How to tell: bad board or bad chip?
Trying to determine if I have a bad carrier board, or a bad BS II microcontroller.
When I power the chip from a 9v battery, any program will run for about 40 seconds, then "freeze". If I power it from a 12v regulated power source, it runs for no more than·10 seconds and freezes (I can sense the BS II getting too warm for comfort also). If I power the chip directly via a regulated 5.0v power source, the chip won't even boot up nor can it be recognized via the "Identify" option in the development environment! In each case the power light on the board stays lit.
My suspicion is that the on-board power regulator is hosed -- a while ago my Parallax wall wart went heywire and started pumping out 19v, which possibly fried a component.
The question though, is how do I know whether a new carrier board and/or microcontroller will cure my ills? Am trying to minimize my $$ expenditure. Any ideas...?
(Also of note: I'm an experienced Stamp programmer; my program isn't simply ending. And nothing is under warranty).
When I power the chip from a 9v battery, any program will run for about 40 seconds, then "freeze". If I power it from a 12v regulated power source, it runs for no more than·10 seconds and freezes (I can sense the BS II getting too warm for comfort also). If I power the chip directly via a regulated 5.0v power source, the chip won't even boot up nor can it be recognized via the "Identify" option in the development environment! In each case the power light on the board stays lit.
My suspicion is that the on-board power regulator is hosed -- a while ago my Parallax wall wart went heywire and started pumping out 19v, which possibly fried a component.
The question though, is how do I know whether a new carrier board and/or microcontroller will cure my ills? Am trying to minimize my $$ expenditure. Any ideas...?
(Also of note: I'm an experienced Stamp programmer; my program isn't simply ending. And nothing is under warranty).
Comments
If you replug in the BS2 (with the power off), making sure the pins are in the right socket holes, and power the board with a 6 to 9V supply, the Stamp should work. You should be able to Identify the Stamp with the Editor and you should be able to download and run a simple "blink an LED" program from the manual.
The on-board regulator should not be damaged by hooking up to a 20V supply. It's not designed to work for any length of time that way, but should not be damaged by it.
If the BS2 runs for a while, it's unlikely to be damaged although an I/O pin can be burnt out while the rest of the chip may work fine.