Troubled
tim wood
Posts: 7
I had purchased the BS2 KIT and everything has power going to it. When I try to identify the stamp in the 2.3.9 version it tells me that there is no stamp there.
What could be the problem????????????
I have triple checked everything, I was going to take it apart and re-do all of the connections. BUT... Everywhere I checked with my meter has the correct amount of power going to it. There has to be something simple that im doing wrong.
Please can anyone HELP ?????????????????????????????/
Thank You
TIM the confused
What could be the problem????????????
I have triple checked everything, I was going to take it apart and re-do all of the connections. BUT... Everywhere I checked with my meter has the correct amount of power going to it. There has to be something simple that im doing wrong.
Please can anyone HELP ?????????????????????????????/
Thank You
TIM the confused
Comments
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Don't worry. Be happy
There's a USB troubleshooting document here: www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/ftdi/USBDriverTroubleshooting-V1.0.pdf.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
I had this problem too, and it was disconcerting. Mike's pointed you in the right direction. Indeed, if it's a Serial to USB adapter/converter, it may give you that message. I had to try several before I found a couple that worked. I have one called a "purple" converter. And one from Radio Shack.
HTH
- Howard
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Im not using a USB. Its just hooked up to the serial ports to and from... Should I use a serial to usb ????? Do you think that it would change the perspective on everything? I did download the newest version 2.3.9...
The serial cable that I picked up was just standard from the electronics store. Should I try a different cable? Do you think the cable could be bad ???
Im using COM 1 for the port.
Thanks Guys for all the information
TIM
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You pay a little more but you know that it will work when you buy it from Parallax and··BTW I do not work for Parallax
I have used the serial cable and works with out having to·setting any thing
You did not say what verson of windows you areusing
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··Thanks for any·
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Sam
Post Edited (sam_sam_sam) : 7/12/2009 9:41:37 PM GMT
You might be able to connect if you select a COM port manually. Safest thing is to buy a cable from Parallax.
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Don't worry. Be happy
Boy I tell ya I have everything else done on my GMRS Repeater now im just puzzled by this thing... Only if I can get it to work. But yes if a new cable does not work then I WILL have to get one from Parallax.
And the sad part is its probably the dumbest thing that is wrong with it. Thank you very much for all of your help again. You guys are great............................
I do have a computer that is running in DOS windows 93 should I try that????????????????
TIM
Be patient. Once you get this working you wil have great fun with the Parallax products. It's not unusual to run into mundane problems like this when you deal with electronics. But that's part of the fun! The reward is so much greater once you get it up and running.
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Don't worry. Be happy
This is very common problem that you are continually ignoring. It seems counterproductive to rely on forum members to troubleshoot this almost monthly.
I had made a request few months back to you to publish or direct me to a source· / document which describes EXACTLY how BS2 starts up and connect to the simple serial programming port.
So, here I am requesting it again.
·
Please take this seriously – can’t you see that discussions like these - originated by newcomers – are not reflecting well on your product?
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Comments like· – be patient, it will eventually work – speak for themselves.
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The forum should not have to continue to “ guess the best answer” – this startup process needs to be documented.
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Let’s start with description of all COM port messages – they are not totally self descriptive.
Continue to what to do when “COM port in use” message appears.·
What does “loopback” means??
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Hopefully you have all this already documented – somewhere.
·Cheers
Vaclav
This post did not have a subject line indicating what the subject of the message was. Had it not been for someone else pointing it out I may not have ever gotten to read it. Once I did I requested the poster include more details about his issue to determine if I could help him.
Still those details were not provided…and this issue is not very common. Almost every issue is unique. The symptom may be the same, but without the details that is just looking at the surface. It’s kind of like 6 people telling a doctor they don’t feel good. Well, that isn’t really going to help the doctor and all 6 people could have radically different problems.
I have had someone call in saying “No BASIC Stamp detected” and all he had from us was the editor he downloaded from the website. No hardware. I can think of dozens of problems which would generate the same error message. But why have us ask all those questions to try and figure it out when it could be narrowed down by supplying the information up front. In order to help someone we need details about their issue. Our support is second to none in my opinion and we don’t defer questions to guesses from the forum members.
I will answer your question right now…loopback means that the PC has detected one of our development boards connected to the serial port. This is done by detecting the connection between the DSR and RTS lines we make on the board at the serial interface. It in no way indicates that a BASIC Stamp is present. You can get loopback when no BASIC Stamp is connected to the board. I hope this helps. Take care.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
If you can provide details about your setup we can try to help. It appears that you’re using a BASIC Stamp 2 and that it is connected serially. Which board do you have? Board of Education? Is your PC a desktop or a laptop? 2.4 is the latest version of the BASIC Stamp Editor and I would be sure that was up to date just in case? Where have you checked for correct power?
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
Thanks,
TIM
Did that the first time I fired up a stamp. It wouldnt communicate.
Good Luck!!
Ken
I hate to ask but what is that? I know its a new serial cable from the electronics store. Im really very new to all of this stuff. Its very mind boggling at times.
TIM
We’re slowly getting there now…you mentioned an arbitrary voltage but not where it comes from. Nonetheless the keyword in your latest message was OEM. That is a kit and this means there is most likely an issue with the soldering of a component or perhaps one in the wrong spot. The most common mistake is getting the transistors and the brownout detector mixed up or turned around. This would also account for lack of echo.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
When I had talked with Dave from Tech support that is what he asked me. So I told him that I would send a few pics of it. Im sure he will show you the pics. take alook and tell me what you think. My neighbor has graduated from ITT Tech he had looked at it and said that everything was right. But then again as I think about it he was drinking while he was looking at it. But we will figure it out soon enough. I was going to try to run the program threw my Windows 98 on the computor that I program my radios with. We will see what that does........
Thanks
TIM
I was alerted to this thread by someone else, just like Chris was.· I haven't seen a picture of your OEM BS2 yet, but here are·things that can cause the problem:
· 1) The serial cable may be bad or be incorrect style.· Bad?· This is pretty rare, but it's known to happen.· Wrong Style?· If it's a "null modem" cable, it has a number of wires swapped for a special use that doesn't apply here.· Chances are you have a "standard" serial cable that will work just fine... but to check it, you can take a multimeter, set it to continuity and make sure there's a direct connection between a numbered pin on one side and the same-numbered pin on the other side.· The only pins to check are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.· If, for example, you find that pin 2 is connected to pin 2, pin 3 is connected to pin 3, etc., that's perfect.· If, on the other hand, you find that pin 2 is connected to pin 3 on the other side... that's a null modem cable and will not work for programming the BASIC Stamps.
· 2) The wrong serial port may be used, or a bad, or disabled serial port.· -- I don't think this is the case because of what you said early, but you can test if it's the correct serial port by connecting the serial cable to the PC and to the OEM BS2 (no need to power up the OEM BS2 for this test) and perform an Identify function in the BASIC Stamp Editor (press the F6 key).· On the Identification window, the Loopback cell for the port the OEM BS2 is connected to should say "yes".· Then, disconnect the serial cable from the OEM BS2 and press F6 again.· The Loopback cell that said "yes" before should now say "no."
· 3) The R1 resistor (4.7K; see attached image) on the OEM BS2 is not installed, installed incorrectly, or is the wrong resistor value.· This is the sole component that causes the "ECHO" column of the identification window to say "yes" (and no power is required on the OEM BS2 to cause this to happen).· If there's no Echo when it scans a COM port, it's fatal and the BASIC Stamp Editor will give up communication because there's no chance of programming that BASIC Stamp 2.· Of course, it will try again the next time you run the Identify function or a Run (download) function, but it will never be able to connect to the BASIC Stamp if it can't achieve Echo.
· 4) Something could be wrong with the transistor on Q3, which is connected to one trace of the R1 resistor.· If Q3's component is wrong (like it's the browout regulator or the wrong style of transistor), it may cause there to be no echo, and thus is preventing you from programming the BASIC Stamp.
After seeing closeup pictures, we may be able to determine if there is something else possibly wrong.· I'm sorry you're having this trouble, but we should be able to get it resolved somehow.
Take care,
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--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
Post Edited (Jeff Martin (Parallax)) : 7/14/2009 4:29:22 PM GMT
Keep working at it Parallax makes great equipment that is a blast to work with. Just wish other companies·where as good!
Good luck!
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Looks like this problem is getting plenty of attention, good.
But it still smells of voodoo. (“notified by others”, “non descriptive title “ etc.)
You still did not answer my question about the start up process.
The loopback and echo are still vaguely described.
It appears that loopback is hardware indicator (it should be) and echo is software feedback (from where??)
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Here is what my BS2 OEM does:
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Remove power
In Download Progress dialog the loopback and echo are both yes and No BASIC Stamp appears.
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Disconnect serial port cable
The loopback and echo are both No (No surprise here )
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BTW
The original problem did not state what are the values of the Loopback· or Echo.
And so far nobody asked the originator that.
I think it would help troubleshooting this to know that.
Cheers Vaclav
·
Please read messages very carefully before replying. The OP asked about the echo and loopback after stating he got loopback but no echo. Both Jeff and I described what could be the cause. This member has also spoken directly to Tech Support so he has been informed there as well. Most likely there is an error on his board in relation to the replies Jeff and I gave. I can’t answer for Voodoo since that is not my area of expertise.
I described loopback and Jeff elaborated on echo. I’m not sure what else you needed to know on these.
As to your unanswered question you did not link the thread in question so I cannot be sure what you are asking, however if it is in regards to the programming and identification protocol, that is covered in the BASIC Stamp Tokenizer documentation available at the following link.
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/441/Default.aspx#Tokenizer
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
I have tried all of those things that you had mentioned in the post.
My ports are all working because I do program my UHF radios on the port. I even tried it with the cable and it does do the trick...
I also did the Null check everything seems to be A OK there.
I have also done all of the resistor checks, unless my eyes are paying tricks on me but I dont think so. I figure that it has to be something simple.
But as Dave says he thinks it might be the chip, just because of the values that we were getting when we were checking out the board with my Fluke meter.
Im sorry I really dont know much about these things. I thought I would try a new hobby, I really enjoy it so far, Even tho it is frustrating at times. Everyone tells me
That Parallax is one of the best to work with and products. So far so Good.
Thanks A Bunch,
Tim Wood