino IDE to program my atmega4809, but I can not program it.

Is it possible using atmega32u4?

Thank you!

Are you sure? yes | no

Dimitrios Chr. Ioannidis wrote 02/10/2019 at 10:57

Hi,

first let me thank you again for this project. I implement it on breadboard and it works great.

FYI, I think I found a limitation. I tried to use debugwire on a atmega328p board running at 20MHz and I couldn't get it to work. It works if I change the fuses on the board to use external clock but this beat the purpose in my case ( timing bugs ).

Anyway thx again.

Are you sure? yes | no

vidmo wrote 02/21/2019 at 16:05

Thanks for that info. I will check that out. You could try to overclock 32U4 to 20 MHz. I'll try that as soon as I get 20MHz crystals.

Are you sure? yes | no

Lloyd Blythen wrote 02/09/2019 at 08:27

Just found this but I'll certainly study it. Looks like a great job on a project that's potentially very useful. There's been plenty of discussion elsewhere about turning an Xplained Mini's on-board target into an STK500 programmer for standalone chips; it's generally considered interesting but uneconomic. This project is the first I've seen that addresses the board's greater potential as a debugger. Thanks for all your work, vidmo, and especially for publishing it :-)

One question: is your hacked code proprietary? Can't see it among the files or anywhere else here.

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Kieran Paulger wrote 12/11/2018 at 12:10

I just wanted to thank you for your work, I have a attiny416 xplained board, flashed your code on, and now it works perfectly as a generic UPDI programmer for the ATTINY816

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Dimitrios Chr. Ioannidis wrote 11/21/2018 at 09:41

Hi I'm very interested in this.

EDIT : Deleted my RTFM question.

PS: ( If it works I'm planning to implement the mEDBG protocol for the Lazarus IDE using the Free Pascal AVR compiler. )

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Xplained Yourself

Description

Details

Files

XYS_1.1.1c_all.zip

XYS_1.1.1c_gerber.zip

XYS_1.1.1b.zip