Amazing! That news just made my night. Although I was kinda hoping it would be a fix through the USB port. So your programmer is similar to the one mentioned in that website? I may have an old AVR programmer from years ago - any chance that might work? You’ll have to explain the reprogramming part in more detail… 
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Here is a quick write up on how I reprogrammed the fuse bits on the Atmega1280 of the QiDi controller board. I will post more info as time permits. SF 7.6 seems to be working OK. I can use my 4Gb SD card again. I did do some printing and things worked as expected. Works very much like the FlashForge Creator Pro, including the same PITA things.
Setting Up the QiDi Tech 1 for SailFish 7.pdf 10 (1.42 MB)
VERY much appreciated! Now off to find a compatible programmer…
My report on a successful upgrade to Sailfish 7.6.
Or why can’t I just leave things alone instead of putting myself into these situations.
I tried using AVRstudio version 4-7 but was unable figure out how to get it to recognize the usbasp programmer http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AX4WQ00?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s02 3 with http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CW80MP6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 2 10 to 6 pin adapter.
What I succeeded in doing was totally erasing the programming from the board. (@&$#)
Remember Google is your friend in times like this and I found a thread in the Google group MakerBot Operators. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/tBTVx85-hpg 5
Titled Loading firmware on a new Mightyboard Rev E.
What they do is link you to the hex files and give instructions needed to reload a blank Mightyboard just like mine was.
Using a program called AVRDude google it and a couple command prompts I was able to reload the hex files giving the board back USB functionality and then the bootloader which had the added benefit of setting the correct fuse bits. I’m not going to go in to detail on how to do It. It’s all in the MakerBot Operators thread.
I had to copy and make the hex files usable then modify and run their command lines to fit my programmer and environment.
The command line I used to load the bootloader hex file.
avrdude -p m1280 -F -P usb -c usbasp -U flash:w:bootloader/atmega1280.hex \ -U lfuse:w:0xFF:m -U hfuse:w:0xDA:m -U efuse:w:0xF4:m -U lock:w:0x0F:m
I do not recommend this procedure unless you’re your desperate and have a so called bricked board.
If you do decide to use this method I will not responsible for the results but you should read the MakerBot Operators thread closely.
Ron
Yikes! And congratulations on getting thru it Ron. Awesome recovery! Glad you are back up and running.
I will see if I can find anything about using AVR studio with these 3rd party vendor ISP programmers. The AVR studio way is obviously easier (and less heart stopping). I had just assumed, incorrectly it seems, that the 3rd party vendors would emulate an ISP programmer Atmel already makes.
(Perhaps just the command line for reprogramming the fuses with AVRDude…)
See my comment below on resetting the extruder offset in SF before doing any dual extruder prints. You will want to do that sooner than later…
Bill
Ron,
It appears that there is some software out there for this programmer that will allow fuse bit programming.
If you could check this out and see if it works, it may be of help to others trying this (and may prevent the memory erasure and not having to go thru avrdude):
http://extremeelectronics.co.in/software/extreme-burner-avr-1-3-beta-test/ 1
If you watch this video, at 32 seconds they show a fuse bit programming page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-V-jv4jSQw 4
Appears that you could go in and simply alter the fuse bits.
Bill
Bill,
I tried the eXtreme Burner AVR program with my usbasp programmer on an old CTC I picked up from Craigslist. Didn’t want to risk the Qidi Tech but it has the same board. The eXtreme burner does not have a ATmega 1280 chip option so you do get an error while reading the fuse bits. The fuse bits I read off the CTC was Low FF, High DA, Ext. FD, Lock CC and Calibration FFFFFFB6. Didn’t try to change anything but it looks like it might work. eXtreme Burner does have a ATmega2560 chip option.
Hope this helps
Ron
Thanks Ron, that does give us hope we might be able use these programmers.
I put in a request to the eXtreme Tech website to include the Atmega1280.
Hopefully they will consider that, but the Atmega2560 selection may work just fine.
Bill
4 months later
I have recently purchased one from Amazon(15 Apr) and have been printing almost daily.
Lots of things on thingiverse to upgrade and very easy to level and use.
Has anyone gotten the 3p usbasp to connect in studio? I have both models of the Qidi and need assistance in getting the old on a new sailfish.
Hi Noah,
It’s been a while since I was able to successfully upgrade my Qidi to the lastest SF, so some of the details are fuzzy now. But I do remember that my programmer wasn’t being accommodated by the Studio software. I think what I ended up doing was following Ron’s post below, and using the command line AVRdude software. As Ron mentions, your command should end up something like this:
avrdude -p m1280 -F -P usb -c usbasp -U flash:w:bootloader/atmega1280.hex \ -U lfuse:w:0xFF:m -U hfuse:w:0xDA:m -U efuse:w:0xF4:m -U lock:w:0x0F:m
Just follow his post to grab the appropriate hex file, and keep us posted on how you get on. If you have any other questions, I’ll do my best to try and remember more. It’s definitely been worthwhile to make the jump to SF 7.7.
Adam
22 days later
I managed to get 7.7 on my old qidi runs great. Just recently fished a 30 hr print no issues
12 days later
{Removed for Update}
1 year later
Hi Adam
In the Pictures is that the Qidi Tech Avatar IV if so
how did you wire up the cooling fan I just don’t want to fry out the board
As far as software using S3D
thanks for your time
jim
1 year later
Continuing the discussion from Avatar IV (QiDi Tech):
I have yet to be able to load a program into the machine, I can only print a sample that was supplied. I have downloaded a few but cant figure out how to get it loaded I show 2 in the menus from the SD card but nothing happens when I click on it
How are you loading the file? What is the extension on the file?
1 is STL I downloaded from internet
The STL need to be loaded into a slicer then the output from the slicer is saved to the SD card.
OK Ill try that see what happens thank you no instructions came with the machine
It worked thank you wow but it sure takes time printing
3D printing is not fast! Somewhere around grass growing and paint drying!
Glad you got going though.