Bad board?

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 04:45

I just received my starter kit, but I think the board is bad. I just want to verify that I didn't miss something obvious.

I suspect that the FTDI USB serial converter is bad. The green power LED comes on, the several yellow LEDs light sequentially back and forth, I get vga output, the red and blue LEDs by the usb connector flash briefly.

The prop tool did not find the device after I ran the CD install. I downloaded the newer version Prop Tool 1.1 and restarted. The board was detected. After a few actions (loading example programs), the tool reported the board was not detected. At first, rebooting the pc and power cycling the board allowed detection, now it does not. I see the messages:

Cannot Start Hardware
There was a problem installing this hardware
USB serial converter
This device cannot start (code 10)

Originally the USB serial converter was detected on COM3, after the errors the message would say something like
"Device on COM3 was not detected. Would you like to eliminate COM3 from detection in the future?"

I do not think I selected yes, nonetheless I do not get COM3 in my list of ports anymore.

I swapped the USB cable to each availible port, my usb mouse and keyboard have no problems and work in all the ports.

Is there anything I should try before RMA?

Thanks!

Mike Green · 2008-06-01 04:52

Make sure you've properly installed the USB driver. Note that the default Windows driver does not work properly.
Try downloading the FTDI driver either from Parallax's website or from FTDI's website and reinstalling it.

The behavior you describe for the board sounds correct (green LED on, red & blue LEDs flash briefly).

Ken Gracey · 2008-06-01 04:55

prof_braino, do you have any other Parallax products that you can test on the same port? If you know the port functions properly then it's probably an FTDI driver install issue.

A bad board isn't likely since we test all of them, but I suppose it is possible. If you don't have any better luck by Monday morning please call us and ask for the tech support guys. If they can't get it working we'll replace it right away.

Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 04:59

About the USB driver - does it auto install when we install the tool? I used the version of the tool off the CD and the downloaded proptool 1.1. Prop tool 1.1 worked for a few tries then stopped.
I am unable to reinstall the driver FTDI-usb-vcp-driversR9052151 by itself, this is making me thing the the FTDI chip is no longer talking.

Also, the times the board worked, the red and blue LEDS flashed several times, like it was transfering data, now they flash only once (like 1 ms).

Mike Green · 2008-06-01 05:03

Normally you install the driver without the USB adapter chip plugged in, then plug it in.

Try using Windows to uninstall the FTDI USB driver, then reinstall it from scratch.

The CD has an older version of the driver (along with an older version of the Propeller Tool).

Again, the behavior you're describing sure is typical of a USB driver problem, not a hardware problem.

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 05:34

Thanks for your help so late on a Saturday.
uninstalled Proptool1.1 and went back to the CD
I installed the FTDI drivers first. Then I installed Proptool 1.05.8
The install asked to install/update the usb driver, I selected yes.
The confirmation window said the FTDI driver had installed successfully.

I powered up the board, and connected the usb cable. I get the
"USB device not recognized" message.
The hardware wizard says "Found new hardware USB serial converter"
A window opens saying "Cannot start this hardware"
"There was a problem installing this hardware"
"USB serial converter
"This device cannot start (code 10)"

Now USB serial converter is displayed iin device manager under Universal Serial controlers (NOT under Ports) as USB serial Converter
and is flagged with a exclaimation point as a problem device.

Is there an INI file I need to delete when I unistall? I get the impression that the driver is blocked by some eariler failed attempt?

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 05:47

Thanks for your help so late on a Saturday.
uninstalled Proptool1.1 and went back to the CD
I installed the FTDI drivers first. Then I installed Proptool 1.05.8
The install asked to install/update the usb driver, I selected yes.
The confirmation window said the FTDI driver had installed successfully.

I powered up the board, and connected the usb cable. I get the
"USB device not recognized" message.
The hardware wizard says "Found new hardware USB serial converter"
A window opens saying "Cannot start this hardware"
"There was a problem installing this hardware"
"USB serial converter
"This device cannot start (code 10)"

Now USB serial converter is displayed iin device manager under Universal Serial controlers (NOT under Ports) as USB serial Converter
and is flagged with a exclaimation point as a problem device.

Is there an INI file I need to delete when I unistall? I get the impression that the driver is blocked by some eariler failed attempt?

Mike Green · 2008-06-01 05:53

You may be better off calling tech support on Monday. You could try again, but don't install the PropTool from the CD. Go right to version 1.1. You could also try downloading the current FTDI driver direct from their website (www.ftdichip.com).

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 06:20

Uninstall and reinstall V1.1 and using the FDTI gives the same result. [noparse]:([/noparse]
I guess I'll play with my BS2 until Monday.

Thanks for your help

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-06-01 11:29

Curious what happens if you pick a different USB port..

I've got a couple items that won't run on front (case) ports, that work fine on
rear (motherboard) ports, etc. Try it.

OBC

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tpw_man · 2008-06-01 13:25

What happens with a different port? I have a problem where only the left USB port on my laptop works for the prop like Oldbitcollector. Other one totally fails to detect the prop.

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Siri · 2008-06-01 19:30

Very same problem occured with my starter kit.The problem turned out - that I did not have adequate power to the kit.Afetr I plugged a 9V Dc supply instead of a 7V supply
every thing worked well.
The 7V power supply worked well with the BS2 setup but not with the prop starter kit.

Siri

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 20:06

I tried every one of the six ports on the back of my GA-P35-SD3L, and the one on the front. Same non-functioning result.

I also tried installing on a different machine, a Compaq EVO-D5S using PropTool v1.1 (bypassing the CD install of V1.05.xx). On this machine, the install ends with an error message :
"OS_Detect.exe
The application failed to start becasue the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem."

Reinstalling; removing and reinstalling; rebooting, removing, rebooting, reinstalling; swearing, scratching my head, asking my five year old; all had the same result.

However PropToolv1.1 comes up. Let's see how it works....

Plugging in my questionable board gives the message:
Found FT232 (something or other)

Then the SYSTEM CRASHED: "Windows Shut down to prevent damage to your system" with that pretty dark blue screen.

I'll post again after it restarts.

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 20:14

Ok, the EVO-D5S restarted. Message is "Unknown device" in the "USB Device not recognized" window that popped up.

The message from the task tray says:
USB Device not recognized.
One of the devices has malfunctioned

Summary: this board does not work on two separate PC's
One installed from the CD and then upgraded to the PropTool V1.1 that I downloaded;
and the other starting with the PropToolv1.1

I'm begining to suspect that an RMA number is in my future.

prof_braino · 2008-06-01 20:20

One more thing, I installed the software BEFORE plugging in board to the usb port for the first time on each pc. The board was powered up before I connected the USB cable. All eight or so amber leds were lit continuously. Board was powered by the included AC adapter.

prof_braino · 2008-06-15 03:14

Final update - in case anybody sees the same situation: MAY HAVE BEEN WINDOWS XP ISSUE

I RMA's the first board, and got a second (Thanks Ken!)

Plugged it in, the same damn thing happened as with the first one: after downloading one spin program, the usb serial stopped working with the messages listed above, disconnected prop and power cycled PC. Did this several times to see if changing to PS/2 mouse etc has any affect, it did not.

During troubleshooting, a Windows Update asked to download files, I permitted this, and it asked to reboot, I permitted this.
Now the Prop Demo board works fine, the issue does not occur, I cannot reproduce the issue anymore. I do not recall any mention of USB issues in the Windows Update, but I can't think of anything else that could account for the change. At least I'm up and running. Thanks for your help, guys!

prof_braino · 2008-06-16 02:29

Or may have been the FTDI VCP drivers (v2.4.6) change that was fixed in the Prop Tool 1.2 update.

Bad board?

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