Lazyzero's Flashtool on Windows 8

by MadtaskRC | March 30, 2013 | (4) Posted in How To
The Lazyzero Flashtool is not my work and I do not intend to advertize the software but nevertheless it reduces the procedure of flashing Controllerboards to a minimum.

Downloading the Flashtool:

To get the original flashtool visit the link at the bottom of the article. I suggest downloading the latest stable version.

In order to flash your boards you will need a USB-programming module.

Due to the driver policy on Windows computers you will need to install the correct drivers for the corresponding modules.

The most commonly used programming modules are:

USBasp:

(10-pin Connector; picture source: http://www.spaelectronics.com/shop/images/detailed/0/AC-PG-USBASP_02_LRG.jpg)

AVR ISP MKII:

The AVR ISP MKII is the original programming module by Atmel. This device is very pricy but fortunately there are alternatives which are the AVR ISP MKII Clones.

(Original and pricy AVRISP mkII; picture source: http://www.atmel.com/Images/AVRISPmkII.jpg)

The inexpensive clone:

(picture source: http://www.mikrocontroller.net/attachment/120451/Bascom_Schwenkhebler_DIAMEX-ALL-AVR.jpg)

The positive aspect of these clone boards is the fact that both 10- and 6-pin connectors are soldered to the board. All you have to do is change a jumper and the programming module will use the correct header.

Here's a link to the manual of this clone: http://www.diamex.de/dxshop/mediafiles//Sonstiges/All-AVR-Anleitung.pdf  (unfortunately it's in German^^)

Installing UNSIGNED drivers on Windows 8:

Depending on your AVR programming module (USBasp, AVRISP MKII, USBtinyISP or other) you need to install the correct drivers.
A list of drivers is published on Lazyzero's website. The links to the drivers are also listed at the end of this article.
In order to use the programming module on your modern day computer (Windows 8) you need to install an UNSIGNED driver, here’s how to do this:

1. Download the driver, unzip it. The folder with the driver should look something like this:
(Example: Driver for USBasp)

2. DO NOT run any of the executables, instead plug in your AVR programmer

3. The computer should recognize the device but it doesn't know what to do with it. Opening the Device Manager shows an exclamation mark above the symbol of the unkown device.

The following steps (between the horizontal lines) are from:
http://www.tabletroms.com/forums/visual-land-tablets/5894-how-install-unsigned-drivers-windows-8-a.html
I installed the drivers for both USBasp and AVR ISP MKII the following way and it worked perfectly.
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. move your mouse curser to the upper right part on the screen, then select
"Settings" -> “Change PC Settings“-> Choose “General“
–> Under “Advanced Startup” –> “Restart now“ (at the end of the list).
5. Now the system will restart and might take some minutes to show the boot menu. Wait for it patiently. After some time you will be prompted with a menu with following options:
1. Continue
2. Troubleshoot
3. Turn off
Choose “Troubleshoot“.
6. Then the following menu appears:
-Refresh your PC
-Reset your PC
-Advanced Options
Choose “Advanced Options“.
7. Then the following menu appears:
-System Restore
-System Image Recovery
-Automatic Repair
-Command Prompt
-Windows Startup settings
Choose “Windows Startup Settings“, then Click “Restart“.
 
8. Now the computer will restart again and the another boot menu appears.
Choose “Disable Driver signature Enforcement” from the menu.
Now Windows will start and you can do the installation of an unsigned driver.
_________________________________________________________________________________

 

9. With the security feature turned off now open the Device manager and right-click on the unknown device (which is your programmer!).
10. Click on "Update driver software" (or equivalent).
11. Choose the option to search for the driver manually on your hard drive.
12. Navigate to the folder with the unzipped driver files and tick the box to include all subfolders.
13. In the next step Windows will show a warning that you are trying to install an unsigned driver. Just continue by clicking on “Install this Driver software anyway“.


(Warning when installing unsigned drivers)


14. Windows should install the driver and recognize your AVR-programmer. Now you can use this programmer with Software like AVR-Studio but also Lazyzero’s flashtool!

If you have several different USB programmering modules you can install all the drivers before resetting the computer.

 

The right connection:

The KK boards all use a 6-pin header, so be sure to buy a programming module with a 6-pin connector. If you bought a programming modules with a 10-pin connector you will have to change the connector plug (cut off the 10-pin plug) an reroute the cables to the corresponding pins on the 6-pin plug.
The Lazyzero website explaines how to create such a plug.

You can also get a 10-to-6-pin adapter such as this one:

(10-to-6-pin adapter; picture source: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/844/842/519/519842844_832.jpg)

 

The Java-Runtime Environment:

The Lazyzero Flashtool requires the Java-Runtime-Environment to function.

If you are using a 32bit system be sure to download the corresponding version of the Runtime Environment. Otherwise download the 64bit-version.

Be sure to download and run the package in Desktop-Mode of Windows 8. Trying to install the package in App-Mode will result in a fail due to the two “seperated operating systems“ running parallel on Windows 8 (Windows desktop and the encapsulated App Sandbox).

After installing the Runtime Environment I suggest to restart the computer. After rebooting, navigate to the unzipped Lazyzero Flashtool folder and search for the .jar file. Choose to open this file with the Java-Runtime Environment.

The first time I opened the software it took extremely long but eventually worked fine.

 

Thank you Lazyzero!!!

I thank Lazyzero for his work. His Software makes flashing Controllerboards and ESCs easy and fast.

Weiter so…

 

List of Downloads:

 

Lazyzero Flashtool:                      http://lazyzero.de/en/modellbau/kkmulticopterflashtool

 

USBasp-Driver:                            http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/

 

AVRISP MKII-Driver:                     http://mightyohm.com/blog/2010/09/avrisp-mkii-libusb-drivers-for-windows-7-vista-x64/

 

USBTinyISP:                                  http://mightyohm.com/blog/2010/09/fixed-usbtinyisp-drivers-for-64-bit-windows-7/

 

Java-Runtime Environment:       http://www.java.com/de/download/manual.jsp

 

COMMENTS

casehatter on April 6, 2013
Thank you man
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MadtaskRC on April 7, 2013
Np, it took me ages to find out, too :-D
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00youknowit00 on June 5, 2014
Thank you so much!
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Lazyzero's Flashtool on Windows 8