I have a strange problem using Atmel Ice as programmer on Arduino Due (latest Atmel Studio with latest Visual Micro extension):

- If I go to 'Tools - Device programming' then Apply - Read and goto the Memories page, the Program is loaded and verified to Arduino Due - OK

- If I use the 'VMicro - Uploader - Upload last build' menu, I get the error:
Uploading 'GrblDue' to 'Arduino Due (Programming Port)' using 'Atmel Studio Device Programming'
Error during upload using programmer
Indice oltre i limiti della matrice.

- If I use the 'VMicro - Build and upload' I'm redirected to  'VMicro - Uploader - Upload last build' all times. Here again the upload works inside the Memories page.
But if I just use the Apply & Read buttons then Set - Close, the upload doesn't work

- every time I come back to  'VMicro - Uploader - Upload last build',  I must press the Apply & Read buttons, as the Device Signature filed is blank.

Looks like the Device Signature is not saved, also if I press the Set button.

Is this Normal?
How can I fix that?

The dialog that every time I use the 'Build and Upload' menu is prompted and doesn't keep the latest settings is the one opened also by the "Tools - Device Program".
I cannot find the way to open that dialog by the right mouse on the Project, I just see a different dialog using your procedure, and that keep the settings in the right way.

Looks like the settings of the "Tools - Device Program" dialog are not saved, if after closing it I immediately open it again the settings are empty again.

I run AtmelStudio on Windows 10 as Administrator, but without the "Run as admin" property (that should not be required, I think. I tried it but nothing changes).

Thank you for your attention

Yes, I set the Tool as Atmel-ICE with JTAG interface.

When I press the "vmicro>compile and upload" menu the compilation if performed, than the 'Device Programming' dialog is displayed with:
Device signature = not read
Target voltage = ----

At this point I press Apply, then Read
If I press Close, then nothing happens.
If I go to Memories, the Program button works ok, looks like this is the only chance I have to Upload the firmware using the Atmel-ICE hardware.

At next "vmicro>compile and upload" still the same, I must still press Apply and so on.

The hardware debug works well.

Thanks.

I tried it yesterday but with an Arduino Zero that I had at hand. I set the programmer to be EDBG in the project>properties>tool and upload worked seamlessly.

I will try to dig out an ICE and see what happens but I have to say that as soon as compile ends we are using the standard atmel system without any possibility of interference or assistance from Visual Micro. So right now I suspect that this is how Atmel Studio works.

You can test it by creating a new atmel gcc application project. You won't have any arduino in that but you should be able to use project>properties>tool on exactly the same way to see how it works. When you create a gcc project it will ask for an mcu, use the search box instead of scrolling the very long list.

In Visual Studio (and Atmel Studio) you can use the default Arduino programmers. I think arduino.cc have added an ICE option recently but there will be no possibility of debug. I can also tell you there are usb driver conflicts between arduino and atmel. If you have the atmel drivers working, which you do, I expect you will be fiddling in device manager to change the usb driver to use the arduino versions. It's a long standing conflict between atmel and arduino and best avoided.

I think the best route is to test a native gcc project. If that shows the same traits where by the device programming window always opens then that would be a good question for the atmel forum. Maybe it's a bug, maybe it's an oversight or maybe our lack of knowledge.

Yes, and it works

Oh yes that is correct. Visual Micro compile/upload will only do compile/upload when using atmel debug.

When using atmel debugging with Visual Micro you can use "Debug>Start" to compile/upload and start debug.

Atmel only thinks you need its debugger when you use it's commands, so Visual Micro makes sure its commands know what to do.