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9:50 AM
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Q: SD card failed to initialize

George SpI have a Pro Micro board and I try to make it list my files as in the example of the Arduino IDE. The pins I use are the following: board micro sd module D4 ---> CS D15 ---> SCK D14 ---> MISO D16 ---> MOSI GND ---> GND VCC ---> VCC On the serial monitor I get "initialliz...

sd-card arduino-pro-micro
 
Juraj
Juraj
did you insert the card?
what are the voltages of board and SD module?
 
George Sp
George Sp
@jsotola I study computer science man, this is not one of my possible mistakes. But thank you for your comment
@Juraj Yes I inserted the card. How can I see the voltages?
 
Juraj
Juraj
in specification. pro micro's are 5 V or 3.3V. SD card modules are with voltage conversion to 5 V or only a holder for SD card with 3.3V native voltage
 
George Sp
George Sp
So the voltages are ok? I connect it to my pc via usb. How can I look further to this? I am sure it should have worked by now.
@MichelKeijzers I did, any guesses?
 
Juraj
Juraj
connection to USB doesn't say anything about voltages. add links to where you bought them, if you don't know the specs
 
George Sp
George Sp
9:50 AM
I bought both the board and the module a long time ago from Ebay. The module is from Catalex and says v1.0. My sd card is a standard one (Kingston 4gb) and the module is probably the cheapest pro micro on ebay.
 
Juraj
Juraj
Catalex SD module is 5 V. On pro micro you could measure a voltage of an OUTPUT HIGH pin
 
George Sp
George Sp
How do I do this?
 
Juraj
Juraj
is the SD card formatted to FAT or FAT32?
 
George Sp
George Sp
I am not sure. Could this be the problem?
 
Juraj
Juraj
that would be definitely the problem. put the card in a computer and check it
 
George Sp
George Sp
9:50 AM
it was ntfs I am sure, I am formating it to FAT now. But this should be a problem at software level, doesn't it? Due to my sketch it seems that it fails to init
 
Juraj
Juraj
do you have a voltmeter/multimeter to measure voltage of vcc or a pin?
 
George Sp
George Sp
No, not yet. I have ordered a multimeter but it has not arrived yet
 
Juraj
Juraj
is something written on the bottom side of the pro micro?
 
George Sp
George Sp
Y it says 5V and 3.3V
are you here?
 
Juraj
Juraj
yes, but I am out of ideas. some say that it is better to format the card with official formater sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4
 
George Sp
George Sp
10:06 AM
Are any leds that should be blinking when the module is working?
Could my breadboard be problematic? A friend of mine who is an electrical engineer said that some breadboards are better and this is loose so the connections might not be ok
 
Juraj
Juraj
no. no LEDs. what arduino board you select in IDE? did you install some additional Arduino core package for it?
is one of the voltages on the bottom side 'checked'?
 
George Sp
George Sp
The IDE automatically selects Arduino Leonardo. No, no additional packages and no voltage checked.
what is this last link?
 
Juraj
Juraj
if you only selected Micro that is not right. you need the Sparkfun package for the Pro Micro
 
George Sp
George Sp
I dont use it
aaah ok, I didnt knew
how do i get it?
 
Juraj
Juraj
then install it. the MCU is same as Leonardo or Micro so it will Upload, but the pin map is different
I compared now. The SPI pins and D4 are the same as for Leonardo.
Yes the breadboard could be a problem. Do you have male-femal jumper wires?
 
George Sp
George Sp
10:26 AM
I installed the sparkfun board drivers etc
No, only male-mal
e
 
Juraj
Juraj
who soldered the pins? the headers are inserted from opposite side
is one of the voltages on the bottom side 'checked'?
 
George Sp
George Sp
I did no soldering, this is as it was when I bought them. No, it just writes 5V and 3.3V
 
Juraj
Juraj
if it works as Leonardo, the it will be the 5 V version
 
George Sp
George Sp
yes probably
I just uploaded a script with the sparkfun pro micro 3.3V selected
it didnt work and now that i try to reprogram it
IDE can not find the com i insert it into
 
Juraj
Juraj
10:44 AM
use double reset to activate the bootloader right before the upload
 
George Sp
George Sp
10:55 AM
what do you mean?
 
Juraj
Juraj
reset button on the board. if the sketch fails, USB is not handled. so you must activate the bootloader by pushing reset twice. led should blink fast until it is active
 
George Sp
George Sp
this board doesnt have that button
 
Juraj
Juraj
then wire a button between ground and reset pin
 
George Sp
George Sp
11:13 AM
i am a complete noob
can you tell me how?
 
Juraj
Juraj
on the breadboard. I see on pictures you have a button there. the button can connect two traces. you need only one.
 
George Sp
George Sp
if this is right
my breadboard is not working properly
is this supposed to work?
 
George Sp
George Sp
11:41 AM
like this?
I am really frustrated
 
Juraj
Juraj
11:54 AM
the first one was ok. and the board doesn't reset
?
 
George Sp
George Sp
no
i saw no blinking
 
Juraj
Juraj
the try it without button. connect the wire ends for a moment
 
George Sp
George Sp
tried that too
I even tried with one wire and just touch the two pins
shouldnt this work too?
 
Juraj
Juraj
then connect the two pins without the breadboard. with some metallic tip for a very short time
 
George Sp
George Sp
this?
 
Juraj
Juraj
12:08 PM
this is your board?
the headers are not soldered?
 
George Sp
George Sp
no they are not
should they?
 
Juraj
Juraj
OMG
 
George Sp
George Sp
ok i think i got it
they should
 
Juraj
Juraj
ok. I will not write this in the answer. but accept that about formatting :-)
 
George Sp
George Sp
are you 100% sure this is why it does not work?
i will but lets be sure
 
Juraj
Juraj
12:10 PM
yes.
 
George Sp
George Sp
ok
but why do i have to solder them?
i mean, the wire is a closed circuit and i touch the pin holes
 
Juraj
Juraj
they have no contact without solder.
the metallic rings around holes on pcb are only on surface
insert headers with short end into pcb and solder them
find some video
 
 
1 hour later…
Juraj
Juraj
1:30 PM
accept my answer because the question attracts new answer
 

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