Arduino + Xbee Communication Problems

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1

I am unable to upload a sketch from the Arduino IDE to my Arduino Uno connected to an Xbee shield. I have a computer connected to an Xbee modem which IS communicationg with the shield on the Arduino, I know that the two are communicating because they both appear on XCTU as connected. However, when I attempt to upload a sketch from Arduino to the board, it gives me this error message:

avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xf1
Problem uploading to board. See arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions.

If you guys have ANY ideas as to what could be causing this, please do post them because this has taken me a month of frustration and I cannot find any other articles online that have the same problem. Thanks!

2

Hi,

The error you receive from avrdude (the software used by the Arduino IDE to upload code to Arduino boards) is giving you its most generic error :: it cannot find your AVR chip.

This typically means that you have a communication issue between the Arduino IDE and your Arduino board.

Typically, Arduino UNO boards are programmed using their USB port (hardwired to pins 0/1 also known as RX/TX). If you wish to program the board using wireless communication, you will need to ensure that the data coming from the XBee shield is going to the right pins (0/1). Also, as you can see in this schematic of an Arduino Uno, the Arduino’s reset pin is also tied an output from the serial interface (the ATmega8).

If you are trying to program the board using USB, then your shield is most likely simply interfering with the pins 0/1, therefore preventing the board from being detectable by AVR dude.

As for wireless upload to your Arduino, you can find many details tutorials online with a quick search for something like “arduino programming wireless xbee”.

Sincerely,