ArduinoISP external programmer produces verification error?

Question

I am using an ArduinoISP external programmer to upload a sketch to an Arduino MEGA.

I set the processor type to MEGA 2560, and use Ctrl-Shft-U to upload using a programmer. My programmer is set to ArduinoISP under tools>Programmer.

So far, I haven't been able to get the sketch to upload without a verification error. Worse, the programmer made it far enough in the upload process to overwrite the bootloader. Trying to re-upload the boot loader ("Burn Bootloader") also fails. The verbose error output is below with the exact error at the bottom.

A previous post suggested that code with a lot of 0xFF statements in it would fail. I have none.

Following a suggestion in the comments, I unsoldered the power over ISP programmer jumper (SJVCC) on my ArduinoISP. I powered the Arduino using the power jack; however, I got the same verification error.

I have also tried updating the software the the latest version (1.6.12), but that also does not seem to work. I may try to downgrade the software, but this all seems a little futile. Other forums don't seem to have a good answer for similar verification problems.

Is this a known problem? What can I do to fix it? What is particularly frustrating is that the problem occurs intermittently, ocassional after a computer reboot, it will upload successfully one time.

avrdude: Version 6.0.1, compiled on Apr 15 2015 at 19:59:58
 Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
 Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch
 System wide configuration file is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
 Using Port : usb
 Using Programmer : arduinoisp
avrdude: usbdev_open(): Found USBtinyISP, bus:device: bus-0:\\.\libusb0-0001--0x2341-0x0049
 AVR Part : ATmega2560
 Chip Erase delay : 9000 us
 PAGEL : PD7
 BS2 : PA0
 RESET disposition : dedicated
 RETRY pulse : SCK
 serial program mode : yes
 parallel program mode : yes
 Timeout : 200
 StabDelay : 100
 CmdexeDelay : 25
 SyncLoops : 32
 ByteDelay : 0
 PollIndex : 3
 PollValue : 0x53
 Memory Detail :
 Block Poll Page Polled
 Memory Type Mode Delay Size Indx Paged Size Size #Pages MinW MaxW ReadBack
 ----------- ---- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------ ----- ----- ---------
 eeprom 65 10 8 0 no 4096 8 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
 flash 65 10 256 0 yes 262144 256 1024 4500 4500 0x00 0x00
 lfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
 hfuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
 efuse 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
 lock 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 9000 9000 0x00 0x00
 calibration 0 0 0 0 no 1 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00
 signature 0 0 0 0 no 3 0 0 0 0 0x00 0x00
 Programmer Type : USBtiny
 Description : 
avrdude: programmer operation not supported
avrdude: Using SCK period of 10 usec
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9801
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
 To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: Using SCK period of 10 usec
avrdude: reading input file "C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Temp\builddfc205ae09caa85de62f61bf2adae2c7.tmp/Tension_wo_Averaging.ino.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (9334 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 10.71s
avrdude: 9334 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Temp\builddfc205ae09caa85de62f61bf2adae2c7.tmp/Te nsion_wo_Averaging.ino.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Temp\builddfc205ae09caa85de62f61bf2adae2c7.tmp/Tension_wo_Averaging.ino.hex:
avrdude: input file C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Temp\builddfc205ae09caa85de62f61bf2adae2c7.tmp/Tension_wo_Averaging.ino.hex contains 9334 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 7.34s
avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: verification error, first mismatch at byte 0x0600
 0xdd != 0x4a
avrdude: verification error; content mismatch
avrdude done. Thank you.

• Visual Micro: 1) How is the board powered? 2) Did you try downloading the zip of Arduino IDE 1.5.7 and then trying. (might be waste of time but I hear sometimes older versions work better)
• Michael Molter: The ArduinoISP provides power to the board, but I have tried it with a USB cable plugged in too.
• Michael Molter: Haven't tried the older version yet. Will work on that too.
• Visual Micro: Did you put the jumper back on the ISP when trying external power?
• Michael Molter: No, the ArduinoISP doesn't have jumper pins, just jumper pads. I didn't change any of the soldering.

Answer 1

Sounds like you have a bad Arduino ISP board.

I've had limited success restoring bootloaders on some Arduinos with my bad USBtinyISP programmer by connecting a 9V power supply to the Arduino in addition to the 5V that the ICSP cable provides. Worth a try.

Note that back when my USBtinyISP was working properly I didn't need to attach 9V, the 5V from the ICSP cable was all the power needed.