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adding com ports? — Parallax Forums

adding com ports?

--D----D-- Posts: 6
edited 2009-10-29 15:13 in Propeller 1
I have bought the Propeller Education Kit with the PropStick USB, ive wired it all up and seems to be workign fine

*bright light when battery is connected
*dim light when connected to the computer

And when i connect the propeller chip to the computer the red and blue lights flash for a bit and the computer recognises it. But when i try and upload any program it scans COM ports 1 and 5 but doenst upload anything, it says "no propeller chip found". When i borrowed the same propeller chip from my friend it uploaded form COM port 4 i think, but now nothing seems to upload...

any Suggestions?

thanks
-D-

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2009-10-29 13:34
    Reasons for "no propeller chip found":

    1) Inadequate power

    2) Bad connection to the PC

    3) USB I/O drivers not installed on PC or not functioning

    4) Broken Propeller

    Overwhelmingly, the problems that people have are #1, #2, and #3. The Propeller is a pretty robust chip and it's hard to break, particularly in the form of a PropStick.

    Make sure things are properly connected on the PEK. Make sure you have a fresh battery ... they don't have much capacity. Make sure you have a current version of the Propeller Tool and the USB I/O drivers from FTDI (download a fresh copy from Parallax).
  • --D----D-- Posts: 6
    edited 2009-10-29 14:29
    1) Inadequate power: cant be this because i checked the V on the battery, its 8.3V

    2) Bad connection to the PC: i dont see how this is possible as it worked with the other Propeller chip i had

    3) USB I/O drivers not installed on PC or not functioning: same as above

    4) Broken Propeller: i highly doubt that, seeing as i only bought it and put it in the protoblock.

    Is there nothing you can do to add new ports?
  • BradCBradC Posts: 2,601
    edited 2009-10-29 14:35
    --D-- said...

    Is there nothing you can do to add new ports?

    When you press F7 on the propeller tool, it will progressively scan every available serial port on the machine excepting those marked as being bluetooth (as those make it go ugly). If it is not detecting your propeller then the problem most often lies at the propeller.

    Does the machine recognise the serial port when you plug the propeller in? Can you open hyperterminal and make the little led on the board flash as you type?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    lt's not particularly silly, is it?
  • --D----D-- Posts: 6
    edited 2009-10-29 14:40
    If you mean the serial terminal then yes, the lights flash as i type. And i think it recognises the serial port, i mean when i plug it in it makes tht sound when a new device is plugged in.
  • --D----D-- Posts: 6
    edited 2009-10-29 14:40
    O ye it works on COM 5 not COM 1 if tht helped =P
  • BradCBradC Posts: 2,601
    edited 2009-10-29 14:54
    --D-- said...
    O ye it works on COM 5 not COM 1 if tht helped =P

    Ok, so if you are seeing a little flashy light, *and* the propeller tool is not detecting things, then it appears the propeller is either not connected to the ftdi chip properly, *or* the propeller does not have power *or* the propeller is dead.

    I guess there are other possibilities, but absent any more information I suspect it's one of the above.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    lt's not particularly silly, is it?
  • --D----D-- Posts: 6
    edited 2009-10-29 15:04
    YESSS!!! I GOT IT TO WORK.. "lt's not particularly silly, is it?" UHHH YES IT IS!!!!! i accidently connected an LED on the VSS (pin 10) and the RESn pin
    for some bizszard reason. Thanks for all ur help =)

    -D-
  • --D----D-- Posts: 6
    edited 2009-10-29 15:04
    YESSS!!! I GOT IT TO WORK.. "lt's not particularly silly, is it?" UHHH YES IT IS!!!!! i accidently connected an LED on the VSS (pin 10) and the RESn pin
    for some bizszard reason. Thanks for all ur help =)

    -D-
  • photomankcphotomankc Posts: 943
    edited 2009-10-29 15:09
    Check your reset circuit. Make sure the reset from the plug is getting all the way to the prop. I tore my hair out for hours once because even though I looked 10 times at it, continuity was not there from the RST on the plug to the chip. No reset, no programming. If that's good then you might also jumper rx to tx on the PropPlug and see if you get echos back in the serial terminal. If that works then *with the Propeller pulled*, do the same at the protoboard and jumper it together right at pins 31 and 30 and repeat that test. If that works then you have tx and rx all the way up to the pins so they are good.

    If all that checks out and still no-go I'd tear it all down and start from scratch.
  • photomankcphotomankc Posts: 943
    edited 2009-10-29 15:13
    --D-- said...
    "lt's not particularly silly, is it?" UHHH YES IT IS!!!!!
    -D-

    It usually is.... I nearly smoked two regulators once because I missed the fact that I had used a resistor lead as a jumper on my breadboard and didn't remove it. I just so happened to connect VDD and VSS to the points it was shorting. Circuit no workie and bad smells in just seconds.
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