AVR USART Random Behaviour

Question

I seem to be getting random character in my USART output with an ATMEGA8

uart.c

#define FOSC 8000000
#define BAUD_RATE 9600
#define UBRR_VALUE (uint16_t)(FOSC/16/BAUD_RATE-1)

#include "uart.h"

volatile u8buf UART_RCV_BUFFER;
FILE uart0_str = FDEV_SETUP_STREAM(UARTSendByte, UARTReceiveByte, _FDEV_SETUP_RW);

ISR(USART_RXC_vect)
{
    //got a byte from USART. add to buffer
    volatile uint8_t data;
    scanf("%c",&data);
    if((UART_BUFFER_WRITE(&UART_RCV_BUFFER, data)==1) || (data=='.'))
    {
        //either buffer full or '.' received
        //stop the UART receiver unit + disable interrupt
        UCSRB &= ~((1<<RXEN) | (1<<RXCIE));
    }
}

ISR(USART_UDRE_vect)
{
    volatile uint8_t data;
    if(UART_BUFFER_READ(&UART_RCV_BUFFER, &data)==1)
    {
        //end of buffer reached. nothing more to transmit
        //disable RX
        UCSRB &= ~((1<<RXEN) | (1<<RXCIE));
        //reset buffer
        UART_BUFFER_INIT(&UART_RCV_BUFFER);
        //enable  RX side
        UCSRB |= ((1<<RXEN) | (1<<RXCIE));
    }
    else printf("%c",&data);
}

void UART_WRITE_STRING(char* str)
{
    //Sending a string without any command
    //disable RX/TX interrupts
    UCSRB &= ~((1<<RXCIE) | (1<<UDRIE));
    printf("%s",str);
    //re-enable RX/TX interrupts
    UCSRB |= (1<<RXCIE) | (1<<UDRIE);
}


void UART_INIT(void)
{
    UBRRH = (uint8_t)(UBRR_VALUE>>8); //set UBRR register
    UBRRL = (uint8_t)UBRR_VALUE;
    UCSRC = (1<<URSEL) | (1<<UCSZ1) | (1<<UCSZ0);//set frame format: asynchronous,8data,1stop,no parity
    UCSRB = (1<<TXEN) | (1<<RXEN) | (1<<RXCIE) | (1<<UDRIE);

    UART_BUFFER_INIT(&UART_RCV_BUFFER);
    stdin=&uart0_str;
    stdout=&uart0_str;  
}


void UART_BUFFER_INIT(volatile u8buf *buf)
{
    buf->index = 0;
}

uint8_t UART_BUFFER_WRITE(volatile u8buf *buf, volatile uint8_t data)
{
    if(buf->index<UART_RCV_BUF_SIZE)
    {
        buf->index = data;
        buf->index++;
        return 0;
    }
    else return 1;

}

uint8_t UART_BUFFER_READ(volatile u8buf *buf, volatile uint8_t *data)
{
    if(buf->index>0)
    {
        buf->index--;
        *data = buf->buffer[buf->index];
        return 0;
    }
    else return 1;
}

int UARTSendByte(char u8data, FILE *stream)
{
    if(u8data=='\n')
    {
        UARTSendByte('\r',0);
    }
    while(!(UCSRA&(1<<UDRE))){};
    UDR = u8data;
    return 0;
}

int UARTReceiveByte(FILE *stream)
{
    uint8_t data;
    // Wait for byte to be received
    while(!(UCSRA&(1<<RXC))){};
    data=UDR;
    //echo input data
    UARTSendByte(data,stream);
    // Return received data
    return data;
}

main.c

#include "uart.h"
#include "twi.h"



int main (void)
{
    DDRC = 0x01; //set PC0 as output
    PORTC = 0x01; //turn on PC0
    //PD0 = RXD = INPUT
    //PD1 = TXD = OUTPUT
    DDRD = 0x03;

    UART_INIT(); //initialize UART
    sei(); //Enable global interrpts

    //_delay_ms(500);   

    UART_WRITE_STRING("Hello World ! 1:)\n");
    UART_WRITE_STRING("Hello World ! 2:)\n");
    UART_WRITE_STRING("Hello World ! 3:)\n");
    for(;;)
    {

    }
}

This upon execution should give me

Hello World ! 1:)
Hello World ! 2:)
Hello World ! 3:)

But what i get is

\n\nHello World ! 1:)
Hello World ! 2:)
Hello World ! 3:)

the number of \n is random. Sometimes there is none, sometimes 1 or 2 or 3. Any idea what I am doing wrong here?

Answer 1

It is a good habit to flush serial input buffer on your PC before starting to use it to ensure sender and receiver are synchronized. One useful trick is not to send your raw data, but encapsulate it in a frame of which you can easily recognize start, end and payload. You probably want to add a checksum too, so you can simply check if the data you received is the same as the data you tried to send.

Useful similar other questions:

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