prop wont connect with computer

science_geek

i have been working on getting an mp3 player to work, i had it working so·i disassmbled it from the·prop(it was unpowered) and decided to try my xbees, and holy Smile i got them working(im so proud of myself), so i decided i would go back to the mp3 player and i have it all hooked up right and had it powered, all leds on, then i played with it a little last night and couldnt get it to play, thought it was a coding thing so i went back and changed the code today when i got home, just hooked it up and i get a "scanned com port, no propellor found" or something like that, i had it working last night with the computer but not today, anyone know whats wrong

ElectricAye

Are you sure it's getting power? A dying battery? A wall wart attached to an outlet that is controlled by a "light switch"?

Based upon your description, you seem to move around a lot. Did you take precautions against ESD (electrostatic discharge) by grounding yourself before touching your frenetically charged body to it?

Just thinking out loud here.

Mike Green

Ditto ElectricAye's idea. There are two things that cause the Propeller Tool to not find a Propeller

1) Something wrong with the power source. A Propeller has to be powered to be found.

2) Something wrong with the comm port. There has to be communication between the Propeller Tool and the Propeller

cocokiwi

oh,god, how many time this has happened to moi!

·go check the USB device manager settings on that device as sometimes the darn thing WILL loose it!

By refusing to load! weird but wonderful,happened to me with a 2102 USB device! Yesterday

when you install these things one must not have the usb device plugged as it will try to find the driver.

and it will work fine till NEXT time! "WELL! it worked last night"

Remove all copies from system"Add/remove"(the execute ones do this) and uninstall the driver!

reboot! and unplug the USB connector,then reinstall,once that is done,reboot and plug it in!

The problem is it tries to install twice at the same time! it works,but conflicts with the other part which did not install.

the first one loads the driver directly,the second tries to FIND it by scanning everything except looking to see if it is already in place

then cries because it cannot find it only problem is it screws up the driver that is already there!hence the cannot load error!



Merry Xmas to ALL!

Cheers Dennis

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http://people.delphiforums.com/cocokiwi/Image/picture.jpg

science_geek

ok, so i know its my prop, i have tried getting it to work by what cocokiwi said to do, i am going to have to get a new prop, is there any extra components i can get from parallax that i should definetly have on hand

soshimo

Before you go buy another chip (though I'm sure the folks at Parallax will appreciate it and it will eventually fund the Prop II... ) do as Mike suggested. Make sure you rule out power and connections before you assume it's your chip. Unless you live in an extremely dry area and/or are walking around all day in polyester socks on a synthetic pile, you probably haven't zapped your chip (yet - get a wrist strap and ground mat minimum if you don't have one yet). I can't tell you how many hours I wasted thinking I had a software or hardware problem, swapping out chips because I refuse to believe it can be something simple, when it ended up being a misplaced wire or a dead battery. First things first, check voltages - break out the trusty/dusty DMM and on an un-powered circuit check for shorts and connectivity. Finally, power the circuit up and check to see that you have nominal voltages where you should and ground is where it should be, etc.. It sounds like you may have left something unhooked during your changes and tests.