Initializing the Microcontroller

Tools needed for programming the Power-Failure-Logger:

 USBTiny or USBasp Programmer (refer to AVRDude Class for more information on Programmers)
 Any RS232 to USB interface. I used the Silicon Labs Prolific CP210x USB to UART Bridge. 
 Digital volt meter  

Setting up the ATMega328 chip

 Unplug any USB Power before programming the Microcontroller. 
 Plug the USBTiny Programmer into the AVR-ISP 6 pin header J7.
 Place the Jumper across J8 on the Power-Failure-Logger PCB to use the USBTiny 5 volt power. Make sure no other power source is connected!  
 Using AVRDUDE Validate the USBTiny is communicating with the Power Fail Module PCB.
 Type the following command in the Windows terminal.
 avrdude -c usbtiny -p m328p 

 Connected and Working properly should match this picture.  
  

 Trouble shooting any connection issues to the microcontroller refer back to the AVRDude Class. The link is below.
 If you get the following error message in AVRDUDE see trouble shooting.
 avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1

Trouble shooting

USBTiny does not connect with the ATmega Chip. Check the following:
Is a Jumper connected across J8.  
ATMega328 chip is plug in correctly into the socket.
USBTiny is powered on.
USBTiny is visible in Device Manager under LibUSB-Win32 Devices

Setting the Microcontroller to 16MHz

 The Microcontroller is set to 1HMz and needs to be changed to 16 MHz Default
 Enter the following AVRDude command to set the fuse bits on the Microcontroller.
 avrdude -p m328p -c usbtiny -v -U lfuse:w:0xFF:m -U hfuse:w:0xDE:m -U efuse:w:0xFF:m  
 
 Validate the fuses are now set correctly by using the following AVRDUDE command: 
 avrdude -c usbtiny -p m328p -v 

 Make sure the microcontroller matches these settings:
 avrdude: safemode: hfuse reads as DE
 avrdude: safemode: efuse reads as FF
 avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H:DE, L:FF)
 avrdude done.  Thank you.

 
 For more information about using AVRDude refer back to this link 
 ==AVRDUDE Class==

ADD SD Card Reader
Insert SD Card Reader module into the Power Logger PCB at J6.
Make sure the Arduino IDE has the following libraries installed before programming the board:

#include <SPI.h>              // SPI Interface that the SD card module will use.
#include <SD.h>               // Library for the SD card.

Next step: Setting Time and Date for the DS3231 RTC. Click on link below

---