Upgrade Rev. C BBB's to "Diecimila-like" software reset capability

The new Arduino 0009 & 0010 IDE revisions introduced software reset of the microcontroller. This means that you don't have to push the reset button on every download. Just click the download button in the IDE and it all happens for you. You can also burn the new bootloader onto your chip and get rid of the 10 second wait that it takes for a sketch to start, after downloading or resetting. Even without the Diecimila bootloader however, you get the freedom from having to mess with the reset button. So no more clicking the reset button.

The currently shipping Rev. D Bare Bones Boards have all this built into them, but if you want to upgrade an older Rev. B or C board to software reset, here are the instructions.

The hack

This one is really simple. You have to obtain a .1uf capacitor from Radio Shack or another source. If you're sending chips back I'll be glad to send you as many as you need for free. The voltage rating should be 10 volts or higher. Anything you can find at Radio Shack will work fine.

Solder one end to the RTS pin, which is the rightmost pin in the photo.

This pioneering model was done by my friend and colleague Brian Riley of wulfden.org who also generously took the photos.

The other end goes to the nearest corner of the switch as shown. That's it. FINI. You have auto-reset, if you are using Arduino 0009 or 0010.

The next step, if you want to get rid of the wait, is to send back your chips or reprogram them yourselves.

If you are doing a lot of Bare-Bones work, this might be the time to purchase a AVRISPmkII, so you can burn your own chips. They're about $40 from Digikey.

Windows Users:

You will need to set a parameter with your serial port to get the serial port to produce the required signal.